Fishing village in Lofoten, an archepelago in Northern Norway located in the Arctic Circle. The cod spawning grounds near Lofoten are among Norway's most important fishing centers.
Adobe Lightroom 3 features a wealth of editing tools for the digital photographer, and for anyone concerned about optimizing their images output, understanding the sharpening options is one of the keys to making images sing.
Just like many aspects of Lightroom’s RAW editing suite, the sharpening adjustments feature enough simplicity for set-it-and-forget-it batch processing while also giving the user the fine-tuning that allows individual images reach their full potential.
Instead of multiple approaches to sharpening as you might kind in Photoshop, Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3
The Amount slider is straight forward, controlling the blunt amount of sharpening that’s applied to the image. Just as dialing up the volume on your stereo increases the volume, the Amount slider affects how much sharpening is applied.
Without any sharpening applied via the Amount slider, none of the other sliders in the sharpening dialogue are enabled. And while the unsharpened image shows potential, the details lack a sense of crispness that would be desirable for prints and most other applications.
Since sharpening acts by increasing contrast and making the differences between two areas more apparent, the Amount slider controls this application of contrast.
In the above example with a setting of 40 dialed in to the Amount (along with other variables that we’ll get to in a moment), the image starts to pop.
Amount Preview:
While the normal image viewer in Lightroom continually updates the preview based on your adjustments, Lightroom offers some handy preview modes that can help discern the finer differences between settings that guide you in sharpening your photos. To enable this preview mode, hold down Option (Mac) or Alt (PC) while adjusting the sliders.
In the Amount preview, you’re shown a simple grayscale version of the image so that you can judge sharpening without considering color contrasts.
This display is important because contrasting colors (such as red and green, yellow and blue, etc) can give a false impression of sharpness; by discarding that info, you’re able to best judge the sharpening process.
One nice thing about Lightroom is that all of Lightroom’s sharpening processes act exclusively on the luminance of the image, so that the color and hue of the image are unaffected by the changes in contrast.
If the Amount slider affects how much sharpening is applied, the Radius slider controls that sharpening is distributed. The Radius slider determines how far away from edges the sharpening extends, starting at 0.5 pixels up to a maximum of 3.0 pixels.
Just as the size of a paint brush dictates the scale of details one can paint, in this sense, the Radius slider can help set how finely or coarsely details are rendered.
A small Radius is best suited to enhancing the edges of fine details in an image. In the above example, this tight Radius keeps the blades of grass on the bank of the river distinct and renders individual leaves in the larger plants. When using a Radius close to 0.5, you will notice that that the contrast of the image can take on a slightly “airy” feel at the micro level, since the edge/contrast enhancement of sharpening is more tightly applied and affects less of the total pixels in the frame.
A larger Radius setting of 2.5 used on the same image, below, distributes sharpening more widely, causing wider edge contrasts and blurring in the fine details of the grass. Here, sharpening degrades the image information, rather than helping to reveal it.
Radius Preview:
While the preview mode for the Radius slider shows a grayscale image, just like the Amount preview, this preview mode shows the level of edge enhancement, rather than just a grayscale conversion. Again, toggle this preview mode by pressing Option (Mac) or Alt (PC) while you’re moving the slider.
In this preview mode, the majority of the scene is rendered as a middle gray, while areas affected by the Radius setting are shown with their edges highlighted by increased contrast.
One image aspect that can inform what Radius you should use is the hierarchy of details you want to highlight. Since the Radius controls the granularity of sharpening, you can emphasize different scales of detail with the radius tool, while effectively reducing others, as we’ve seen in the fine detail above at a Radius of 0.5.
Detail Slider
The Detail slider adjusts how much high-frequency information in the image is sharpened and how edges are emphasized. The scale runs from a base of 0, at which only major edges are sharpened, to 100, at which even minor edges in the textures of an image are sharpened.
In my workflow, I generally think of the Detail slider as a continuation of fine-tuning where the Radius slider leaves off, allowing a continued refinement of the granularity of sharpening and allowing you to bring out even more of the finest elements with the proper application.
