Lightroom and Sharpening

Can DPP, or other post processing programs besides PS, be used solely for sharpening after performing all other edits in Lightroom? I ask this because I understand that Lightroom's sharpening function is not very good.

If so, any recommendations?

Sure. You can use any program with sharpening capabilities.

In LightRoom click on Edit => Preferences => External Editors; The dialog is split in two parts where the top one is "Edit in Adobe Photoshop..." and the bottom is "Additional External Editor". Click the "choose" button and go find your application of choice.
I got it hooked up to "The GIMP".

I never use LR for sharpening, always Photoshop (CS2) it all depends on output (printer or screen/web) and size of the final image.

Sorry to dig up an old thread, it's topical for me now having recently bought LR.

The issue I have as regards to sharpening is that I shoot low light mostly (live music & dance) and most of my keeprs need sharpening. Using an exernal editor such as LightZone or DPP [I don't have or use PS] is that you commit to a TIFF file. So from an overhead of about 10Mb per file, you're moving up to an overhead of approx 50Mb for the TIFF + 10Mb original file.

If I have 50 keepers from a gig that I finalize for delivery, does that mean I need to work each one externally, in the process creating a TIFF, before finishing in LR and exporting? That's a huge amount of space per shoot (ouch) !!

Do I have the wrong end of the stick?

PS I'm a newbie to POTN (long time lurker) and LR, not so newbie to Canon photography. Thanks

stasber wrote in post #3423362
Sorry to dig up an old thread, it's topical for me now having recently bought LR.

The issue I have as regards to sharpening is that I shoot low light mostly (live music & dance) and most of my keeprs need sharpening. Using an exernal editor such as LightZone or DPP [I don't have or use PS] is that you commit to a TIFF file. So from an overhead of about 10Mb per file, you're moving up to an overhead of approx 50Mb for the TIFF + 10Mb original file.

If I have 50 keepers from a gig that I finalize for delivery, does that mean I need to work each one externally, in the process creating a TIFF, before finishing in LR and exporting? That's a huge amount of space per shoot (ouch) !!

Do I have the wrong end of the stick?

PS I'm a newbie to POTN (long time lurker) and LR, not so newbie to Canon photography. Thanks

First off Welcome!

How much editing are you doing outside of Lightroom (LR)? If only sharpening then just export as a JPEG for your finished product. If you have lots of editing to do then use TIFF. But I must ask why you go back to LR after sharpening? Sharpening should be the last step in your workflow.

Also, LR 1.1 is supposed to address the lack of sharpening and it has been said is pretty good.

Thanks for the welcome Mike.

Till now I've been using DPP, which does most things for me, but not all. Sharpening it does well and simply (I shoot only RAW).

I'm overhauling my workflow and playing with Lightroom whilst still using DPP this mo. I prefer working in one product only - if it'll be LR then so be it - and working the images from start to finish. I don't like the idea of going outside for just one step (i.e. sharpening).

So you suggest to work the image to completion, export to JPG (as normal) then apply sharpening with my 'external' [or basically the other] product, then save again?

stasber wrote in post #3423593
Thanks for the welcome Mike.

Till now I've been using DPP, which does most things for me, but not all. Sharpening it does well and simply (I shoot only RAW).

I'm overhauling my workflow and playing with Lightroom whilst still using DPP this mo. I prefer working in one product only - if it'll be LR then so be it - and working the images from start to finish. I don't like the idea of going outside for just one step (i.e. sharpening).

So you suggest to work the image to completion, export to JPG (as normal) then apply sharpening with my 'external' [or basically the other] product, then save again?

Yup. That is what I do. I use PS to sharpen.

In2Photos wrote in post #3423602
Yup. That is what I do. I use PS to sharpen.

Righto, will give it shot then.

Thanks

I am going to resurrect this thread as I have a question on this topic.

Is the new lightroom (v2.5) sharpening feature good? That is what I have been using.

Living Daylight wrote in post #8757548
Is the new lightroom (v2.5) sharpening feature good? That is what I have been using.

If you've been using it then you should be able to tell if it's good enough for you.

I still sharpen in PS, but use LR for most everything else. As hollis_f mentioned, it seems to be a matter of preference, which is entirely up to you.

Wow, I remember sharpening being a challenge in LR 1 but since then with LR2-2.5, I've been noticing that I probably only even touch the sharpening on maybe 10% of my images and usually those are ones like you say, performance under low light, but also I think a lot that has helped me is that my MKIII is so much better with the focus than my 5D classic was. Most of the time now I don't even like to go to the sharpening module unless I want to use the brush and make the eyes pop a little with some extra sharpness.

Let us know what you do and what your experience is - okay?

Sharpening in LR2: http://www.getcolorman​aged.com/general/lrsha​rpening/

IMO, sharpening in LR2 is okay (not good, but okay), NR still sucks.

René Damkot wrote in post #8796517
Sharpening in LR2: http://www.getcolorman​aged.com/general/lrsha​rpening/

IMO, sharpening in LR2 is okay (not good, but okay), NR still sucks.

What do you use for NR, RD?