Sharpen Luminosity

As we know, sharpening filters may cause chromatic aberrations. That's why many Photoshop users resort to such a workaround:

- Converting the image to Lab mode.
- Sharpening the L (Lightness) channel with the "Unsharp Mask" filter.
- Reconversion to the initial color mode.

The "Sharpen Luminosity" script uses an alternative version of the described method adapted for PSE.

1. So, launch the "Sharpen Luminosity" script.
2. Define the suitable "Unsharp Mask" values with the sliders.
3. Since the script doesn't allow real-time previewing, click the "Preview" button (screenshot) and, if necessary, adjust the "Unsharp Mask" parameters.
4. The "Despeckle" option makes the script apply the filter of the same name, which is meant to suppress noise caused by "Unsharp Mask".
5. The script implements sharpening in a separate layer. Unchecking the "Merge down" gadget lets you fade the effect by reducing the "sharpening" layer opacity.
6. The "All open images" option means sharpening all the currently opened documents.

To sharpen an entire folder of photographs, you use the "Batch" tool:

1. Open any image.
2. Call the "Sharpen Luminosity" dialog and define all the required settings.
3. Click the "Save and Close" button to make the script remember your data.
4. Launch the "Batch" script.
5. Select for execution the "Sharpen Luminosity -batch edition" script.
6. Choose the source directory and "Destination" options.
7. Click "Run" to start the batch processing.