With a Detail setting of zero, the landscape contains a degree of overall sharpness due to the Amount slider, but still lacks definition in the finest elements. While this might be a negative aspect in a landscape image, a low detail setting like this is ideal for portraiture, as it minimize skin texture and can help focus sharpness on larger features, like the eyes.
In contrast to the way the Radius slider can affect relatively large details in the scene, the Detail slider focuses on the edge enhancement of much finer structures. With a relatively high setting of 70 in the Detail slider, the micro-details of the image really come alive. At these Detail settings, the grasses in the zoom area of the Detail pane and the smaller boulders on the rockface gain some bite, albeit at the expense of sharpening artifacts elsewhere in the frame.
When using higher Detail settings, one has to be careful for moire, jagged edges, and a general look of digital artifacts – all of which can occur as you push images to very high frequency sharpening.
Detail Preview:
The Detail preview mode is similar to that found in Radius, with subtle differences. Overall, both the Radius and Detail preview modes show the edge enhancement on the image, but the Detail preview – as one might expect – offers a finer rendering that shows more attention to the minor edges in the textures of an image.
In this preview of the above scene, with a Detail setting of 70, you can see the definition of edge detail and the finer texture that the sharpening begins to target. Areas like the shadow on the right of the frame don’t have much texture, so there’s little edge enhancement performed. In contrast, the sun-lit face of the mountain is covered with minute details, which are exactly the kinds of features that are perfect for this enhancement.
As the Detail slider is increased toward higher levels, you’ll be able to see an increasing amount of texture being highlighted in the preview, corresponding to the additional sharpening Lightroom is applying to the image.
The masking feature of Lightroom 3 allows you to selectively apply sharpening based on image content – specifically, edges. With a default Masking setting of zero, the sharpening is applied evenly to the entire image. Turning up the Masking value begins to selectively mask out areas of lower detail, fewer edges, and increasing distance from strong edges.
While Masking allows you to selectively sharpen, the flipside of de-emphasizing detail is equally important. Using Masking, it’s possible to leave skintones smooth, minimize digital noise at high ISO, and ensure smooth gradients.
The above image, with lots of deep blue sky, is a great example for the benefits of using the Masking slider to preserve smooth tones in the sky while still allowing the fine details of the dog’s fur to pop.
Masking Preview:
With the Masking preview, you’re being shown how the overall sharpening scheme – including the Amount, Radius, and Detail – is being applied. Just like a layer mask in Photoshop, Lightroom’s sharpening mask is displayed in the same way, where black areas receive no effect and white areas receive the full treatment.
Here in the Masking preview with a setting of 30, the sky is completely masked out in black, which means those areas are not sharpened at all, while the white areas in the fur and other areas of detail still receive the appropriate sharpening treatment. Areas in gray receive partial sharpening based on their proximity to edges and areas of contrast.
For me, this Masking adjustment is one of the huge benefits of using Lightroom and working directly on the RAW images. In my old workflow, I would apply a standard amount of sharpening with my RAW converter, export the image, and then either settle with uniform sharpening (including that of artifacts like noise) or remove them after the fact through more post-processing. With Lightroom 3, you have a turn-key solution that is a tremendous time saver that offers flexibility and great image quality.
So, why does Adobe bother including different adjustments for sharpening? Simply put, different types of images will require different combinations of settings.
Every image will have different sharpening needs, depending on subject. To get things started, Adobe provides two presets in Lightroom, and analyzing their settings does give some insight into the mechanics of the settings we’ve already covered above.
Sharpening Preset: Wide Edges
Wide Edges (Faces):
Adobe’s portrait preset, which it dubs sharpening for “wide edges,” uses a slightly wide Radius to emphasize larger lines of contrast like those of the eyes. A low Detail setting, together with a high masking amount ensures that this sharpening treatment will be flattering to skintones.
