Lightroom 4 sharpening help

I started using Lightroom a few weeks ago. I have had some trouble learning/using the sharpening features. I zoom on the photo and it doesn't seem to sharpen well even while playing with the sliders. I shoot raw with a 60d. Can anyone offer me any suggestions? Today I went to a local print shop and printed some 8x10s and the fine details seem oof or blurry but are clear on my screen. Thanks.

Can you post a 100% crop of the unsharpened image, a 100% crop of the sharpened image, and your sharpening settings.

here is a cropped version of the pp image. I took a screen shot so you can see my settings...if you need something else let me know and I will try to get it done. All my good exposures have already been PP.

LR sharpening is based on the late Bruce Fraser and the Pixel Genius group. Capture sharpening which is the sharpening slider you first work with in LR. This sharpening compensates for the AA filter, etc. Just like doidinho stated you should view at %100. Then there is creative sharpening which you sharpen local areas like eyes. Finally you have output sharpening when exporting. You see the different sharpen for selections and amount. I learned that Pixel Genius developed the output sharpening for LR.

It took me a long time to get over this hurdle as LR sharpens during output and you really can't see what the final result will be until you view it later. I'm not an expert but so far I have obtained decent results. I select the type of paper and usually select standard for the amount. Also make sure you are selecting the correct resolution for the size of print. I recently read that an image you will be printing should look slightly over-sharpened on the screen.

This may help.

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/forum/in​dex.php?topic=66916.0

LR3 but the principles are the same.

http://www.youtube.com​/watch?v=dAqD4aYdVd0

http://www.youtube.com …tTeixz92A&featu​re=related

LR applies sharpening only to the 1:1 view. This is for speed because only the section on screen has to be sharpened instead of the entire image (or in the case of your screen shot, most of it). So either zoom into the main image display or use the small 1:1 window in the Detail panel to judge your sharpening. The same is true for NR, except for certain camera model and ISO combinations that are expected to be particularly noisy. For them NR is applied to previews at less than 1:1 also.

We could tell more if you uploaded a Raw file on a "host" like YouSendIt.com.

But, off the top of my head I'd guess that you are encountering an issue with the newer high-resolution cameras/sensors. The high resolution (18MP) sensors have a very dense pixel "density". What this means is that if a photo is not captured with "pristine" sharpening techniques, then viewing them at 100% will show any and every "slippage" of technique as well as any lack of innate sharpness with the lens or the lens settings.

So, the Lightroom "input sharpening" that you do at 100% may be a bit disappointing when viewing at 100%! With these scenarios, you do what you can, but then you will need to back off for more "creative sharpening" as well as "output sharpening".

One thing you can do is run your camera and lens combo through a rigorous set of tests/evaluations so that you know clearly what to expect from your photos. Here's a little "sticky" thread that a couple of us contributed to a while back:

https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=857871

And then, I'd seriously advise anyone having issues or questions with Lightroom to install the Canon Raw processing software Digital Photo Professional (DPP) and to use it as a "reference tool". Canon uses the in-camera settings as a "starting point" for displaying the "rendered" Raw data, so you can see what your camera captured and then the settings applied. DPP is a great tool for that!

Try moving detail down to 5 and see what you think.

No masking and 126% tells me you are oversharpening the image. Sharpening above just the detail more often than not mucks things up and actually looks softer than no sharpening at all. The saturation also looks pumped up a bit too much which can also result in loss of detail.

sharpening is so subjective, just about everyone's going to have a different answer. Looking at the image, I would say 126% input sharpening is way to much unless you had a very soft photo to begin with, I print quite often and I've never needed that much. In addition, I would say the radius is too small, .5 in LR is barely noticeable and definitely not equivalent to a USM radius of .5 in PS, I'd try .7 or .8. Also this is the type of image the detail slider is actually pretty good at, I find it useless in most cases but here I'd pump detail up a bit maybe to the 40s or 50s but make sure it doesn't exceed the sharpening amount and also that it doesn't introduce too much noise which it can. Finally, you need some masking to reduce sharpening to the prominent edges of the photo.

As someone already stated, the detail panel is primarily for input sharpening, you should make use of the adjustment brush when necessary for creative sharpening and set output sharpening in the export screen to standard for a decently sharp image and high for one that's really soft at capture.

This is how I'd approach this image, but of course there's no one correct way. It would be interesting to see the original unsharpened raw file to make sure the original isn't just too soft for a good print.

Thank you all for the replies. I've been doing the required reading on the links that have been sent. I have not uploaded to host sites. I import them into Lightroom. I have noticed that even near 100 sharpening I can not seem to get it quite as sharp as I would like. I did not load canons software into my computer. I have never used it and am not sure if its worth the time to learn it. If it'll help I will invest the time. I am still new to pp. in the past I have used Corel pro with my xti. I believe that I still have the image in raw format on my card. I can upload it again and post it without any sharpening or output sharpening if that helps.

Ronin1 wrote in post #15125636
Thank you all for the replies. I've been doing the required reading on the links that have been sent. I have not uploaded to host sites. I import them into Lightroom. I have noticed that even near 100 sharpening I can not seem to get it quite as sharp as I would like. I did not load canons software into my computer. I have never used it and am not sure if its worth the time to learn it. If it'll help I will invest the time. I am still new to pp. in the past I have used Corel pro with my xti. I believe that I still have the image in raw format on my card. I can upload it again and post it without any sharpening or output sharpening if that helps.

When I suggested that you upload the original to a "host" I was referring to a Web site that does not charge you to upload a file for sharing with others. YouSendIt is a good site for that -- there is no membership, no loggin in required, you enter your email address as the "Recipient" and then upload the file and they will quickly email a confirmation and the link to the uploaded image. You can then post the link here.

That is seriously the best way of "sharing" a Raw file with a group of people on a thread like this -- you don't hassle with trying to email files to people trying to help you. And, since you can't post a Raw file directly to your typical Web site (like POTN), well, it's the way to "get 'er done"!

Like I said, there is no cost with sites like YouSendIt if you are only posting one file at a time. And, unlike some other "free" sites there are no annoying popups, and they don't use your email address for "spam". It's a good operation! Of course, part of the home page you go to does have an offer for a "for pay" "full service", but it non-intrusive.

And, having the Raw file is really the only way we can really fully delve into helping you with your Raw processing!

Try to adjust the radius. That tells how much pixels should be affected. I normally keep it at 1.3 and up to 1.5 depending on the image. I'm on a mkII so it might be different for you.