Sharpening with Camera Raw
Pages: 1, 2, 3

Apply Sharpening to Preview Images Only

You can set Camera Raw to apply sharpening to the preview images only. However, when you open the image in Photoshop, the image will open with no sharpening applied. This allows you to see the effects of sharpening on your other Camera Raw adjustments. To do this:

1. Select Preferences from the Settings flyout menu or from Camera Raw Preferences in Bridge.
2. Select Apply sharpening to Preview images only from the Preferences dialog box, shown in Figure 8.

Figure 8: The Camera Raw Preferences dialog box.

Fixing the Effects of Over Sharpening

For some images, such as the moonscape shown in Figure 9, you can use Camera Raw's Luminance Smoothing controls to diminish artifacts caused by over sharpening, or, as in this case, a combination of sharpening and a high 800 ISO.

Figure 9: Luminance Smoothing can reduce the effects of over sharpening.

To do this:

1. Enlarge your image using magnification controls.
2. Select the Detail tab.
3. Find the optimal sharpening using the Sharpness slider.
4. Increase the Luminance Smoothing slider slowly, observing the effects. Stop when you achieve a balance between edge sharpness and diminished noise or artifacts in the continuous tone areas. In the example in Figure 10, a setting of 40 worked.

Figure 10: The right balance found with the Luminance Smoothing slider.

Mikkel Aaland is a professional photographer whose pioneering work in digital photography dates back to 1981. He is the author of nine books including the bestselling Photoshop Elements Solutions and O'Reilly's acclaimed Photoshop Lightroom Adventure. Visit his website at http://www.shooting-digital.com.

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