Resize and sharpen - which first?

[Ian]

I asked this a long time ago on the old forum, but I think it's worth revisiting.

It's a fact that sharpness is usually lost when resizing an image, so sharpening is required to compensate. The question is - do you sharpen first and then resize or resize then sharpen. Or even sharpen -> resize -> sharpen?

I'd be interested to know your preference!

Ian

[DTD]

Re: Resize and sharpen - which first?

Sharpen last. Never really experimented. Only resize if I have to.

[lumix]

Re: Resize and sharpen - which first?

I asked this a long time ago on the old forum, but I think it's worth revisiting.

It's a fact that sharpness is usually lost when resizing an image, so sharpening is required to compensate. The question is - do you sharpen first and then resize or resize then sharpen. Or even sharpen -> resize -> sharpen?

I'd be interested to know your preference!

Ian

Use Easy Thumbnails and you can do both at the same time. Also lets you set how much sharpening is done and shows you a preview of the finished image before saving. Resizing is so easy. Just set the dimensions required and the file size and it's done and dusted. All for free well worth downloading.

[Archangel]

Re: Resize and sharpen - which first?

I asked this a long time ago on the old forum, but I think it's worth revisiting.

It's a fact that sharpness is usually lost when resizing an image, so sharpening is required to compensate. The question is - do you sharpen first and then resize or resize then sharpen. Or even sharpen -> resize -> sharpen?

I'd be interested to know your preference!

Ian

Hi Ian,

While you don't specify the type of resizing (downsizing or upsizing), I assume that you mean downsizing.
What I personally think is the best is to downsize and sharpen simultaneously using let's say the "Bicubic" algorithm.

I never sharpen before downsizing just because there might be no need for it or because it might be too much when the image is downsized.


Regards


George

[Tinka]

Re: Resize and sharpen - which first?

Hi Ian,
I always sharpen last as some/many, processes make an image less sharp.

[rogleale]

Re: Resize and sharpen - which first?

Hi Ian,
In my opinion all sharpening should be done last, but that is certainly debatable. As an aside, Adobe Lightroom has a final light sharpening facility before printing which all the real experts seem to recommend.
I myself use Qimage for all my printing, and there is no need at all to resize the master image as Qimage will take all the pixels from the master, and squeeze them into the required size for a smaller print, or resize the master on the fly if it is for a larger print. The interpolation for larger prints in Qimage is excellent so one step in the processing is rendered unnecessary.

Roger

[Steve40]

Re: Resize and sharpen - which first?

My editor allows me a 50% downsize, and sharpen at one application. If that is sufficient size reduction, I stop there. But if not I resize again using Lancoze 3 interpolation algorithms. Then resharpen as necessary, I also save all my images in TIFF format, so all of these operations do minimal image damage. Then convert to JPG where necessary for web posting.