Sharpening images in Lightroom 5

DaelpixPhotography

DaelpixPhotography

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How would you sharpen landscape images, or any other image for that matter, in Lightroom 5? Photoshop is easy without having to worry about the noise, but in Lightroom, sharpening images create a lot of noise.

How do I sharpen them?
 
Ignoring for the minute that LR applies a modest amount of sharpening to RAW files by default, note that it's by far the best to apply sharpening to an image only after it's been re-sized to a particular output size. In other words one doesn't sharpen original files as a catch-all solution. Also the effect is best viewed at 100% on screen.

Apart from that, experiment with the various sliders in the sharpening panel.
 
I find it usually quite adequate to view the image at 100% and just use the "sharpen" slider. You sometimes to increase the radius as well. To be honest I've never really found a use for "details" or "masking" . If necessary (usually) you can then adjust the noise levels. Sometimes an image has obvious colour noise and there's a slider for that as well.

But it depends on the noise levels in your RAW file. Smaller sensors and high ISO's will require more sharpening and more noise reduction, to the extent that the more you sharpen the more obvious the noise becomes and the more difficult it is to remove it.

I agree with droj that you also sharpen on export. That is done automatically as part of the export process, but you have little control over it (standard/low/high) and (matte/gloss/screen)
 
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I follow a similar path to the above but I actually use the masking slider to stop sharpening being applied to smooth areas like skies. This allows you to sharpen more specific areas. You can also use the adjustments brush to sharpen areas individually as well as make other adjustments.
 
Try backing off the detail slider from the default 25 to about 10 and also use the masking (hold down alt as you move the slider) to mask out sky etc, I then use a little noise reduction if needed.
 
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