Lightroom Preset: Narrow Edges
Narrow Edges (Scenic):
In contrast, Adobe’s “narrow edges” sharpening preset is equally educational. The overall sharpening level is just slightly higher, but now with a much smaller Radius, which, together with a high Detail setting, emphasize small-scale detail to a fine degree. Assuming optimal shooting conditions (and typical landscape settings) with a small aperture to maximize depth of field/detail and a low ISO to minimize noise, zero masking is applied with this preset.
Of course, these presets provided of Adobe are just starting points – every image will have slightly different sharpening requirements depending on myriad factors like the lighting, camera, ISO, lens, aperture, and scale/distance of the subject relative to the frame.
In the next part of this feature on understanding sharpening in Lightroom, I’ll do a step-by-step tutorial on sharpening a sample image and call out some of the factors I consider in the process. In the meantime, now that the four settings of the sharpening dialogue should be a little less mysterious, go out and start cracking on your favorite images.
UPDATE: View the 6 Steps For Sharpening In Lightroom.
Start Playing:
If all of this control over sharpening sounds good to you, that’s just the tip of the iceberg for the goodness Lightroom has in store for you. Both Amazon.com
You can try the app free for 30-days by downloading the Adobe Lightroom trial.
Thanks to the ability to fine-tune and dial in just about any imaginable detail, Lightroom’s sharpening dialogue is one that works beautifully on any image you throw at it. For images that require individual attention, Lightroom offers intelligent options for squeezing the most out of your RAW files.
Best of all, with Lightroom you’re working with the RAW data in a non-destructive, completely reversible manner for the highest image quality, which translates into better sharpening and a smarter workflow.
Get Lightroom
I think that you’ll be surprised and pleased by the flexibility of Lightroom’s sharpening process. So start playing around – your images will thank you.
Purchasing Lightroom through these affiliates keeps me hopped up on high mountain oolong tea that helps me bring you content like this sharpening guide and all the other features on www.ishootshows.com. Thank you!
This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 31st, 2010 at 9:14 am and is filed under Photography Tutorials and tagged with amount, contrast, detail, guide, how to, lightroom, lightroom 3, radius, sharpening, sliders, tutorial, unsharp mask. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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This is going to be immensely helpful. Thank you for this tutorial.
Hey Eric,
Hope this helps – let me know what you think once you have a chance to play around, and if you think there’s anything in particular that would be useful for the followup tutorial.
Great tutorial Todd. You may have just pushed me into dropping the extra cash on Light Room. I have been on the fence for a while, but their sharpening interface looks amazing. Hope Adobe is sending you some checks ;-)
Hey Kevin, thanks for the kind words.
I used to use Nikon Capture NX 2, which I still use for individual images, but I’ve been using Lightroom 3 since the beta. Simply put, I haven’t looked back.
Adobe isn’t sending me any checks, but if you buy from Amazon.com or B&H, it’ll keep me caffeinated.
Wow! That was insanely detailed and extremely helpful! I always knew I was doing something with the sliders when I went to sharpen images, but this helped figure out precisely what I’m actually doing. Thank you for taking the time to get into depth about what each of the functions accomplished when processing an image!
- P
Hey Patrick, thanks for the comment, glad to hear this was helpful.
The next part of the tutorial is coming up. Let me know if there’s anything you’d like to see included.
Stellar write-up Todd! Been hoping for a tutorial on sharpening in LR3 and this is fantastic!
Will you discuss output sharpening in the next feature? I’d definitely like to see it included.
Hi Matt,
Nice to hear from you. Hope this helps in your workflow. I may discuss output sharpening in the next feature – right now I’ve outlined the step-by-step process, but may extend that to output for web or print. Thanks for the suggestion.
Thanks for the tutorial. Do you ever sharpen in camera or do you usually do all that kind of stuff in post-processing?
Hi TJ,
Lightroom disregards in-camera sharpening, but yes, I do have sharpening enabled in-camera to the default levels w/ my D3 and D700. This is for estimating focus/sharpness at 100% review on the rear LCD while I’m shooting.
Woow this is amazing finally I can use correctly this setting, this tutorial resolve almost my last big question about lightroom thx
Hey Allan, thanks for the comment.
