Lightroom workflow and sharpening

StewartR

StewartR

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Stewart
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Last year I switched from Photoshop Elements (PSE) to Lightroom. I'm generally pretty happy. The Lightroom library/organiser is better, and I love the non-destructive editing capabilities.

But there's one thing I can't get my head round, and I'd appreciate some help. It's about how to sharpen images for final use.

I find I often want to create multiple "final" versions of an image, at different sizes: 800 pixels for web display, 1400 pixels for camera club competitions, 2100 pixels or more for prints, etc. So how do I sharpen each one?

In PSE, what I do is make a copy of the "master" image, resize it to the correct dimensions, and then sharpen. I particularly like the fact that I'm looking at the "final" image on screen, so I can sharpen it exactly to my taste.

In Lightroom, it seems that the way to get multiple copies is to use the Export functionality. I can perform multiple exports at different sizes, no problem. BUT the sharpening seems a bit crude - the export dialog just offers me a sort of Low/Medium/High option. And I can't see what effect each of them has.

I could try the various options, and look at the exported JPGs. But that seems a bit tedious.

I could open the exported JPG in Lightroom (or Photoshop or anything), sharpen it there, and then re-save. But that seems perverse.

Any suggestions?

Is there a way of making virtual copies of an image and resizing them without export? That way I could have multiple virtual copies at different sizes, sharpen each one to my liking, and then export without further resizing or further sharpening....

Or is there a better solution?
 
you can create virtual copies of an image in Lightroom if you want to.

You can switch the sharpening off for export and then use the sharpening on each of your virtual copies through the develop window instead
 
boyfalldown said:
you can create virtual copies of an image in Lightroom if you want to.

You can switch the sharpening off for export and then use the sharpening on each of your virtual copies through the develop window instead
Click to expand...
Yes, thanks.

But can I resize a virtual copy to a specific number of pixels, and if so how?
 
I have exactly the same issue.
You should always sharpen AFTER the resize if you're preparing output for any medium, and you are quite right in saying that the post-export dialog is crude.

I wish LR3 addressed this, but it does not seem to have done so.
 
Check out:

http://x-equals.com/blog/?p=1792

It explains sharpening in LR pretty well.

In short, you use the 'detail' settings in the develop module to get the desired level of sharpening that you want.

The output sharpening settings (in the export ...) will add a level of sharpening appropriate for the medium you are exporting to (i.e. screen / print etc). I suggest you try the different settings on an example image to see what you're happy with. I tend to use 'screen' on low and 'print' on standard.

The 2 different ways of sharpening work in tandem. Since reading that article I've been much happier with sharpening in LR, and saved a load of time but not having to export everything through CS3.

--
 
I sharpen on export as a preset for each res I use, never really thought about doing them individually. I sometimes sharpen images that need it but then LR resharpens on the resize
 
I'm another one who just uses the sharpening option in the export dialogue. If you want a bit more control you could use the LRMogrify plug in for sharpening.
 
I also use output sharpening in combination with the sharpening controls inside Lightroom. I have created and saved a few export presets to output at different resolutions. e.g. if I want a webshot I just use my "800" preset to output to fit within an 800x800 frame. I have another preset for 1024x1024 and another one for my HDTV at 1920x1080. I don't print, but if I did I could as easily set up one or more presets for print output and adjust the output sharpening for print.

There is an article here which says that if outputting for the web you may do more harm than good if getting carried away with sharpening within your editor, rather than waiting to sharpen as the last step after resizing.....

http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/image-resize-for-web.htm

I do actually limit my sharpening in Lightroom, often leaving it at the default of 25 and rarely going above 50. I also use the sharpening mask, with mask preview, to make sure I am not sharpening noise. Output sharpening wins the day for me.
 
StewartR said:
Yes, thanks.

But can I resize a virtual copy to a specific number of pixels, and if so how?
Click to expand...

There is no resizing of the RAW file whilst editing in LR - you can try to tweak a preview but it is not to precise number of pixels. The scaling down is the option only on export. If you really want to see the sharpening of the resized file, I'd say that the only solution right now is to use intermediate export files to apply some size related PP. E.q. export them to resized TIFF/PSD with no sharpening and immediate import back in LR. Then sharpen them all you like and do a final export to JPG.
 
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