Optio 430 RS

How to make photos to look sharper?

In Photoshop, select Image>Mode>Lab Color
In the channels box, deselect channel a and b leaving only the black and white lightness channel.
Select Filter>Sharpen>Unsharp Mask
Increase the unsharp mask until you are happy that the picture is sharp but not over-sharpened. Click OK
Select Image>Mode>RGB and you are finished!

The purpose of this technique is to sharpen the underlying b/w image without affecting the colour and this helps to avoid colour fuzziness through over sharpening.

In Lab Mode we tend to sharpen between 80%-150% depending on the picture.

John

Jerry,

Can you tell if your images are blurred, or just not sharp? With smaller cameras it can be quite a game holding it still enough to get a decent quality image. Additionally, it can happen that autofocus can get confused and lock onto the wrong image.

It would be helpful if you could provide more details!

If you use Photoshop or Photoshop Elements (strongly recommend), then it is always best to use a low in-camera sharpen and do your sharpening on the computer.

However, in the meantime, you could try mounting the Optio on a tripod and taking a still life. You can set the sharpness in the camera (see page 71 of your manual). I would suggest taking the same image at each sharpness level to compare the results. In addition, use a small aperture (ie large f-number, like f11).

Once you've got the test images, put them into your editing package and play around a little.

Since I don't have the full Photoshop, but Photoshop Elements 2 (still a worthy package), I general do an unsharp mask at radius 0.7, at around 70% - makes a nice punchy image. However, I would strongly recommend getting Richard Lynch's "Hidden Power of Photoshop Elements" book - it adds a whole pile of seriously useful bits to Elements 1 & 2. (see http://www.hiddenelements.com for a sampler and some free plugins)

Matt

Images are just not sharp. It is 4mpix camera and it should giving really nice pictures but it don't. I don't know what is wrong. The camera is new and I am first owner.

Ah... let's start with some basics...

Digital does not mean perfect. The camera is still prone to the same physical problems as film - dust, dirt, blur, camera shake etc. To explain a little:

Is the lens clean? A finger print on the lens is not going to help sharpness at all. Get a decent lens cloth (or a little professional 'pen' type lens cleaner) - don't use a handkerchief or a tissue because you can scratch the optics that way.

Also, is the camera steady? Depending on the level of light, the camera can open it's shutter for a relatively long time, certainly long enough to translate the small movements of your hand and arm into blur. Best thing to do - try a tripod. Alternatively, take a photo in good light (midday for instance).

To be honest, you have to take some test photos (but this doesn't matter as you are using digital ) By this I mean still life, in good light. Try a few photos and see if they are better than your other images.

If this is all new to you: (a) read your Pentax manual again. They have some explainations about camera basics that help a lot; (b) get a book on the basic principles of photography (film or digital); (c) ask someone you know who is a more experienced photographer (say a local Pentax group)

Short of seeing one of your images, I cannot offer much more

Matt