RAW Sharpening

marts_uk

marts_uk

Suspended / Banned
Messages
1,032
Name
Martin
Edit My Images
Yes
Hi,

Is there a way to get the sharpening spot-on in Adobe RAW? I can never seem to get the right balance, mainly because I don't fully understand the different settings and what effect they have - even though I've tried the help files, and google.

Can anyone offer any tips or advice?

thanks
Martin
 
Last edited:
You should not aim to completesharpening in Adobe Raw (do you mean ACR?).
Your final act before saving as a jpeg should be a sharpen to finalise the image.
 
Really ACR sharpening is capture sharpening, it shouldn't be considered as "final" sharpening, it's just a mild sharpen to replace the softness caused by the AA filter on the sensor, your creative or output sharpen is best doen in photoshop proper, using one of the many different methods available there. That way you have the options of using layer masks and blend modes to control things better.
And ideally sharpening proper should be the last step after resizing.
Check out a book called real world sharpening by Bruce Fraiser, it's well worth a read, it'll tell you everything you need to know about sharpening (and a lot more)
 
Last edited:
I save all my jpegs unsharpened. Sharpening is something that should be done with the final destination of the file in mind.
Pics resized for the web take a lot less sharpening than files for prints. Only way to decided is to take each file on its own merits, enlarge to 100% and make your own adjustments and go with what looks right to you.
 
In ACR 6.1 (and maybe earlier versions) there is a thing where you hold down the Alt key while making adjustments and it turns the image B&W (you have to be zoomed in to 100%). In B&W you can really see how the sharpening is working and taking effect.

I put something like 50% in the amount slider to start with then use the above method to trim the radius and detail amounts. Then I got back to the amount slider and finally use the masking slider so that I'm only sharpening the bits I want. The mask doesn't work for everything but is pretty good for portraits.

Have a look on youtube, there are some pretty good videos on sharpening using this method.
 
marts_uk said:
Yes, sorry ACR.

Ok, I'll take your advice onboard and leave the sharpening till last, via PS
Click to expand...

By all means as has been said do some initial sharpenjust finish with the appropriate amount to achieve a good image.
Have a look in tutorials for for PP. Hacker has some good ones.
 
Hi Martin - have sent you a PM
I have Martin Evenings Book for CS5 and he mentions that if you shoot RAW (which I think you may do)
''there is no need to set any sharpening detail in camera''.
''the only images that should need pre-sharpening are camera shot RAWs or scanned TIFF's, although you can process any image in camera RAW provided it is in a Jpeg, TIFF, RAW or DNG format and in an RGB or Lab mode colour space.
'' You should use the RAW sharpening controls to tailor the capture sharpening adjustment to suit the image content. Soft edged subjects such as portraits will suit a higher than 1.0 Radius setting combined with a low Detail and high Masking setting.
Fine detail subjects such as landscapes and ships masts will suit using a low Radius, high Detail and low Masking settings''
Final sharpening can take place in Photoshop if required
He mentions that ACR6.0+ is much better than previous versions for demosaic, sharpening and noise reduction and is further help by the new Process Version 2010.

dave
 
Last edited:
nikonuser said:
Hi Martin - have sent you a PM
I have Martin Evenings Book for CS5 and he mentions that if you shoot RAW (which I think you may do)
''there is no need to set any sharpening detail in camera''.
''the only images that should need pre-sharpening are camera shot RAWs or scanned TIFF's, although you can process any image in camera RAW provided it is in a Jpeg, TIFF, RAW or DNG format and in an RGB or Lab mode colour space.
'' You should use the RAW sharpening controls to tailor the capture sharpening adjustment to suit the image content. Soft edged subjects such as portraits will suit a higher than 1.0 Radius setting combined with a low Detail and high Masking setting.
Fine detail subjects such as landscapes and ships masts will suit using a low Radius, high Detail and low Masking settings''
Final sharpening can take place in Photoshop if required
He mentions that ACR6.0+ is much better than previous versions for demosaic, sharpening and noise reduction and is further help by the new Process Version 2010.

dave
Click to expand...
Yes acr 6 (and LR3) have had a lot of improvments in both fields.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top