Sharpening is a deep topic by itself. I used to spend hours working on masks for multiple sharpening layers (radically different USM settings and edge-selection) but I get almost the same results in one minute with Photokit Sharpener and simple adjustment of its output layers.

Mocky, check your image "Mode." IIRC, if you are working in 16 bit you cannot use most filters.

 

I'll definitely check it out when I get home tonight. Thanks!

 

What I meant to say was that if there noise in the photo, sharpening will make it stand out more.

 

ah... yeah if you have any noise then sharpening is just going to make it way worse.

 

It says RGB Color and 8bit/Channel..


Still can't do it

 

Only RAW files are 16 bit.

 

This is what I do to most of my images:

Your version:


My interpretation:

 

I also like dropping the background if I feel it is distracting:

Your picture:


How I view it:

 

Somtimes I hate how the pictures come out of the camera, with very dull colors. Here's one picture that I thought came out good out of the camera:



Here is my edited version:


I do this by using several layer adjustment tools along with dodging/burning the areas as necessary.

 

Dodging/Burning are awesome, but that might be getting a little too advanced for Mocky right now because the best way to do that is with layer masks. Unless you're just "painting" a burn/dodge in.

He first needs to learn how to use layers, and then realize what the different adjustment/fill layers do. There's also learning how to organize layers - how many times have you been lost in the Layers/Channels/Paths section?

By the way, another cool way to effect the background is to throw a light gradient mask on it then give it a small gaussian blur