Making your images 'pop' - Help!

[jnulu]

I had come across a post a few days ago where, someone ( sorry, I don't remember who it was) mentioned that to make your images 'pop', you could do the following:

Duplicate your original, increase saturation, and use the median filter at a setting of 6 and a Gaussian blur at a setting of 4 and then .....for the life of me I can't rememberthe next few steps!

I am aware that there are many ways to do this, but liked this method very much and would therefore appreciate if someone can point me to the thread or the post which has this info.
Thanks in advance.

--

To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as night the day, that thou canst not then, be false to any man.

 

[jbf]

Here are the steps I got from a post a long time ago:

dup layer
saturate new layer +30
median - radius 6 pixels
gaussian blur - radius 4 pixels
mode - color
opacity to taste

jbf

I had come across a post a few days ago where, someone ( sorry, I
don't remember who it was) mentioned that to make your images
'pop', you could do the following:
Duplicate your original, increase saturation, and use the median
filter at a setting of 6 and a Gaussian blur at a setting of 4 and
then .....for the life of me I can't rememberthe next few steps!
I am aware that there are many ways to do this, but liked this
method very much and would therefore appreciate if someone can
point me to the thread or the post which has this info.
Thanks in advance.

--
To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as night the day,
that thou canst not then, be false to any man.

 

[jscher2000]

I had come across a post a few days ago where, someone ( sorry, I
don't remember who it was) mentioned that to make your images
'pop', you could do the following:
Duplicate your original, increase saturation, and use the median
filter at a setting of 6 and a Gaussian blur at a setting of 4 and
then .....for the life of me I can't rememberthe next few steps!

There was a post that showed this can cause colors to bleed, and suggested another way to help make images pop:

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1006&message=7080355

And here are some older threads for whatever they're worth:

How to make images stick out
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1006&message=7073296

pop out images
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1006&message=5906345

 

[dpnew]

...and this was about the 4th result:

Re: If you are looking for more pop to your pictures..... Mike Warren

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1006&message=5725841

I had a problem with my pictures...the just didnt' hit you...they were nice...dont get me wrong...but they had no oomph....well the other day I bought the PS7 bible...and low and behold I found my oomph in one setting...heheh...

Make a copy of your background layer....
open up the hue/saturation adjustments
move saturation up to 20~40%(mostly to taste)
(yep the colors will pop out and look really bad...but wait)
median the layer at 6 pixels
gaus blur it at 4 pixels
(should be really fuzzy now)
change blend mode to color....
voila.....

I imagine you could do the same with adjustment layers...but you still need a second layer to run the median and gaus on(both layer then have to be blended with color setting)

If you find that your saturation is still too much you can change the opacity(or delete the layer and start over....)

also I read some nice tips on per channel levels changes....

 

[dpnew]

ssssssssss

 

[Dalesman]

...and this was about the 4th result:

Re: If you are looking for more pop to your pictures..... Mike Warren

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1006&message=5725841

I had a problem with my pictures...the just didnt' hit you...they
were nice...dont get me wrong...but they had no oomph....well the
other day I bought the PS7 bible...and low and behold I found my
oomph in one setting...heheh...

Make a copy of your background layer....
open up the hue/saturation adjustments
move saturation up to 20~40%(mostly to taste)
(yep the colors will pop out and look really bad...but wait)
median the layer at 6 pixels
gaus blur it at 4 pixels
(should be really fuzzy now)
change blend mode to color....
voila.....

I imagine you could do the same with adjustment layers...but you
still need a second layer to run the median and gaus on(both layer
then have to be blended with color setting)

If you find that your saturation is still too much you can change
the opacity(or delete the layer and start over....)

also I read some nice tips on per channel levels changes....

Did the P7 Bible routine and the image popped.

However, when I turned off the median and gaussian layer, nothing changed. I am confused.--
Best wishes

Charles

Derbyshire England

Sony V1 Nikon 4500 TC-E2 Kenko 6x Canon 9000

 

[rodg82609]

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1006&message=7209604

rod
--
http://www.pbase.com/rodg

 

[camerashy]

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1006&message=7209604

rod
--
http://www.pbase.com/rodg

could you please explain where 'median' is in PS7 when they use the term 'median the layer to 6 pixels.
thanks Dave

--
pbase supporter at http://www.pbase.com/dav4184
for equipment see profile

 

[Dalesman]

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1006&message=7209604

rod
--
http://www.pbase.com/rodg

could you please explain where 'median' is in PS7 when they use the
term 'median the layer to 6 pixels.
thanks Dave

