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Phuntography, #1

There's been some vague interest from some, erm, interested parties for information about photography tips & tricks and general information about sharing photos online. Since my wealth of knowledge is but an endless pit, I've decided to run a recurring segment here called Phuntography™ for a limited time only. These segments will range in difficulty from beginner to advanced, yours to read or toss out the window at your leisure. You know, whatever your flavor.

There will be simple tips & tricks, several photoshop tutorials covering everything basic image enhancement to more advanced tutorials accomplishing some of the cool "effects" you've seen around the joint, and all kinds of other goodies. If there's anything you'd like to read along the way feel free to email me your questions. I will certainly attempt to appear to know the answer. Annnnnd, on with tonight's tutorial!

Phuntography Tutorial 1) resizing your photo & image clarity.

What's the issue? Ever find yourself asking, um, yourself how someone got their photos to look so crisp and clear online? Ask no longer my friends! Perhaps one of the simplest and most underexposed secrets is the extreme goodness that is Photoshop's "Unsharp mask".

You might think that the "Sharpen" tool would do a better job of sharpening photos, but the reason most people use the "Unsharp mask" is that you actually have control over what's going on with the latter technique. The sharpen tool often sharpens too much, leaving you with a grainy looking image.

When to use the "Unsharp mask". (Almost) Anytime you re-size your scanned or digital photos tempered with a small dose of artistic discretion of course.

Do note that when using the following techniques you should always, always, always save your files under a new name so you don't destroy the original version. Additionally, these techniques are executed using Photoshop but can be performed using the FREE! software Picasa, put out by Google.

How to re-size in Photoshop.
Step 1 - Select the "Image" menu.
Step 2 - Select "Image Size..."
Step 3 - Make sure the "Constrain Proportions" box is checked.
Step 4 - Change the width or height to a size that works for you. I always use "pixels" as the unit of measure in this process. On my photoblog, for example, I set the width to "540 pixels" and click on "OK".

How to sharpen images in Photoshop.
Step 1 - After you've re-sized your photo, select the "Filter" menu.
Step 2 - Click on "Sharpen" and then "Unsharp mask...".
Step 3 - Set the Amount to "500%"
Step 4 - Set the Radius to "0.1 pixels" or "0.2 pixels".
Step 5 - Set the Threshold to "0 levels", and click on "OK".

Annnnnnnnnd kick back with an umbrella'd drink while you view the finished product!