Sharpening in Lightroom vs Ph

[Leicakillen]

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Hi,

I am new to Lightroom 2.6.1 but like it VERY much. In developing and printing modules I try to add some sharpening - but not to much - I think "over sharpening" gives odd results. However if I compare the sharpening I was using in Photoshop in some cases these prints are slightly sharper. In Lightr I often go up to 50-70 in sharpening in the developing module and use Standard sharpening in the print module. Is this too conservative, what is your experience?

 

I am working with uncompressed dng´s from my M9 and printing on Matte Epson papers Super A3.

 

Thanks for any input of sharing workflows.

 

/Anders

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[archi4]

Anders,

I would advise you to go to Adobe Labs and download the beta version of Lightroom 3.

The sharpening has been much improved in my opinion and gives much better results without introducing excessive artifacts. Worth a try. (Adobe Labs is under communities)

regards, Maurice

[thompsonkirk]

I used to do a little bit of Capture (or Develop) Sharpening with M8 files, but found it's not necessary, & even disadvantageous, with M9. With M9 files I usually don't need Output Sharpening either.

 

Kirk

[delander †]

I use Photoshop for sharpening and printing on the Epson 3800 at A3+.

 

I leave the LR sharpening at its default. There is much more control in Photoshop.

 

I use a simple PS action (having converted the file to the correct size and 8-bits) which might be useful.

 

1. Use a zoom view of 50%

2. Apply USM 15,20,0. This is a small local contrast enhancement. You can experiment with the numbers here to get the result that appeals to you.

3. ctrl-j to make a duplicate layer.

4. Choose the high pass filter from the filters/other menu. Choose a radius of 0.5-1.0 pixel.

5. From the layers panel choose the hard light blend mode and vary the opacity to suit.

6. Flatten the image.

 

Viewing at 50% zoom gives you a good idea of how the print will look. A large print will normally take quite a lot of sharpening but it all depends on how you want it to look.

 

Jeff

 

PS The Epson 3800 printer driver will tend to produce jaggies on angled lines if the native resolution is not 360ppi. Also too much fill light in LR will cause strange 'shadow edge' effects which become more obvious when sharpened.

 

If you have not already found it and wish to print B&W in particular go to Eric Chan's Epson 3800 site, lots of free B&W paper profiles there for use with advanced B&W mode, a really great resource.

[Marquinius]

I do most of my sharpening in LR. Be sure to go to 100% view before starting to slide. For landscapes I typically use 100%, with a mask of up to 60% to or more to sharpen only edges and details. WOrth fiddling about a while to get your grip on this.

 

Tip: hit the "alt" key (on my mac, I think it will be the same for PC) and see what happens when you slide.