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BetterPhoto Q&A
Category: Free Photo Contest

Photography Question 

Angela K. Wittmer 		 

Why Are My Uploaded Pics Blurry?


 
 
I submitted a photo, and it's blurry. Its does not look this way... the actual photo is very sharp. How can I correct this, and resubmit it for entry into the contest? Any help you can give me would be great, as these are the first pics I have submitted.


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August 17, 2003

 

doug Nelson 		  Did you scan the print in a flatbed scanner? The scanning process, whether we scan from a print or from the film itself, causes a slight blurring effect. Imaging software, like Photoshop or Elements has a sharpening function to deal with this. The preferred method is called "Unsharp Mask" in Photoshop. See what your imaging software instructions say about sharpening. See also the comments on sharpening at scantips.com.

Another possible cause is compressing a JPEG image too much before working with it. Scan and work your image as a TIF. JPEG it only just before you send it. Sharpen it cautiously once it is in JPEG mode. For this web page, try not compressing the JPEG image at all, or only to about a 10 (on Photoshop's scale).
Excellent portrait, BTW. I think it deserves consideration in the contast if you did nothing more to it.


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August 18, 2003

 

Angela K. Wittmer 		  Dear Doug

Thank your for your response to my question.... I am going to invest in Photoshop as I think it would be to my benefit. I will try your suggestions! Thank you very much for your kind words in regards to the photo. Ashley is one of my favorite models!
Angie


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August 20, 2003

 

doug Nelson 		  You may already have Photoshop LE or Elements with a scanner or digital camera. Don't blow $600 on full Photoshop 7 yet. If you have no imaging program, try Elements 2 for $69.

When you do a portrait, use a larger (smaller numbered) f-stop to blur the background more. You can select the model in Elements or Photoshop, do an inverse selection, and blur the background in the digital image.
Max aperture may give you too little depth-of-field. Whatever, that's a nice portrait!


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August 22, 2003

 
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