Thank you, Andy. - Should anybody wish to dive deeper into the secrets of the Diffuse and sharpen module, I highly recommend Boris Hajdukovic's 'Darktable Episode 51' (yes, the number is not accidental, it's classified stuff, and the initial ball part cannot be jumped over, if you want to fly).
Andy, you can also use method 1, in an edge sharpening mode, by using the Blend mode "Difference" and playing with the radius and amount sliders. After you see the edges, you can go back to normal mode. You wouldn't have to use mask at all to eliminate the sky, if done right.
Andy Robert Hutton has on of the only videos I know that nicely demonstrates the edges Feature... it's there to mitigate halo and dark outlines on tradition that you get with contrast adjustments... I'm off to bed but I can dig up the video if you like. DT also can use an old school high pass filter and blend in overlay or soft light but it's an old display referred module for DT.
Cheers Todd, I'll find it! Did you ever come across that chat on the forums mentioning 'porting' RT CS to DT? If it's at all possible, I wish they would.
Found the porting reference here discuss.pixls.us/t/new-tool-capture-sharpening/14197/77 - Ingo's comment Nov '19 "Some thoughts about capture sharpening: " If someone wants to port it to DT, it’s an almost perfect candidate for OpenCL usage as the main step is to transfer the data to GPU memory, then do the iterations, then transfer back to main memory if needed."
Hi Andy, nice video. Another method of masking the sharpening effect is to use the Details Threshold slider. You'll only see it on RAW photos and I think you need the scene referred blending options. But basically it works the same as the sharpen masking feature in Lightroom. The slider limits the effect to the detail level you set. It works really well and is available in almost all modules. Cheers!
just now Thanks Andy. That was very helpful. I was happy to see that you didn't find the need to delve into all those sliders in d or s. Your simple and straight forward approach works great. However, it's too bad that DT can't compete with the RT capture sharpening. I would imagine that for those who wish to do their edits in DT, PS would be a good place to do final sharpening?
@@AndyAstbury indeed, a bit more context. When the image blur comes from a "diffuse" related process, say a filter, coating layers in the lens, etc, the 'deblur' preset attempts to revert the physical process that created the blur. So by beautifully I meant to say it does an amazing job at sharpening the image just by undoing that kind of blur. As I understand from the darktable websitel, that is one of the main purposes of the diffuse and sharpen module, as it tries to mathematically model the most common diffusing processes of light as related to photography. Hence the "diffuse" in the module's name. I find it creates a more natural sharpening without the filtering artifacts from other methods. Would be interesting to compare it by introducing artificial blurring against a baseline image without that.
@@AndyAstbury better than other models that are not that physically based for the purposes of restoring "actual" optical sharpness. So, before you ask yet again, the diffuse or sharpen module appears to me to have better detail reconstruction than unsharp mask based modules or even the contrast equalizer. Pretty much all the methods you reviewed here. I'm not talking about perceptual changes, which are valid of course. I'm talking about getting back sharpness, or optical resolution (not mega pixels) that was taken away by Low Pass and AA filters, lens coatings and demosaicing, all of which have a diffuse aspect to them. The diffuse or sharpen is based on this paper: "Simultaneous inpainting for image structure and texture using anisotropic heat transfer model" which you can find in research gate. Hope this makes sense, otherwise I don't know what you are trying to get to.
I understand now, better than other methods WITHIN Darktable. As someone who produced a very extensive course on sharpening - wildlifeinpixels.net/shopfront/downloads/professional-grade-image-sharpening/- I can honestly say that 'sharpening in general' is a weak point of Darktable IN MY OPINION (and everyone's entitled to their own opinion). For my own imaging, if I have to process in Darktable, I do so with minimal sharpening or none, then move the image to Photoshop where I can do whatever I think is needed. Image sharpening is PER CASE; in other words, an image being sent as a jpeg to the web requires a totally different sharpening approach than if it were being sharpened for a 6 foot print; and different again for all output cases in between.
Thanks for the tutorial. I usually use D&S presets. I like Darktable because it's the program that gives me the most pleasure in editing photos. Unfortunately the sharpening functions are the biggest drawback of this program. No matter how I try different settings, the photo is always bland or overly and artificially sharpened. I cannot get to a point where the sharpness is good. In RT, for example, all I have to do is turn on the focus function and I'm done. The sharpness in Rawtherapee is perfect! I don't even want to mention the tool in Darktable D&S, which is completely incomprehensible and very complicated. It is probably the worst DT module.
Shortly (next few hours) I'll upload my first ART video - I'm really loving ART now it works on Mac - 3 places to actually SHARPEN plus intuitive masking that actually works. Local edits with multiple iterations and masking - what more could you want!??!
I did not mention it, as it's bloody awful, and not worthy of consideration any more. According to the manual, it is no longer recommended, and has been superseded by the contrast equalizer and local contrast modules.
Very enlightning video Andy.
Thanks !
Glad it was helpful!
Thank you, Andy. - Should anybody wish to dive deeper into the secrets of the Diffuse and sharpen module, I highly recommend Boris Hajdukovic's 'Darktable Episode 51' (yes, the number is not accidental, it's classified stuff, and the initial ball part cannot be jumped over, if you want to fly).
