Another Uprez Question

[HowardG]

I recently bought the Camera To Print video tutorial, which is terrific.  I was particularly engrossed by the segment on uprezzing….lots of interesting material there.  Despite listening to the segment several times, doing a forum search, and reading Jeff’s The Art Of The Uprez article I am still left with a few questions, some of which I think I have the answer to and some of which I am uncertain of.  I was hoping I might get some input, so that I can ensure I am understanding it all properly.

1)   I believe that in the video Jeff said that he capture sharpens the image prior to using Bicubic Smoother, but I believe (I don’t have it in front of me at the moment) that in the article no prior sharpening had been done.  So, to be certain…does one capture sharpen before the bicubic smoother uprezzing step?

2)   Jeff talks about uprezzing to 200% and implied (at least that is the way I took it) that he doesn’t bother uprezzing less than this amount.  If you knew without question that you did not need the file size increased nearly this much and say only needed a 20% increase….is there something about the uprezzing algorithm that makes 200% superior, or would uprezzing 20% and then following his PhotoKit Super Sharpener protocol provide results that were as good or better (because of fewer ‘made up’ pixels) as going to 200%?  Or do you even need the Super Sharpener done twice if you were only going up less than 50% or so?

3)   In the video Jeff talks about running Super Sharpener 1 twice and fading each run to 10-15%, but I was a bit uncertain about this….does one just lower the opacity of the two Super Sharpener layers to 10-15%.  Is there anything that serves as a guide as to how many times to run Super Sharpener and what % to fade in relation to the amount of uprezzing or is it just a guesstimate based on the image appearance at 25% zoom?

Thanks for any input.

Howard

[Schewe]

1- The article was done way before the improvements of Camera Raw (version 4.1 specifically) so, I NEVER used to sharpen in ACR...but I do now.

2- If the native resolution of the file is between 180-480 at the final print size, I really wouldn't bother uprezing unless you are falling in the bottom 1/3 of that scale. Then "some" images may benefit fro a 50% upsample...

3- Your eyes and the final print...

[ErikKaffehr]

Hi,

Nomenclature question: When talking about uprezing by 50 or 200% do we mean linear size or surface?

Erik

1- The article was done way before the improvements of Camera Raw (version 4.1 specifically) so, I NEVER used to sharpen in ACR...but I do now.

2- If the native resolution of the file is between 180-480 at the final print size, I really wouldn't bother uprezing unless you are falling in the bottom 1/3 of that scale. Then "some" images may benefit fro a 50% upsample...

3- Your eyes and the final print...

[HowardG]

1- The article was done way before the improvements of Camera Raw (version 4.1 specifically) so, I NEVER used to sharpen in ACR...but I do now.

2- If the native resolution of the file is between 180-480 at the final print size, I really wouldn't bother uprezing unless you are falling in the bottom 1/3 of that scale. Then "some" images may benefit fro a 50% upsample...

3- Your eyes and the final print...

Jeff...thanks very much for the input...it is appreciated

[Schewe]

When talking about uprezing by 50 or 200% do we mean linear size or surface?

In Photoshop's Image Size dlog...set to upsample and the amount to a percent...

[Tklimek]

I've posted this in another area of this forum but it may have gotten "lost".

One thing that I made a note of is that in the "Camera to Print" video there is a segment suggestions for printing at "native resolution". In the Lightroom 2 tutorial, something new is revealed. Jeff was making a case for uprezzing in Lightroom to improve print quality.

Jeff mentions that they were still testing and perhaps they could do a story on it. Does anyone know if anything ever came out of this? I may have missed the story or essay where the recommendations have been presented.

Holiday cheers....

Todd in Chicago

1- The article was done way before the improvements of Camera Raw (version 4.1 specifically) so, I NEVER used to sharpen in ACR...but I do now.

2- If the native resolution of the file is between 180-480 at the final print size, I really wouldn't bother uprezing unless you are falling in the bottom 1/3 of that scale. Then "some" images may benefit fro a 50% upsample...

3- Your eyes and the final print...

[Schewe]

Jeff mentions that they were still testing and perhaps they could do a story on it. Does anyone know if anything ever came out of this? I may have missed the story or essay where the recommendations have been presented.

No, but note that Lightroom 2.2 has improved resampling code thanks to Eric and the Camera Raw team...that means you CAN resample in the Print module of Lightroom and apply improved sharpening for output. As a result, if you are on the low side of the 180-480PPI range, upsampling 50% in Lightroom may improve certain images...test it for yourself.

[ErikKaffehr]

Jeff,

Thanks for clarification! Reason I was asking that when we talk about magnification we talk about linear sometimes about area. 200 Perecent linear magnification is 400% area magnification. You have mentioned earlier that sharp pictures can be uprezed by 200 percent. I don't have your experience of judging prints with a critical eye, that's the reason I ask.

Best regards
Erik

In Photoshop's Image Size dlog...set to upsample and the amount to a percent...

[Edhopkins]

I have been reading this topic with great interest. I am giving my wife Jeff's video tutorial "From Camera To Print - Fine Art Printing" as a Christmas present and intend to give her the discussion on this topic in LL as an addendum to the tutorial.

Jeff: are there more changes you make to your presentation in the video?  

I just want to put this outrageous suggestion out there for you to think about.  Your video has the reputation of excellence, as being the place to start for serious photographers/printers. I look forward to working though it with my wife. It would be great if there were an addendum to the tutorial which talks about the changes you would make now due to evolutions in the software (and perhaps in your methods) since you created it.  

If such an addendum already exists, could you point me to it?  

Speaking for myself, I would be quite willing to pay for such an addendum.  

Just a thought.

(Or should I just wait for your new book, Adobe Photoshop CS4 for Photographers: The Ultimate Workshop, and study that?)

And thanks to you Jeff for all the help you already give in these forums.

Ed
Baltimore

[Schewe]

(Or should I just wait for your new book, Adobe Photoshop CS4 for Photographers: The Ultimate Workshop, and study that?)

We didn't have room for any new info on uprezing....and no, there's no update either written of on tape as of yet. Doing an update isn't particularly easy and aside from a few specific details, there's nothing "wrong" in the current video. Mike and I have talked about doing a new video but so far with the exception of the new 79/9900 printers and their all new dithering math, nothing substantial has changed. Yes, Lightroom 2.2 has new resampling and improved output sharpening. But nothing that wasn't, uh, at least telegraphed in the video. So, we'll see...heck, I'm still learning this stuff so it takes while to put it into the pipeline :~)