Todd – this fantastically helpful. By far the best description of the processes I’ve ever read, and I’ve tried plenty. At last I feel as if I understand what I should be doing. If you ever shoot a show on the Isle of Man (unlikely) I’ll buy dinner.
Hey John,
Thanks for the comment – very happy to hear that this write-up was helpful and easy to read. My main goal with this was to make something that wasn’t overly technical but still got to the meat of the process.
If I ever make it to the Isle of Man, I’d love to take you up on that offer! Happy shooting.
Thanks Todd,
This is incredibly helpful. I do have a question for ya though. In your tut you talk about the effects on your RAW image.. So does that mean you don’t convert your work to a DNG file? Any reason for that?
thanks!
Hey David,
I don’t convert to DNG because for me, there’s no real need or immediate benefit that I see. I can still open my Nikon NEF files in Capture NX or Lightroom, the two editors I use.
But DNG is still a “raw” file, too!
Great! I was waiting for this one! You manage to give clear and concise explanations with eloquence. This is a lot better than any Lightroom book I’ve seen. So, when’s your Lightroom book coming out? :-)
Also, good to see your images from Lofoten and Northern Norway! It’s definitely not rock ‘n’ roll, but it was a great trip! Amazing scenery, wonderful seafood, lots of shooting and good hikes!
Hey Thomas!
Nice to hear from you, as always. Very glad to hear that the explanations are clear for this article. As you note, the information for these sorts of things is out there, but I wasn’t personally satisfied with some of the tutorials I came across – I so I thought I’d try to write my own. No plans for the book… But maybe if I start writing now, I can have it ready by the time Lightroom 4 comes out, ha.
That Lofoten and Norway trip in general was great. Lofoten and Bodø were the highlights for me for photography, but I also miss those great Norwegian shrimp in Kristiansand. Next time, India or Argentina. Or maybe the Outback?
Great little tutorial……..Cheers
Hey Tim, thank you.
This is, hands down, the best lightroom sharpening tutorial ive ever read.
Thanks very much for the kind words, Dan!
From Google Reader: Understanding Sharpening With Adobe Lightroom http://goo.gl/fb/P6CT6
Squeeze those RAW files: A detailed guide to Understanding Sharpening In Adobe Lightroom http://bit.ly/cskz87
RT @toddowyoung: Squeeze those RAW files: A detailed guide to Understanding Sharpening In Adobe Lightroom http://bit.ly/cskz87
RT @toddowyoung: Squeeze those RAW files: A detailed guide to Understanding Sharpening In Adobe Lightroom http://bit.ly/cskz87
@myen A detailed guide to Understanding Sharpening In Adobe Lightroom http://bit.ly/cskz87
Great tutorial- RT @toddowyoung: Squeeze those RAW files: detailed guide to Understanding Sharpening In Adobe Lightroom http://bit.ly/cskz87
RT @toddowyoung: Squeeze those RAW files: A detailed guide to Understanding Sharpening In Adobe Lightroom http://bit.ly/cskz87
RT @toddowyoung: Squeeze those RAW files: A detailed guide to Understanding Sharpening In Adobe Lightroom http://bit.ly/cskz87
Besser Schärfen in Lightroom 3 => http://is.gd/eNzLx
RT @toddowyoung: Squeeze those RAW files: A detailed guide to Understanding Sharpening In Adobe Lightroom http://bit.ly/cskz87
RT @insidelightroom @toddowyoung : Squeeze those RAW files: A guide to Understanding Sharpening In Adobe Lightroom http://bit.ly/cskz87
RT @insidelightroom: RT @toddowyoung: Squeeze those RAW files: A detailed guide to Understanding Sharpening In Adobe Lightroom http://bit.ly/cskz87
RT @toddowyoung Understanding Sharpening In Lightroom | ishootshows.com http://bit.ly/cskz87
Great write up by @toddowyoung on Sharpening in Lightroom 3. I like the examples & breakdown of each slider: http://is.gd/eNBEe
From Google Reader: Understanding Sharpening With Adobe Lightroom http://goo.gl/fb/V8Vrt
RT @jeremyhall: Great write up by @toddowyoung on Sharpening in Lightroom 3. http://bit.ly/cvT9vu
RT @scottwyden: From Google Reader: Understanding Sharpening With Adobe Lightroom http://goo.gl/fb/P6CT6
RT @lightroomblog: RT @toddowyoung: Squeeze those RAW files: A detailed guide to Understanding Sharpening In Adobe Lightroom http://bit.ly/cskz87
RT @lightroomblog: RT @toddowyoung: A detailed guide to Understanding Sharpening In Adobe Lightroom http://bit.ly/cskz87
Understanding Sharpening In Lightroom | ishootshows.com: http://bit.ly/cP4RlW #delicious #yahoo
Great FREE tutorial for Lr 3 Users! RT @toddowyoung: A detailed guide to Understanding Sharpening In Adobe Lightroom http://bit.ly/cskz87
Understanding sharpening in #Lightroom 3 by @ToddOwyoung – http://ishootshows.com/2010/08/31/tutorial-sharpening-with-adobe-lightroom/
Understanding Sharpening In Lightroom | ishootshows.com http://bit.ly/cskz87
Very helpful explanation Todd, thanks!
