Mike Chaney's Tech Corner

Just started playing with TSS.

I'm wondering what the relationship of the numerical sharpening choices (in smart sharpening and normal sharpening) to the USM settings.  For example - if the default (5) is used in normal sharpening -- what is the radius and strength of that choice?

Also - what is being given up by using TSS & USM instead of smart sharpening?

I believe it is not as simple as that. Smart Sharpening is final print sharpening and it is "Smart" because the amount depends on a number of factors including the print size so there is no direct comparison.
Nothing is being given up, as I said above Smart sharpening is applied whenever the image is printed.
USM is IMAGE sharpening and TTS an advanced version of that. The idea is that you set the Smart Sharpening level so prints match the on-screen appearance of the image.
Open Edit Preferences and Printing Options, click the blue question mark, the detail is there.
Terry

Thanks Terry.  Yes, I had already read the details.  My assumption is that the final print sharpening should be - in most instances - turned off when using TSS - otherwise we'd be double sharpening.

I've been using qimage final print sharpening instead of doing it in PS for years now. In the particular image I'm playing with currently, any sharpening of the "sky" creates some artifacts.  Using TSS, I'm able to sharpen everything except the sky.  It looks good.  I originally used smart sharpening set at 15.  After some playing with the USM, I found that a radius of 3 with a strength of 300% is close to what I had with the smart sharpening. 

So while there may not be an exact correlation, certainly there must be some relationship between the final print sharpening numerical settings and the USM settings.  I have quite a few older images that I'd like to play with using TSS which already have been printed using just final print sharpening.  Almost all would use "target all except the selected tone".  Without having to experiment with each image, what I'm wondering is that if my original printing used say, smart sharpening at level 7, what would be a good approximation for the USM settings in TSS to match that.

Further - if it's not an exact correlation - then there must be something we're giving up. If smart sharpening, for example, takes into consideration print size, then my TSS & USM setting would be for a specific size and would need to be changed if I printed an image as a 5x7 and a 13x19.

Hope this makes sense!

Hi Johsef,
I think you are making this sound far more complicated than it really is  ::)  ;)
No, that is not the case, set Smart Sharpening so the print looks like the screen; your value of 15 is VERY high. The default value of 5 is usually close to the optimum for most cases.
Probably not, how would Qimage "know" what the USM settings were for an image from another application?
As the Help says, you set that correlation, print & screen to look the same.
That is the whole point of smart sharpening, one setting, for most people, works for all sizes of prints. Once set, I suggest you leave it alone.
I say again, set your IMAGE USM/TTS to look right on the screen to you taste; set PRINT Smart Sharpening (start with default 5) so the print looks like the screen with respect to sharpening.
These are 2 different settings!
Terry

I think you may be misunderstanding final print sharpening.  Final print sharpening is designed to get your final print to always be as sharp as the image itself (viewed at 100% on your monitor) no matter what size you are printing.  So final print sharpening is really a tool that allows you to match print sharpening with your monitor.  Sharpening is always a two step process.  First you apply the amount of sharpening needed to make the image look as sharp as it needs to be.  Then you use print sharpening to match that sharpness (that you see on the monitor) in print.  Once you've done that, you can apply TTS or any kind of image enhancements you want and the final print will always match what you've seen on the monitor.

Mike

hmmm - interesting.  I guess I've been using final print sharpening "wrong" for the last nine years on many thousands of images.  I don't have much personal interest in matching sharpness to my monitor.  I'm only interested in how my final prints appear compared to each other and do they have the look I'm after.

And not all my prints are direct photographic images (though many are) - the particular one I was referring to is a highly PS filtered & manipulated image with an artificial sky (actually a gray gradient with white streaks through it), thus the 15 setting is not too high and achieves the effect that I wanted except in the sky.  My normal technique in this situation would be to go back into PS, sharpen the parts I need to there and not use any sharpening in qimage when I print.  TSS provided me a way to print this image without having to go back into PS (which really is not that big of a deal).

I was actually hoping for a bit more technical answer rather than a review on the intended use of the features.  That's fine though & I appreciate the answers.  I'll keep experimenting with it all when I have more time. Thanks!