Resizing for web

Just thought I'd share a little knowledge

For a few weeks I have been fairly unimpressed with the perceived sharpness of my images that I upload to ePhotozine (1000 pixels max size). I had been using Photoshop CS2's Bicubic Sharper and a USM 100%/0.7/0 but the images still looked a bit "muddy" and lacked the "zing" that I see in other images.

So, after a little email chat with one of the pros, he pointed me in the direction of a neat little (free) utility that he uses. Well, I tried it out and it rocks!

The tool is "Easy Thumbnails" from Fookes - www.fookes.com

So, here's my current workflow (if you're still interested and following ):
* Shoot RAW
* Dump the session's RAW files into a dated subdirectory (e.g. "20070913 PentaxUser Tests"
* Run up Silkypix
* Drag the directory onto Silkypix
* Process the images I want, and develop to AdobeRGB colour space TIFF or JPG (more commonly for me) in a "Silkypix" subdirectory off the dated one.
* Run up Photoshop
* Do any localised adjustments
- Dust removal (still have the odd spot that gets in!)
- New Levels or Curves Adjustment Layer; OK the values; Change blend mode to "Multiply"; Opacity to about 20%; then use Gradient tool to paint black or white on the layer mask
- New Layer or Curves Adjustment Layer; OK the value; Change blend mode to "Screen"... continue as above
- Maybe duplicate the layer, gaussian blur (around 10 radius) and blend mode to "Overlay" or "Soft Light" to give some diffused glow. Add Layer Mask and mask as appropriate
- Probably add a Hue/Sat layer or Color Balance and tweak and mask (repeating for other selected areas)
- Use The Lights Right Studio's Professional sharpening JSX kit and do Creative Sharpening and brush it in for a bit more "bite" in areas.
* When happy, save the PSD file in a "Processed" subdirectory

* Flatten image
* Convert to colourspace sRGB
* Maybe a little extra sharpening
* Save as a high quality JPG with suffix "_sRGB"

* Run up Easy Thumbnails
* Choose [ Smart ] algorithm, Sharpness around 50 - 70, Max Width/Height = 1000
* Choose the "_sRGB" file version and convert to a thumbnail with suffix "_1k"

And there you have it
Sounds much more involved than it is

Here's an example: http://www.ephotozine.com/u16488/gallery/699091
(Hover your mouse over the [2] at the bottom of the image to see the out-of-Silkypix version. Version 1 is the hacked version )

Did I say I like Easy Thumbnails??
Matt

Matt, are you getting a bit short-sighted?

To me, the darker image is excessively over-sharpened, and looks unnatural - though very dramatic.

It could be that our screens are very different. I invested in a new LCD screen a month or two ago, and it gives a much more detailed image than the old CRT.

The result is that over-sharpened images appear even more so.

G

Actually about -5.5 with nearly -2 astigmatism... so pretty short sighted

Viewed close up on my LCD: yes, oversharpened, I agree.
Viewed at arms length on my LCDs: looks fine.

But then... I almost certainly did push the sharpening too far. Before I was getting such muddy and sloppy looking images - no matter what I did. Now I can get images that I can perceive as sharp it's a case of getting my fingers under control!

EDIT: Actually it was also somewhat image dependent. But it appears the Lanczos3 algorithm (which is also available in IrfanView IIRC) seems to give me what I was looking for.

EDIT: George - that's a serious battery of flashguns you have!

Matt

Matt, Are you calling George a flasher?

Edit:

Not sure if it is overly sharpened or if the colour is overly tweaked.

Probably both Tim