Real Resolution is Sharpener Pro’s assessment of the size and resolution settings that will yield the best reproduction of detail. Two versions of each filter are provided - a regular version and an Autoscan version, which analyzes your image to determine it’s “real resolution.” Each includes its own set of assumptions about your sharpening needs. To provide for different output options, Sharpener Pro includes separate filters for Color Laser, Inkjet, Internet, and Offset Press. Therefore, if you’re outputting to a desktop inkjet printer, Sharpener Pro will do things differently than if you’re outputting to a high-quality imagesetter, or saving a screen-resolution Web image. Sharpener Pro understands this and bases all sharpening calculations on your intended output device. Though the program does not provide a guaranteed, one-stop solution to your sharpening woes, it does offer easier, better results than the tools built-in to most image editors.Īs you may have already discovered, different-sized images need different amounts of sharpening and, if you want to get really picky, images viewed from different distances need different sharpening, too. Nik Sharpener Pro addresses these issues, as well as others, using an interface that is simple to use and easy to understand. And, such filters uniformly sharpen all areas of your image, even though some areas may not respond as well to your chosen sharpening settings. Though a sharpening filter can take a somewhat soft image or scan and render it sharper and “punchier,” it can just as easily take a somewhat soft image and render it over-contrasty, flat, and harsh. Unfortunately, finding the right settings for an Unsharp Mask filter can be difficult. This process serves to create a “halo” around the edges of objects in your image, rendering the overall image sharper. The usual sharpening tool of choice is an Unsharp Mask filter, which works by identifying lines of high contrast in your image, and then darkening the dark side of the line and lightening the light side. has come up with an excellent alternative to your image editor’s built-in sharpening controls.

With its Nik Sharpener Pro Photoshop-compatible plug-in, Nik Multimedia, Inc. Unfortunately, it’s also one of the hardest steps to get right. If you’ve done even a little editing of digital images, then you know that sharpening is one of the most important steps in your image-editing workflow.

Nik sharpener pro 3