PhotoKit Sharpner, Pixel Genius

Over the last few days - in addition to all the film experiments, I've been testing "PhotoKit Sharpener" from Pixel Genius.

Reason: my own sharpening techniques (and I've been using several including masking) are just not quite up to snuff. Or sometimes take too much manual manipulation.

Photokit Sharpener is for real. And it does make what to me is a dramatic difference in the quality of the prints.

It is geared towards a sharpening workflow. I haven't gone through all the options yet - there are many - but I have been doing a two-step dance where first you sharpen the capture (in this case from 400 and 800 ASA negatives) - THIS TAKES A VERY LONG TIME ON A 5400 16-BIT FILE. I should give the specs on my PC before saying that - maybe later.

It is a non-destructive sharpener. Sharpening is done via a combination of several layers masks.

Then you go to step two where you get your print to the final size for printing with all your correction layers etc. and then you apply an OUTPUT sharpening which is geared towards your output device, in this case an inkjet printer. This doesn't take as long as step one since you're working on a smaller file. I've been doing 12 x 18 prints most of the morning at 240 dpi.

Since I just bought it - it means that a) it will save me time and b) give better results than I can do on my own.

Obviously this is not a review since I don't have the time to write a good review. This is just a further note about what's been going on in the Beckerman workflow.

One caveat. This thing wants a fast processor and lots of memory if you're working on a 5400 dpi scan. So much so - that I may finally (after what - five or six years) have to upgrade the PC. It may be a sign because this morning the machine was making some weird noises; probably the fan was having some troubles. I opened the guy up and cleaned it thoroughly and hopefully turned it on and same noise - definitely from the main fan. I'm not saying that's a reason to up and get a new machine - but it is time.