Let me add one thing to what Suzie said.

I have found that the "De-Fog" USM setting I like so much (20 - 60 - 0) will sometimes introduce a distracting halo. Not always; it seems to be more pronounced if part of your image is against sky (blue sky, not blah white or gray sky). I finally stumbled into doing exactly what Suzi said: Open image, duplicate layer.

After you apply USM 20-60-0 to the duplicate layer, look to see if any halo was created. If so, either use a mask to block that thin, bright rim, or do what I usually do: take the eraser tool, get a pretty small brush size, and carefully remove the halo.

Rusty

Thanks Suzie! I'll try that!!

Suzie! I got it...changed the setting...rescanned a pic to 300..then sharpened...I will try it on little girls pic.

WAY TO GO. Did you see a difference with the 300dpi scan???

Ok Suzi! Here's my redo... I used Kimi's make it pop...then also tried your technique of sharpening...the only thing was...I see alot of those white specks on their dresses...I assume they tried to make it look like bits of snow...I tried using the spot healing brush... too much of it...

That is a major improvement!!! Great job.

I used Rusty's idea of using Anita's sketch...What do you think?


Yuck! I didn't like it on this little pic...ok. on the bigger one.

Try backing off the setting alittle..or put a copy of the orginal and lower the opacity. See what that does.

Did you mean try lowering the opacity a bit more? Where should I be placing the copy of the original..on top??

Not sure what you meant by backing off the setting?

Yes put a copy of the orginal on top and then lower the opacity of that one. It should bring out more of the image. Adjust to your liking. Or you could try different blend modes on the orginal also.
I am going to have to look at Anita's tut before I explain on backing off setting. Will get back to you on that one.