Some alternatives to Adobe that might be of interest

In Canon land, it's Digital Lens Optimizer.

Digital Lens Optimizer

gjl711 wrote in post #19245729
In Canon land, it's Digital Lens Optimizer.

Thanks for the link. There used to be a brochure style site with lots of illustrations. It was very well done. I haven't been able to find it for a few years now.

digital paradise wrote in post #19245635
I was a DPP die hard once. Develop and then TIFF to PS for some fine tuning, resizing and export sharpening. It was a nightmare for event shooting so after about 3 trials I switched to LR. Figures 6
months later they released DLO. I still keep DPP updated and still use it to pre cull before importing to LR.

What I found back then was DPP lacked export sharpening which is why the files always went to PS. It only had the Sharpen option during development which was for capture sharpening. They later added USM.

I find DLO and interesting animal. One of the only true digital lens deconvolution options out there. Most others are USM. Deconvolution also corrects for the AA filter so basically DLO would be part of capture sharpening I think? So is the Sharpening/USM option now for export? Most other software offers export sharpening when you resize and export.

I test DPP now and then and with all options applied I still prefer to send the file to PS for final sharpening.

Just wondering about your thoughts/workflow on this.

I mostly do portraits, for which the proprietary Sharpen tool in DPP works fine. It never creates even a hint of "sugary" hair, unlike the newer USM sharpening tool, which I've never mastered.

For more demanding sharpening (separate edge and surface sharpening plus plenty of other control), I use Focal Blade, the PS plugin that runs in the much cheaper, yet powerful, PhotoLine.

agedbriar wrote in post #19246357
It never creates even a hint of "sugary" hair.

That is an excellent description of what over-sharpened hair looks like.

BuckSkin wrote in post #19246636
That is an excellent description of what over-sharpened hair looks like.

Thanks for your compliment on my efforts in figurative English!

agedbriar wrote in post #19246357
I mostly do portraits, for which the proprietary Sharpen tool in DPP works fine. It never creates even a hint of "sugary" hair, unlike the newer USM sharpening tool, which I've never mastered.

For more demanding sharpening (separate edge and surface sharpening plus plenty of other control), I use Focal Blade, the PS plugin that runs in the much cheaper, yet powerful, PhotoLine.

Thanks for the info. My guide is bird beak, eye and head feathers. I find LR's export settings for resizing and sharpening amounts pretty decent. I have read about focal blade. I used to use PhotoKit Sharpener which used to be $100. It's been free for about 3 years now. Since going to Mac Catalina it stopped working but I never aggressively pursued to make it work again.

http://www.pixelgenius​.com

digital paradise wrote in post #19246870
I used to use PhotoKit Sharpener which used to be $100. It's been free for about 3 years now.

Thanks for the info.

Thank you; I am a sucker for FREE stuff --- mostly on account of my financially embarrassed situation.

I took advantage of both Windows packages.