--
pbase supporter at http://www.pbase.com/dav4184
for equipment see profile

It is under Filter> Noise

--
Best wishes

Charles

Derbyshire England

Sony V1 Nikon 4500 TC-E2 Kenko 6x Canon 9000

 

[camerashy]

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1006&message=7209604

rod
--
http://www.pbase.com/rodg

could you please explain where 'median' is in PS7 when they use the
term 'median the layer to 6 pixels.
thanks Dave

--
pbase supporter at http://www.pbase.com/dav4184
for equipment see profile

It is under Filter> Noise

--
Best wishes

Charles

Derbyshire England

Sony V1 Nikon 4500 TC-E2 Kenko 6x Canon 9000

--
pbase supporter at http://www.pbase.com/dav4184
for equipment see profile

 

[jnulu]

Besides getting the specific info I was looking for, you folks have provided me more food for thought!
I'll NEVER get tired of saying "YOU FOLKS, ARE AWESOME!!"
Thanks to all who responded.
Regards.

I had come across a post a few days ago where, someone ( sorry, I
don't remember who it was) mentioned that to make your images
'pop', you could do the following:
Duplicate your original, increase saturation, and use the median
filter at a setting of 6 and a Gaussian blur at a setting of 4 and
then .....for the life of me I can't rememberthe next few steps!
I am aware that there are many ways to do this, but liked this
method very much and would therefore appreciate if someone can
point me to the thread or the post which has this info.
Thanks in advance.

--
To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as night the day,
that thou canst not then, be false to any man.

--

To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as night the day, that thou canst not then, be false to any man.

 

[dpnew]

Did the P7 Bible routine and the image popped.

However, when I turned off the median and gaussian layer, nothing
changed. I am confused.--

Hi,

I put the Gaussian blur, median, and Hue/Sat on individual layers with the blend modes all set to Color, and I magnified an edge between the background and the subject to 500%. Then, I put a copy of the background image on top of the stack, which allowed me to toggle it on and off to see the effect of any of the individual layers below it. The Gaussian blur caused the colors to bleed, and median reversed that. Then, I turned off the Hue/Sat layer to see the effect of the median and blur together. There were some subtle changes, although I'm not exactly sure why they are beneficial.

 

[S Clark]

Another method is to use USM at from 10-20 sharpness and around 50 radius, 0 threshold

--
http://www.pbase.com/galleries/sasc

 

[chas3000]

...and this was about the 4th result:

Re: If you are looking for more pop to your pictures..... Mike Warren

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1006&message=5725841

I had a problem with my pictures...the just didnt' hit you...they
were nice...dont get me wrong...but they had no oomph....well the
other day I bought the PS7 bible...and low and behold I found my
oomph in one setting...heheh...

Make a copy of your background layer....
open up the hue/saturation adjustments
move saturation up to 20~40%(mostly to taste)
(yep the colors will pop out and look really bad...but wait)
median the layer at 6 pixels
gaus blur it at 4 pixels
(should be really fuzzy now)
change blend mode to color....
voila.....

I imagine you could do the same with adjustment layers...but you
still need a second layer to run the median and gaus on(both layer
then have to be blended with color setting)

If you find that your saturation is still too much you can change
the opacity(or delete the layer and start over....)

also I read some nice tips on per channel levels changes....

 

[Stephen M. Alberts]

--

Use the sponge tool with mode set to saturate and flow around 20% as a starting point. Paint over your photo. Works well with with flowers, outdoor scenery and landscape.
Here's a sample



Stephen

 

[dpnew]

To reduce digital noise, I know you can separate your image into color and luminosity layers, and then blur the color layer--the luminosity layer retains the detail of the image. So, maybe the median and gaussian blur filters are to reduce digital noise, so that when you apply saturation, you don't saturate any noise that may be present.

Did the P7 Bible routine and the image popped.

However, when I turned off the median and gaussian layer, nothing
changed. I am confused.--

Hi,

I put the Gaussian blur, median, and Hue/Sat on individual layers
with the blend modes all set to Color, and I magnified an edge
between the background and the subject to 500%. Then, I put a copy
of the background image on top of the stack, which allowed me to
toggle it on and off to see the effect of any of the individual
layers below it. The Gaussian blur caused the colors to bleed, and
median reversed that. Then, I turned off the Hue/Sat layer to see
the effect of the median and blur together. There were some subtle
changes, although I'm not exactly sure why they are beneficial.