STICKY:  Sharpening Tips & Tricks, Tutorials, and FAQ

Hey everyone! New user here. Thanks for the great thread!

I'm a little confused, though. I have the following:

Canon EOS 40D
Mac OS X Leopard
Apple Cinema Display 23" Spyder2-calibrated
Adobe LightRoom
Adobe Photoshop CS3

+ Pixma Pro 9500 (arriving Thursday June 12)

I want to get better at editing, and currently I use almost exclusively LightRoom to edit, using mostly just the Clarity option for sharpening. I hear Photoshop is a lot better for sharpening, so I found this thread.

Here's my first question: How do you access ACR? I can't seem to find it on my computer!

WilliamG wrote in post #5697540
Here's my first question: How do you access ACR? I can't seem to find it on my computer!

Hi and welcome.

Simple answer is that because you have LR, you won't need ACR. Anything that was possible in ACR is possible in LR (and more beside).

Pete wrote in post #5697576
Hi and welcome.

Simple answer is that because you have LR, you won't need ACR. Anything that was possible in ACR is possible in LR (and more beside).

Thanks for the reply. So, how does one go about doing the same sharpening as on the first page in LightRoom?

Thanks!

Clarity doesn't sharpen.
Hereis a page on LR sharpening. Read it.

René Damkot wrote in post #5700375
Clarity doesn't sharpen.
Hereis a page on LR sharpening. Read it.

That was a very interesting read, thank you!

perryge wrote in post #5079497
Anyone else wanna contribute to this thread?

i have adobe elements 5.0 which i do not believe can save a RAW format into a JPEG (i tried) so I use the program that come with the camera. Question for you, can elements 5.0 do all of the sharperning; capture, creative, USM, because you used different programs to accomplish this.

bond007 wrote in post #5795282
i have adobe elements 5.0 which i do not believe can save a RAW format into a JPEG

Elements can open raw files from quite a few cameras. Maybe not the newest models, but certainly the previeous Canons.

Can you open the CR2?
If so, then you can save it as a jpg, as long as the file is in 8bpc. Go Image > Mode > 8bpc.

Jorgie wrote in post #5200106

Before USM

After 100% 1.0 radius usm.

Thanks for the tip guys, it makes all the difference.

kinda confused what are the 3 steps ? like one could be 150 1 10 . What were yours ?
thanks
Don

I am new to this thread and to DSLR photography. I have been using digtal point and shoot cameras for some time. i have a question related to in camera settings for sharpening. with my 400D should using standard photo, should I reduce the in camera sharpening to "0" ? and do all sharpening in PS ? Or leave default setting in camera and proceed from that point in PS?
thanks in advance.

Hi Bob,

Yes, you have much more control over sharpening in Photoshop, than in-camera. If you are taking the time to post-process your photos in Photoshop, then it makes perfect sense to include sharpening in that process.

I guess if you're shooting "throw-away" photos, that you are just going to snap and print and give to Aunt Mabel by tomorrow, then let the camera do some sharpening. Otherwise, take control yourself.

Of course, if you shoot Raw, the camera settings are ignored anyway.

That is not a true statement. If you employ the Canon's DDP program, it retains all the settings that you used in your RAW image, if you employ another post processing program, then you are correct, it discards them.

bndaidbob wrote in post #5841970
I am new to this thread and to DSLR photography. I have been using digtal point and shoot cameras for some time. i have a question related to in camera settings for sharpening. with my 400D should using standard photo, should I reduce the in camera sharpening to "0" ? and do all sharpening in PS ? Or leave default setting in camera and proceed from that point in PS?
thanks in advance.

sharpen last after you have your images prepared for it's final use...

eg. if it's for the web - sharpen after you reduced it to it's web dimensions

or

if your printing - sharpen after you've cropped to the print ratio

I am gonna try it

before

HTTP response: NOT FOUND | MIME changed to 'image/png'

HTTP response: NOT FOUND | MIME changed to 'image/png'

Grumpy_one wrote in post #5216980
I do my sharpening a little different. I go to "lab color" mode (image pull down menu), select lightness channel from channels, do my USM adjustment on just that channel, and go back to "rgb" mode. Here is an example of one of my daughters team mates from her soccer team.
edit: this is done with PS

Is this option not available in PSE6? I see Indexed Color as an option, not "lab color." Are these the same? Thank you!

No, they're not the same. I don't think PSE has LAB mode capability.

You can achieve the same thing by staying in RGB mode, duplicating your layer and setting the blend mode to "Luminosity" and applying sharpening, then flattening.