Orion4D · High Pass APP

In Photoshop, the high-pass sharpen is a manual ritual: duplicate the layer, run the High Pass filter, set the blend mode to Overlay or Soft Light, dial the opacity. You'd do it because it gives a clean, halo-light sharpening that regular USM doesn't. Orion4D_FXMax_HighPass (displayed "Orion4D · High Pass APP") automates that exact three-step move in one node, so you get the frequency-separation result without the layer gymnastics.

How it works

The node builds a high-pass layer: blur the image, subtract it, and center the result around 0.5 gray (a neutral mid-gray at half brightness) - that's your classic gray "High Pass" layer. Then it blends that layer back onto the original using either Overlay or Soft Light blending, with an opacity control. Overlay hits harder; Soft Light is gentler and the default in most presets. The Luma mode keeps the math on luminance so color stays clean.

The reason this blend-mode approach is beloved: it sharpens mostly in the midtones and lets highlights and shadows breathe, so edges gain definition without the dark/light halos that plain additive sharpen leaves behind. If you want the "clean professional" look and have been fighting USM halos, this is the node you're looking for.

Inputs and outputs

Pack-standard schema:

• image - the IMAGE tensor.
• preset - Natural High Pass, Soft Light High Pass, or Crisp High Pass.
• raw_settings - "Embedded JSON settings used for workflow portability. Managed automatically by the APP."
• mask (optional) - localize the effect.

Outputs: image and mask. Like all Sharpness-suite nodes it's native PyTorch on the GPU - instant on single images, fine in video batches, no CPU detour.

Where it fits

High Pass is the "finish" node: it works beautifully as a final crispening pass after an upscale or a color grade, because it adds edge pop without disturbing the tonal work you just did. It's also the most forgiving of the sharpness tools to overdo - Soft Light at moderate opacity can sit at a surprisingly high amount before it looks wrong, which makes it a great first sharpen for beginners. When you need the full five-algorithm treatment, the main SharpnessMax node includes a high-pass stage, but the standalone gives you just this tool, dialed in.

Install

cd ComfyUI/custom_nodes
git clone https://github.com/orion4d/Orion4D_FXMax.git
# restart ComfyUI

ComfyUI Manager search "Orion4D_FXMax" also installs it. No models, Pillow-only deps. Use the Open APP split-screen preview to compare Overlay vs Soft Light - it's the fastest way to learn which blend your image wants.

Gotchas

Watch the radius. Too small and you're sharpening nothing but sensor noise; too large and the high-pass layer starts to look like a relief map. The presets get you in the right zone, and the APP's live preview keeps you from flying blind.