APOGEE PHOTO MAGAZINE: nik Sharpener and nik Sharpener Pro

Apogee Photo Magazine

nik Sharpener and nik Sharpener Pro

A review by Michael Fulks

If you've done any pre-press work or even prepared images for the Web, you know that sharpening images can be tricky work. Not enough and the image looks too soft--too much and it looks awful. Now there are two products that take the guesswork out of sharpening. Whether you need to sharpen for the Web, your inkjet printer, or an offset press, nik Sharpener and nik Sharpener Pro have settings that can help you optimize the sharpening without causing annoying white or black lines around objects that are signs of over-sharpening

In the past and even today, programs such as Photoshop relied on an "Unsharp Mask" algorithm to create the illusion of a sharper, crisper image--a principle that comes from a traditional darkroom technique. While this technique provides a relatively effective method for creating a "sharper" image, using it effectively and consistently requires considerable experience. Add to this problem the fact that the Unsharp Mask process provides neither added detail nor color protection, and users are left with additional issues to address in optimizing and preparing an image for print. Nik Sharpener Pro addresses many of the difficulties inherent in sharpening images optimally and offers an effective solution to easy and optimal image sharpening. The goal in creating nik Sharpener Pro was to provide users with a consistent tool for effective sharpening, while allowing users to match effective sharpening with their own sense of style.

Since the development of computer image enhancement, photographers and graphic artists have searched for a program which will sharpen an image while maintaining the qualities that make each photo unique. If you look carefully at images in even the best magazines, you will notice varying degrees of sharpness as well as inconsistencies even on a single page. Many of these variations in sharpness result from discrepancies between the appearance of the image on the screen and the final print. The optimal degree of sharpening depends significantly on various factors, so no matter how sharp the image appears on the screen or in a test print, the degree of sharpness of the final printed image in most cases cannot be accurately predicted.

Through its features, nik Sharpener Pro provides an automatic, efficient, and accurate tool for sharpening images. Features in nik Sharpener Pro include an intelligent pre-scanning system and an eye distance setting. This innovative feature allows for sharpening images based on the "natural" distance from which the sharpened image would be viewed. Nik Sharpener Pro's most advanced features, however, incorporate automatic image analysis and adjustment capabilities. Using a number of artificial intelligence algorithms to analyze, prepare, and sharpen an image, nik Sharpener Pro is able to calculate appropriate adjustments and to sharpen images optimally. In its analysis, this component analyzes objects, buildings, trees, people, etc. and sharpens them appropriately based on both detail and color, providing a much more uniform and precisely sharpened image.

There are two versions of nik Sharpener: Standard and Pro. The Standard is a "lite" version of the Pro. Most significantly, it lacks the Autoscan feature, Internet settings, Fence 'n Foliage Protection, and personalized settings.

The nik Sharpener Pro User Interface

Here are some of the most important features:

Image Size Setting (with Auto Detection): Standard & Pro Feature

Nik Sharpener Pro incorporates one of the most important factors into image sharpening - the image's size. Users can adjust the size of the final print using sliders to identify the size down to .10 of an inch. As an added safeguard, nik Sharpener Pro will also auto-detect the current image size, usually leaving the user to only confirm this setting. When using a nik Sharpener Pro filter with the Autoscan feature (see below), users need not enter the image size.

Autoscan: Pro Only Feature

The Autoscan feature in nik Sharpener Pro is included with each calculation engine--including Internet Images, Offset, Color Laser, and Inkjet printers. The Autoscan feature is among the more complex and significant features in nik Sharpener Pro, using artificial intelligence algorithms to analyze an image at various levels and providing the program with important information about the image prior to sharpening. In its analysis, the Autoscan process calculates and determines the image's "Real Resolution." This process analyzes the resolution of the image and is capable of considering the detail within the image regardless of the image's dots per inch (dpi).

Using the Autoscan Process and Real Resolution calculation, nik Sharpener Pro sharpens an image based on its quality. Images of below average quality are automatically sharpened differently from those of higher quality. When using a nik Sharpener Pro calculation engine with Autoscan, the image's size and quality are automatically determined. Users need not enter these variables.

Multiple Source Input Selection - "Image Source": Standard & Pro Feature

Nik Sharpener provides for multiple inputs to allow sharpening based on the different levels of image detail provided by the source. Source settings provide for analog sources (APS film, as well as small, middle and large format slides and transparencies), and digital sources (images from digital cameras, as well as scanned images). The "low-end", "mid-range", and "high-end" settings indicate the pixel range resolution of images from a digital camera. Similar settings for scanners provide a source quality setting for scans taken from low to high-end scanners.

Printer Resolution Setting - "Printer": Standard & Pro Feature

Within each nik Sharpener Pro interface, users identify the resolution of the final printing device. Because nik Sharpener Pro uses a separate calculation engine for each print/output process, the Printer setting requires the user to set only the ultimate print resolution.

Source Input Quality Setting - "'Overall Image Quality": Standard & Pro Feature

The input quality settings in nik Sharpener allow users to sharpen images regardless of image quality. Users can instruct the program to compensate for lower quality source images. Using a higher quality setting provides a different instruction to the program that adjusts the sharpening process to consider more detail in the image. Leaving this variable at its default setting of "average" leaves this compensating factor unaffected in the sharpening process.

Output Device Quality Setting- "Overall Printer Quality": Standard & Pro Feature

The output device quality setting provides similar compensating factors based on the quality of the output device and its process. The quality of the target printer, as well as the print paper for inkjet printers, impact the ultimate print quality. To allow users to compensate for this, the "Overall Printer Quality" variable provides appropriate compensating factors to optimize the final print.

