Quick Guide: Two-Pass Sharpening in Photoshop

Print this Quick Guide for a step-by-step reminder of how to apply Bruce Fraser's two-pass sharpening in Photoshop.
Written by Bruce Fraser on March 20, 2001

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The steps below summarize the two-pass sharpening technique described in "Out of Gamut: A Two-Pass Approach to Sharpening in Photoshop."

STEP 1: Sharpen to Correct the Image

CREATE EDGE MASK

  • Duplicate your image, using Image>Duplicate... and leaving the original image open

  • Convert the duplicate to grayscale (duplicating one of the color channels using the Channels palette often works well)
  • Isolate the edges using Filters>Stylize>Find Edges
  • Apply a Gaussian Blur to soften edges and reduce noise
  • Invert the mask, by choosing Image>Adjust>Invert
  • Exaggerate the contrast of the mask using Image>Adjust>Levels

APPLY EDGE MASK

  • Make the original image active, by selecting it from the Window menu.

  • Load the edge mask into the image by choosing Select>Load Selection and making sure the name of your duplicate file is entered as the source document

SHARPEN EDGES

  • Press Command-H (Mac) or Control-H (Windows) to hide the selection outline

  • Sharpen the selection defined by the mask using Filter>Sharpen>Unsharp Mask...
  • Press Command-H (Mac) or Control-H (Windows) to restore selection outline (to avoid unintentionally acting only on the selection again)

Step 2: Sharpen for the Output Device

  • If necessary, use Select>Deselect to turn off edge-mask selection

  • Sharpen as appropriate for your output device

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