Multipass Sharpening

[tonygamble]

Where can I find the default settings for Multipass Sharpening please.

I have read the .pdf but there is no screen shot for Pass Three. There are two for Pass One and they are different.

Tony

[jsachs]

Sorry, I have my own set of defaults that I regularly use, but they are different from the defaults built into the program.

Here is what I use as default settings:

Multipass Sharpen Defaults.jpg (104.63 KiB) Viewed 153 times

The settings for Pass 3 do not matter since Pass 3 is disabled via the 3-button tool bar.

Depending on the image, I generally adjust the Pass 1 Blur Threshold to taste.

Once you enter these settings, if you use the Settings menu (via the Gear icon in the dialog box) to save them as the defaults, they will come up every time you start a new Multipass Sharpen.

[tonygamble]

Brilliant.

Many thanks.

Tony

[jsachs]

For the next release I updated the pdf and added a settings file to the install script.

[tomczak]

I figured I'll mention it here - my sort-of technique to visualize what the Multipass Sharpening will do to the image.

I made these settings the default starting point for images that I want to sharpen from scratch.

Screenshot 2025-02-22 052519 (Small).png (472.11 KiB) Viewed 42 times

At the initial settings, the output is unaffected.

I start from increasing blur radius to blur the whole image, remembering that what's blurred will be sharpened eventually.

Then I decrease the Blur Threshold to 'unblur' the coarse edges (thus excluding them from eventual sharpening).

At this point, I move Sharpen Threshold sliders. This 'unblurs' the finest details like grain or fine texture, again protecting it from eventual sharpening.

At last, I 'convert' blur into sharpening with the Sharpen Factor slider and limit the halos with Halo Limit slider.

One interesting observation is that the two blurring methods in Settings - bilateral filter and guided filter - offer different results and are quite interesting to experiment with.

[tomczak]

A nitpicking question: for the Sharpen Threshold slider, wouldn't flipping the black and white direction be more intuitive, as in 'full effect = the white slider all the way to the right'?

[tomczak]

On the other hand, maybe it's logical and intuitive the way it is if I imagine the Sharpen Threshold slider as representing the roughness scale (similar to the Advanced Sharpen roughness). The slider blocks the 'roughness' from sharpening starting from fine on the left to increasingly courser to the right.