Scott Kelby is known for his “just tell me how to do it” approach to teaching photography, Photoshop, and computer tips. And although I am not going to use one of his tips today (though I am sure he has some on the issue) I will use his approach. Rather than explain in depth, I will just give you the basics: the what, when, and how. If you want the “why?”, do a google search on sharpening images for the web. I will throw in some examples, though 
WHAT: Images that are resized and posted to the web get “softened” in the process. In order to make them look like they would in real life/full size, you need to sharpen them for the web.
WHEN: Whenever you post something on the web
HOW: I have looked at many, many instructions and actions for sharpening for web and I always come back to these settings. I don’t know if I got them somewhere or if I fiddled with numbers to get here. But since I am NOT a “fiddle with every picture/layout individually” kind of gal, these are the BEST settings I have found that will work on all images.
Just one step: AFTER you have resized your image for web, run and unsharp mask with these settings:
The results are pretty great. Posting images to the web softens them and this is just the right amount to show others how great they look in real life!
NO SHARPENING ADDED
WITH SHARPENING
NO SHARPENING ADDED
WITH SHARPENING
One simple step make can a HUGE difference!
P.S. For those of you who created a LO this past weekend from our THE WRITE WAY post, be looking in your inbox for a GREAT coupon!
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Hey! Loving the tutorial and everything else on this site.
Just wondering… did the coupons get sent out?
I couldn’t really see the difference in your examples, but tried it on my most recent page, and, wow, what a difference! Thanks for the tip!!!
Thanks for the tutorial! I never thought about this – I don’t do much posting – but it explains why some LOs look so much sharper.
I just saw Scott Kelby at Photoshop World today! He is a wealth of knowledge!
Awesome!! Thanks!!
Hi Janet. I usually upload my pictures to Photobucket and then post them on my blog. This may sound dumb but I’m not sure how to resize on Photoshop and then sharpen the pic. I’m guessing it is simple? Thanks for the tip, there’s always so much to learn!
Great tip! No wonder things look so different once they are posted to the web! Love your tips and tricks…..this is an incredibly valuable website!
Thank you so much for the tip; I will certainly give it a try.
P.S. And great job on your blog; I visit every day!
Janet thank you very much. That was a very useful tip.
This is great! Except that it changes the file size so we have to fiddle with it again in order to get it back down to gallery size.