Local Sharpening in Lightroom 2.2

[lostlandscapes]

Hi Everybody, this is my first post. Great site you have here. I posted this in another forum but thought I would put it here as well to see what the people here had to say.

Does anyone know what the Amount/Radius/Threshold of this tool is? I know that Amount can be adjusted with the slider, but I wonder how this compares to, say, an Unsharp Mask Amount? I would really like to export to Photoshop as little as possible, and with the improved Export Sharpening of 2.2, I guess using the local brush could be considered Creative sharpening? Any comments on this tool? Just looking for comments or testimonials before I begin using up ink and paper to see how it works.....Thanks!

Tim

 

[Mark Sirota]

Welcome to Lightroom Forums!

LR's sharpening algorithm is more sophisticated than unsharp mask -- there's no direct parallel between USM's amount/radius/threshold and LR's settings.

And yes, I'd say local sharpening could be called creative sharpening. While I'm guessing you're a landscape shooter, for portraits I'll often apply perhaps 25 points to the eyes, and -5' or more to the background.

 

[lostlandscapes]

Hi Mark, Thanks for your response.

Yes, I do shoot landscapes. In that case, how would the 'creative sharpening' Amount setting differ from what you mentioned about Portraits?

Have you printed after using these settings? Were you satisfied with the results (from a sharpness perspective)?

Also, do you leave the capture sharpening at default? And do you utilize the export sharpening (for web and/or print)??

Sorry for all the questions. Thanks a lot.

 

[Sean McCormack]

Tim, AFAIK the sharpening control is merely an amount slider with the settings based on the original Lightroom sharpening control.

By making use of both this amount and the brush flow, you can build up the sharpening as you see fit from a creative point of view.

I use Output Sharpening for Print and Web, and find it most useful.