Thanks Mr. Andy for this very helpful piece of Information.👍
Andy, you can also use method 1, in an edge sharpening mode, by using the Blend mode "Difference" and playing with the radius and amount sliders. After you see the edges, you can go back to normal mode. You wouldn't have to use mask at all to eliminate the sky, if done right.
Andy Robert Hutton has on of the only videos I know that nicely demonstrates the edges Feature... it's there to mitigate halo and dark outlines on tradition that you get with contrast adjustments... I'm off to bed but I can dig up the video if you like. DT also can use an old school high pass filter and blend in overlay or soft light but it's an old display referred module for DT.
Cheers Todd, I'll find it! Did you ever come across that chat on the forums mentioning 'porting' RT CS to DT? If it's at all possible, I wish they would.
Found the porting reference here discuss.pixls.us/t/new-tool-capture-sharpening/14197/77 - Ingo's comment Nov '19 "Some thoughts about capture sharpening:
" If someone wants to port it to DT, it’s an almost perfect candidate for OpenCL usage as the main step is to transfer the data to GPU memory, then do the iterations, then transfer back to main memory if needed."
Hi Andy, nice video. Another method of masking the sharpening effect is to use the Details Threshold slider. You'll only see it on RAW photos and I think you need the scene referred blending options. But basically it works the same as the sharpen masking feature in Lightroom. The slider limits the effect to the detail level you set. It works really well and is available in almost all modules. Cheers!
Thanks Andy
just now
Thanks Andy. That was very helpful. I was happy to see that you didn't find the need to delve into all those sliders in d or s. Your simple and straight forward approach works great. However, it's too bad that DT can't compete with the RT capture sharpening. I would imagine that for those who wish to do their edits in DT, PS would be a good place to do final sharpening?
You missed the deblur presets in diffuse and sharpen. They work beautifully.
Beautifully in comparison to WHAT exactly?
@@AndyAstbury indeed, a bit more context. When the image blur comes from a "diffuse" related process, say a filter, coating layers in the lens, etc, the 'deblur' preset attempts to revert the physical process that created the blur. So by beautifully I meant to say it does an amazing job at sharpening the image just by undoing that kind of blur. As I understand from the darktable websitel, that is one of the main purposes of the diffuse and sharpen module, as it tries to mathematically model the most common diffusing processes of light as related to photography. Hence the "diffuse" in the module's name.
I find it creates a more natural sharpening without the filtering artifacts from other methods.
Would be interesting to compare it by introducing artificial blurring against a baseline image without that.
Randall, you are still saying that it's better than other methods - what are the other methods? As I asked originally, better in comparison to what?
@@AndyAstbury better than other models that are not that physically based for the purposes of restoring "actual" optical sharpness.
So, before you ask yet again, the diffuse or sharpen module appears to me to have better detail reconstruction than unsharp mask based modules or even the contrast equalizer. Pretty much all the methods you reviewed here.
I'm not talking about perceptual changes, which are valid of course. I'm talking about getting back sharpness, or optical resolution (not mega pixels) that was taken away by Low Pass and AA filters, lens coatings and demosaicing, all of which have a diffuse aspect to them.
The diffuse or sharpen is based on this paper:
"Simultaneous inpainting for image structure and texture using anisotropic heat transfer model" which you can find in research gate.
Hope this makes sense, otherwise I don't know what you are trying to get to.
I understand now, better than other methods WITHIN Darktable. As someone who produced a very extensive course on sharpening - wildlifeinpixels.net/shopfront/downloads/professional-grade-image-sharpening/- I can honestly say that 'sharpening in general' is a weak point of Darktable IN MY OPINION (and everyone's entitled to their own opinion). For my own imaging, if I have to process in Darktable, I do so with minimal sharpening or none, then move the image to Photoshop where I can do whatever I think is needed.
Image sharpening is PER CASE; in other words, an image being sent as a jpeg to the web requires a totally different sharpening approach than if it were being sharpened for a 6 foot print; and different again for all output cases in between.
Thanks for the tutorial. I usually use D&S presets. I like Darktable because it's the program that gives me the most pleasure in editing photos. Unfortunately the sharpening functions are the biggest drawback of this program. No matter how I try different settings, the photo is always bland or overly and artificially sharpened. I cannot get to a point where the sharpness is good. In RT, for example, all I have to do is turn on the focus function and I'm done. The sharpness in Rawtherapee is perfect!
I don't even want to mention the tool in Darktable D&S, which is completely incomprehensible and very complicated. It is probably the worst DT module.
Shortly (next few hours) I'll upload my first ART video - I'm really loving ART now it works on Mac - 3 places to actually SHARPEN plus intuitive masking that actually works. Local edits with multiple iterations and masking - what more could you want!??!
Another sharpening module is highpass.
I did not mention it, as it's bloody awful, and not worthy of consideration any more. According to the manual, it is no longer recommended, and has been superseded by the contrast equalizer and local contrast modules.
@@AndyAstbury no it is not, it's great and I love to use it.
You know better than the developers then....
@@AndyAstbury basically. yes, the only thing that matters to me is that it works bell.
Good video but your blaspheming of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is not necessary.