Eye Distance Settings - "Eye Distance": Pro Only Feature

Nik Sharpener Pro is capable of sharpening an image according to the distance at which it was intended to be viewed. Most professionals know that the distance between the viewer and the object determines the nature and quality of the viewer's perception. Because of this, nik Sharpener Pro gives the user a choice of five settings: Book (brochures, flyers, hand-held items), Small Box (food containers, software boxes), Large Box (cartons, bags), Small Poster, and Large Poster.

Individualized Sharpening Style - "Personal Profile Setting": Pro Only Feature

Because professionals invariably have different artistic "styles", nik Sharpener Pro incorporates different profile settings that allow users to adjust the manner in which the image is ultimately sharpened while still maintaining an optimally sharpened image. The character profiles Anna, John, and Zap each represent different styles of sharpening, adjusting the sharpening method slightly. Personal Profile Settings allow a user to locate a profile that matches their creative style in order to apply that style consistently throughout a layout or an entire project.

Detail Protection - "Fence'n Foliage Protection": Pro Only Feature

The Fence 'n Foliage Protection process incorporates a series of automatic, selective-sharpening components into the sharpening process. Objects in an image contain different characteristics and detail, and as a result, need to be sharpened differently. Over-sharpening objects, such as foliage and repetitive patterns, often result in low contrast on the one hand or extreme contrast on the other, creating a moire effect. This feature within nik Sharpener Pro automatically sharpens some areas less and some areas more, guarding some areas against over-sharpening and preserving their optimal level of contrast.

Detail Protection - "Anti-aliasing Protection": Pro Only Feature

When sharpening an image with conventional methods, areas that contain anti-aliasing are often altered with the anti-aliasing effect being altered to varying degrees. nik Sharpener Pro provides an added detail protection process capable of identifying these areas and avoiding them within an image during the sharpening process.

Color Protection - "Hue Protection Process": Standard & Pro Feature

Color variation is a significant problem when sharpening using conventional methods. nik Sharpener Pro incorporates a proprietary Hue Protection Process into the sharpening process to isolate and protect areas in an image where higher contrast and color transitions are generally susceptible to color changes. When sharpening, nik Sharpener Pro avoids these areas to moderate color changes and sharpens these areas to a lesser degree.

Save & Load Feature: Pro Only Feature

Nik Sharpener Pro offers Save and Load functions, enabling users to save settings for frequently used parameters. The Save and Load feature allows users who sharpen images with the same source type and output device to recall these settings to further automate the sharpening process. When used with the Autoscan feature, the Save and Load function provides a completely automated sharpening process.

Detailed Image Information - "Test Output Area": Pro Only Feature

The Text Output area at the bottom of the nik Sharpener Pro interface consists of four lines and provides various pieces of information that pertain to the image and the sharpening process.

Accelerated Mode - "Acceleration Button": Pro Only Feature

Nik Sharpener Pro uses multiple calculations in its process of sharpening an image. Professionals who sharpen numerous images when time is a factor have the option of utilizing the Accelerated Mode controlled by the Acceleration Button. Using nik Sharpener Pro in Accelerated Mode allows users to sharpen images more quickly with little loss in sharpening quality.

The Internet Image Sharpener: Pro Only Feature

The nik Sharpener Pro Intermet Image Sharpener provides a unique, automated tool for sharpening images based on their individual qualities, irrespective of the output device. Using the nik Sharpener Pro Autoscan process, the Intemet Image Sharpener utilizes the complete ensemble of detail and color protection processes to optimally sharpen images, enabling consistent image sharpening for various output devices. Because the Intemet Image Sharpener optimizes an image based solely on its quality and characteristics, images can be optimized uniformly for screen viewing or for virtually any output device. When applying this sharpener to objects that are sufficiently sharp, the Intemet Image Sharpener will leave the image unaffected.

(Note: When using the Internet Image Sharpener on composite images with sufficiently sharpened and dominant features in the foreground, such as text and similar graphics, the Intemet Image Sharpener leaves the image unaffected so as not to over-sharpen dominant foreground features. To sharpen a composite image with this tool, sharpen the individual components with the Internet Image Sharpener.

When the ultimate print/output device is known, the appropriate print-specific device will yield optimal results.)

Automated Sharpening of Multiple Images - "Batch Processing": Pro Only Feature

Experienced users of Photoshop can utilize nik Sharpener Pro to sharpen multiple images using batch processing. Batch sharpening can be accomplished using Photoshop scripting. Any nik Sharpener Pro calculation engine can be used when batch processing. Users who have multiple images to sharpen can use the nik Sharpener Pro Internet Image Sharpener to automate this process, having the Internet Image Sharpener sharpen each image based on the image's individual qualities.

Conclusion

I found this plug-in to be extremely easy to use and very effective. I tried it out on several of my digital camera images that I had first sampled using Genuine Fractals. The result was unbelievable. I was able to print out on my Epson 1200 11X14 prints (from a 2.5 megapixel camera) with all of the detail and sharpness of a 5X7. The Personal Settings are invaluable, as is the auto scanning feature. The Fence 'n Foliage protection is very apparent--which is just short of magic. And, the text area that gives me information about my image before I sharpen is invaluable in helping me to decide if an image is going to be improved and what size will yield the optimal output. If you can afford the $329 price tag (Standard: $129), the Pro version is well worth the cost--in the improved workflow and the confidence that your image just can't get any better!