Glad this helped, Jamie.
From Google Reader: Understanding Sharpening With Adobe Lightroom http://goo.gl/fb/dOoYf
Fantastic Lightroom article!! RT @toddowyoung: A detailed guide to Understanding Sharpening In Adobe Lightroom http://bit.ly/cskz87
Hey Todd thanks for this wonderful and precise tutorial. This answers my question to you last time. It’s the tutorial I’ve been looking for. I will be waiting for your next sharpening tutorial.
Thanks
Jett
Hey Jett, thanks, glad to hear the tutorial was useful to you!
RT @scottwyden: From Google Reader: Understanding Sharpening With Adobe Lightroom http://goo.gl/fb/dOoYf
RT @lightroomblog RT @toddowyoung: Squeeze those RAW files: .. guide to Understanding Sharpening In Adobe Lightroom http://bit.ly/cskz87
A really good explanation of sharpening in @Lightroom 3, via @toddowyoung http://bit.ly/cskz87 #LR3
Thanks a lot Todd. Even if english is not my first language, I am glad understanding all of your tuto. Now I understand what “sharpening” means.
I ‘ll start immediately improving my best pictures
Are all these sharpening settings ignored by LR when the output is to be printed? What are the sharpening choices in the Print Module?
Hey Ron,
No, Lightroom doesn’t ignore the Develop sharpening when using output sharpening. The Print sharpening choices offer three paper choices and three levels of sharpening for each paper type.
Understanding Sharpening With Adobe Lightroom :: http://bit.ly/cTRVaF
Bra tips. Trenger mengdetrening på Li, overgang fra Ps RT @mortenprom: Understanding Sharpening With Adobe Lightroom :: http://bit.ly/cTRVaF
I just started playing with the sharpening tool in LR3 and all I can say is this could not have been any better timing for you to post this. Thank you so much Todd! I look forward to your posts everyday!
Do you use your 'option' key when sharpening in Lightroom? If not, you might want to read this. http://fb.me/xbccpZJO
hey todd–
what are you still using nx2 for? i like the control points for quick and dirty corrections and have really gotten used to them. i assume there is nothing quite that simple (?) in LR3. i’m getting ready to download my 30 day trial of LR3 but i wanted to wait until i had a good number of images to run through it. really liking nx2 except for the at times slow speed and sporadic crashes. always felt capture 4 got more out of NEF’s than camera raw but i understand ACR has come a long way.
great tutorial as always and i’ll be checking back when i get the trial.
Hey Patrick,
I use NX for portrait work and other situations where having the absolute best color is critical to me. To my eyes, Lightroom 3 comes very close with the latest profiles, but I find that NX still renders the most pleasing colors and richest blacks.
Lightroom does have some really nice features that are similar to the u-point technology from Nik, but not exactly the same. There are some really nice things in Lightroom like simulated graduated filters for exposure, and the ability to “paint” on adjustments like exposure compensation.
Currently Browsing: http://is.gd/fbBR1
good tutorial on LR3 sharpening http://is.gd/fbBR1 #lightroom 3photography
RT @gordolake good tutorial on LR3 sharpening http://is.gd/fbBR1 (expand) #lightroom 3photography
RT @toddowyoung Just finished a 6-step tutorial for sharpening in Lightroom… [Is it different than this one – http://tinyurl.com/35pg9pe
Thanks for the RTs on the LR sharpening tutorial, guys! Check out the companion article if you haven't already, too: http://bit.ly/dv950S
Thanks a lot RT @toddowyoung: Thanks for the RTs / Check out the companion article if you haven't already, too: http://bit.ly/dv950S
Great tutorial. It’s very helpful Thank you for sharing this.
[...] Todd Owyoung of ishootshows.com posted a Lightroom sharpening tutorial on his blog, it is definitely a must read for any lightroom user. http://ishootshows.com/2010/08/31/tutorial-sharpening-with-adobe-lightroom/ [...]
i would agree with thomas d., you have the most detailed explanation so far, nothing to compare with…
Thanks, Vince.
LR3: Understanding Sharpening With Adobe Lightroom …..http://tiny.cc/wybei
RT @Lightroom_on_PC: LR3: Understanding Sharpening With Adobe Lightroom …..http://tiny.cc/wybei
Helpful! RT @toddowyoung Understanding Sharpening In Lightroom | ishootshows.com http://bit.ly/cskz87 #photography
Todd, Looking forward to digesting your tutorial in full and applying it in detail – many thanks.
Just one quick question, I know you don’t convert to DNG files, but is there any difference in applying your techniques to DNG and NEF files?
Hi Jim,
There will be no differences on the effect of sharpening between NEF and DNG – or any other RAW format. You can go ahead and use these same techniques for any RAW file.
What a superb tutorial!!
Thanks a lot for the effort..
Could you also cover the vibrance/clarity related slider
Basically how to get those clear bright faces..
Thanks..
Hi Remy,
Thanks for the comment. I’ll consider posting tutorials on other aspects of Lightroom, thanks for the suggestion.
An excellent tutorial. So well explained and illustrated.
Toch maar eens leren: hoe dat sharpening ding in Lightroom nou precies werkt ipv alleen op presets drukken :') http://bit.ly/gVpAqv
Thank you so much for this! I’m so illiterate when it comes to instructions and things. Thank you for breaking this down for me so I can make beautiful images! *hugs*
Hei Todd,
Thanks for sharing this info & tutorial…been looking around about sharpening and finally this one is the one I can easily understand..:)
Hi Riefa, glad to help. Have fun with this.
just found your tutorial. what i have been missing and not understood. thanks!
Thanks. Very useful and simple. I’m using Lightroom for some time but I didn’t use sharpening before, I just didn’t know how.
Thanks
Glad this article on Adobe Lightroom has helped.
@svenahrens LR3 tut: http://t.co/M6Jo44xe Verder: Output sharpening gebruiken tijdens export. "For Screen, normal" werkt oké meestal …
Many thanks for a great tutorial. You have greatly expanded my capability to use the sharpening tools. I immediately applied it to some of my RAW pics used in Enfuse for blending. Sharpened (appropriately) each of the original multiple exposures, then blended all the exposures and got some great results. Keep up the good work. Thanks!!
Hey Frank, thanks for the comment.
Glad to hear that this tutorial was helpful to you.
Use Lightroom? Incredibly useful sharpening guide: http://t.co/7LGthxYN Who knew there were different sharpening previews?
I would really love to use lightroom 3 for all my editing needs. But what I keep reading is that people use LR3 for capture sharpening, but that final sharpening needs to be done in Photoshop or some other program. What do you think of that? Can I get seriously sharp images JUST using LR? Also, what about selective sharpening using the brush? Can you cover that in another tutorial? GREAT tutorial. But the question remains: Is LR3 a FINAL editor? I’m mostly speaking of sharpening.