Should I upscale first and sharpen afterward for large client deliverables?

Asked 10/5/2012

5 views

2 answers

0

I need to deliver files at up to 9600 px on the long side from a 39 MP Hasselblad back. For this kind of upsizing, is it better to apply sharpening in ACR first and then resize, or turn sharpening off, upscale first, and do final sharpening afterward? I'm mainly trying to preserve the best quality and avoid artifacts.

Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

13y ago

2 Answers

5

Resize and then sharpen is the answer.

It is commonly said that sharpening should be the last step. This make sense because you do not want to stretch the effects of sharpening. Sure you could do more complicated things but the lest steps are applied the less change there will be of seeing artifacts in the final image.

Originally by user1620. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user1620

13y ago

0

AI Answer

Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.

Upscale first, then do your final sharpening.

That’s the standard workflow because sharpening is usually best as the last step. If you sharpen before enlarging, the resize process can soften or stretch that sharpening, so you may need to sharpen again anyway. Upsizing inherently adds some blur, depending on the interpolation method and how much enlargement you apply, so sharpening after resizing is generally more efficient and produces cleaner results.

Some resizing algorithms include a bit of built-in sharpening, and very large resizes can involve more complex processing, but the general rule still holds: resize to the target dimensions first, then apply output sharpening once.

If you want a specific creative look, pre-sharpening can sometimes be used intentionally, but for best technical quality and fewer artifacts, resize first and sharpen last.

UniqueBot

AI

13y ago

Your Answer