Nik Software's Sharpener Pro 3.0

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Nik Software's Sharpener Pro 3.0

The Product Box

     Today's post is all about Nik Software's Sharpener Pro 3.0. I forgot that this company is a Nikon company. When I purchased a Nikon 8000 scanner a few years ago on E-Bay, I knew that I was getting the best film scanner on the market, except maybe for the Imacon. Nikon has had years of experience to perfect scanning hardware and software, and I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of their scanner software has been incorporated into the Plug-In for Photoshop, Aperture, or Lightroom.

The Before Image of a Nice Tootsietoy Graham Tow Truck

The rear portion of the truck was out-of-focus.

The After Image of a Nice Tootsietoy Graham Tow Truck

The Before Portion Enlarged

The After Portion Enlarged

    I purposely sharpened the image beyond what might be "acceptable" for print quality. When I find the time, I'm going to work with Photoshop, or maybe even Nik Software for noise reduction to see what I can achieve.

     Sharpener Pro 3.0 software is a 2-step process. 

The first step (pre-sharpening) step determines the settings for the sharpening effect. 

The  second step (sharpening) is the actual process of sharpening. It also includes a menu  for how the image will be printed (output).

A Sharpening Window

What's interesting is that the "control points" work the same as in 

their other software that I just wrote about - Viveza 2.

Vivesa 2 is the software for controlling lighting in your photo.

Just to remind you, you place a "control point" with your cursor.

Once it's placed, you can expand the size of it, and control the functions with a series of sliders.

Here aee some sliders on the right-hand side.

Changes are made either on the "control point" or on the menu on the right side.

Like it's sister program (Viveza 2), you have the option of 3 different window views:

1. The whole image

1. Half and half (Unaltered and altered) shown on the same image. 

A red line splits the picture in 2

3. 2 separate pictures - before and after

 You access the plug-in by going to:


Filters >>  Nik Software  >>  Sharpener Pro 3.0: (1) RAW Presharpener

 The Working Window

 Placing a Control Point

 Enlarging the Control Point on the actual Image

This is done via a horizontal slider.

The Bottom Window Allows You to Save Settings

A Result

The Settings for the Sharpened Image

Stronger Sharpening

This is much too apparent and unacceptable, unless perhaps this 

was the only image of an important event or the only remaining photo.

As I mentioned before, I will try and reduce the grain (noise) in Photoshop later when I have more time.

 When you are finished, you'll need to flatten (merge) the layers.

A window to move around a "framer" to see different parts of the sharpened image. 

 The "Before" Image

The "After" Image

I sharpened this image just to an acceptable level .You'll have to click on each image (to enlarge) to see the final differences.The difference are subtle, but are the best before grain (noise) overpowers the image.

The "Before" Image

The "Sharpened" Image

The "Sharpened" Image with Noise Reduction

Of course, this software is a "last resort". High-quality photography requires the use of a tripod, careful focus, use of an infra-red remote shutter release, and several other factors.

If you're a person who uses photography, then the expression, "you get what you pay for" truly refers to the DE (Digital Era). When digital photography first started in enough quantity, I found that overall quality started to go into a downward spin. Companies would buy digital camera for their "newly-appointed digital photographer". They would also buy Photoshop, and figured that anyone could "take the photo".

Fortunately, the downward spiral had reveres course.Many photographers had to close down because they couldn't compete with the amateurs who were moonlighting on weekends (weddings) or were doing "in-house" photography within their own company.

The dust is clearing, and professional photography overall is coming back into its' own.

High quality and very-good quality photography just doesn't happen. True Professional adapted to the DE, and used this as a way to create better images in less time.

Bottom line, a pro is a pro. 

You pay for experience, skill, equipment, and  quality, and that to me is most important.