Tuesday Tip ‘O the Day: Soft & Sharp

My tip of the day for Tuesday is called Sharp and Soft. Have you ever seen those images that have a wonderful soft glow to them, but at the same time are really sharp. Seems like a contradiction, however they actually work really well together. This technique works well for dull and dark images. So, its a bit of a long one, so hang in there. Two before and after examples of this technique are posted below. The second example has a little added tlc beyond the technique. Here we go:
Step 1: Open you want to use in Photoshop
Step 2: Select your background image layer and go to Filter>Sharpen>Unsharp Mask. In the Unsharp Mask dialog box enter 20 for the amount, 50 for the radius,  and 0 for Threshold. (for more sharpening enter 50 for amount, 20 for radius and 0 for Threshold). Click OK. Your image may look a bit over-sharpened, but this will change. 
Step 3: Add a Levels Adjustment Layer from the bottom of the layers palette (layer adjustment icon looks like a half black, half white circle). Immediately click OK, don’t make any changes.
Step 4: Change the blend mode of the Levels Adjustment Layer to Screen (the blend mode menu is towards the top of the layers palette). If this adjustment results in a really blown out image pull the opacity down…try 50% 
Step 5: Merge the Levels Adjustment Layer with the background image layer. (Keyboard shortcut for Macs is Command-E – or you can go to the Layers palette drop down menu at the top right and choose Merge Down).
Step 6: Copy the background layer two times (Mac keyboard shortcut is Command J or you can drag the layer to the new layer icon at the bottom of the layers palette {looks like a piece of paper}).
Step 7: Change the blend mode of the top layer to Screen, then merge (Merge Down – Command-E) the top Screen copy with the copy of the background layer below. 
Step 8: Change the blend mode of the top layer (merged layer) to Multiply
Step 9: We are going to add a bit of a glow ( this is where the “Orten” effect partially comes in) by adding a Gaussian blur to the copy/merged layer (the multiply blend mode layer). Go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur. The resolution of  your image will determine the blur amount. If you have a high resolution image try anywhere from 5-20 pixels. Or just add an amount to suit your image.
Step 10: Duplicate the Multiply layer we just blurred and change the blend mode of that layer to Soft Light.
Step 11: Lower the opacity of the Multiply  layer down (should be the middle layer) to suit the tonal range of your image. You should now have a nice soft image that has still retained sharp edges. If you are working with a portrait you may need to bring the eyes back in by using a layer mask. Just remember…not every technique works for every image…so hopefully you can take this and adjust it to your needs.   after: