When to sharpen

[merv]

Is it better to sharpen in the RAW interface under the 'Details' tab or wait until I have opened in JPEG and then use 'Unsharp Mask' after making any other adjustments? merv

 

[EOS_JD]

THere are many different ways. I prefer just to unsharpen mask after selecting the red channel (always the last thing to do in Ps).

I don't generally sharpen much in RAW.

 

[merv]

Thanks Jim. When I go into the Unsharp Mask window witht the sliders for amount etc, how do I select the red chanel? merv

 

[Almost_Invisible]

I tend to sharpen at both ends, in LR on the raw import and again once everything else is complete in PS normally using but not limited to smart sharpen.

 

[Chappers]

I try to jeep sharpening to a minimum if I can.

Normally I apply input sharpening within the develop module in Lightroom. I then decide what sharpening to add depending on the destination. If the image ids going to repro I don't add any as it's normal practice for the image to have output sharpening applied at this stage by the repro house . You don't want sharpening applied twice. For the web, it gets just a little tweak again via Lightroom. For print I add some sharpening, but then it depends on the image and the size it's going to be printed.

I tend to let Lightroom sharpen the image, even if it has gone via Photoshop, as this gives consistent results and prevents over sharpening caused by sharpening on sharpening

 

[swanseamale47]

I input sharpen lightly in the LR or camera raw, then creative sharpen if needed in PS finally an output sharpen at final size and output type (print/web etc)

 

[RicherSea]

Thanks Jim. When I go into the Unsharp Mask window witht the sliders for amount etc, how do I select the red chanel? merv

You don't, you select the channel from the channels palette, and then apply the USM filter to it.

 

[EOS_JD]

You don't, you select the channel from the channels palette, and then apply the USM filter to it.

Select the channels pallet. Press control and then click on the RED channel. To hide the marching ants (to see the effect) press control H ((the selection is still loaded at this point).

Now just add some USM (you can be quite agressive with USM at this point. Radius 1 and an amount of 250+ is normal for high res images.

Many ways to sharpen though and that's just one.

 

[swanseamale47]

I'm courious why you only sharpening the red channel, is it to avoid the noise in the blue?

 

[EOS_JD]

I'm courious why you only sharpening the red channel, is it to avoid the noise in the blue?

I took it from Guy Gowan. Yes it does save introducing noise from the bue channel. I didn't really ask much about it but works well, particularly with people images.