LR Sharpening "bad"???

[sk66]

So I was recently told to "NEVER" apply sharpening to the original file and "NEVER" before resizing for final output.....
Obviously this is true when woking in PS/Jpeg but I don't think it applies to LR......


Does it?

[dakwegmo]

Almost everything I've read on sharpening recommends some level of input sharpening to correct for the inherent softness of digital sensors. Since most any effect in LR's develop module works on the RAW file, I'd think that sharpening applied there would be considered input sharpening.

[LeeR]

I have always been taught that a small bit of general sharpening done in the RAW processing was a good thing. ACR gives you a great tool for sharpening and since you are only applying a small amount to the whole scene, and it is reversible, I think this should be safe.

[sk66]

I guess it's both isn't it?
It changes the way the RAW file appears (input) and is applied to the file on export.

[ravncat]

That's the jpeg way of thinking, as most jogs are already sharpened in camera and sharpening again accentuates jpg compression errors, halos and noise. Then through processing everything gets "amplified". Couple that with destructive editing and you find sharpening is best done last, many who used jpg before raw was convenient also set camera sharpening to low or off.

LR is non destructive so the sharpening is only applied on image export/preview and print. Also working in raw as above mentioned, capture sharpening is recommended. If you work in jpg, your camera likely already applied capture sharpening in conversion to jpg.

There's a pretty good book on sharpening by Frazier or Schewe, I can't remember but is should be something like real world sharpening in cs4 or something, I wonder if they've updated it.

[kirbinster]

LR3 does a great job with sharpening RAW and I always use it.

[sk66]

Ok, so I'm not nuts....
I was catching crap on another forum from a "pro/publisher"....

[LoveDSLR]

Normally I apply sharpening at the end but now I'm experimenting with "microcontrast enhancement" sharpening at the beginning. There isn't any conclusion yet.

[jdepould]

Just to add some more confusion: there IS an output sharpening option in the export dialogue.

[RLucas]

Originally Posted by jdepould

Just to add some more confusion: there IS an output sharpening option in the export dialogue.

You beat me to it. You can also set it to different levels, and whether or not you want to sharpen for screen or print.