Photoshop "Hard Light" Method

Here is the result of the PhotoShop Hard Light Method. It did not work very well on this subject. It accentuated the wrong details, and didn't make the picture look much sharper overall.

.
Click here for full picture

Here's how I made this scan:

1. I duplicated the background layer

2. Choosing this new layer, I went to Filter>Other>High Pass... , and made the following settings:

I chose a Radius of 3.0 pixels because the scan was at 1600dpi and this is what I've found works best at that dpi. My logic is to roughly double the Radius I would use in Unsharp Mask

3. I selected hard light from the Layers Menu:

3. I set the Opacity to 50%

From what I've read, settings from 20-70% is supposed to work best.

Conclusion:

The PhotoShop's Hard Light Method just did not work well at all for this image. It really does magic with a noisy or grainy scan, or where the details aren't so minute. In the case of starting with a fairly good scan, it doesn't do enough to justify the time it takes.

Is Nik Sharpener Pro worth the money?