Lightroom 4 Sharpening - what am I missing?

[Crovean]

Thanks everyone for your input. I didn't know about using the 'alt' key!
The video link was helpful Chriss - though my iPod doesn't seem to like Vimeo too well.
I didn't understand what masking did previously.

Brian,

I knew about the "alt" key but I just didn't really know how it worked till Gavin Hoey explained it on that video! I'm trying to get a collection of good tutorials on my website so it would be easier for me to refer back if I need it.

[speedneeder]

Well I tried some new ideas, and while I do like the results better, they are still not as good as what I am used to with GIMP. The masking slider works great for certain areas, but always seems to not do what I want somewhere else. Perhaps more practice will improve, I will keep trying for 27 more days
LR4 definitely does some things better, but I don't know if I can use it if I can't figure out how to get as good of sharpening and as much control over what gets sharpened (such as not muting contrast and saturation in a GND gradient like GIMP does). I tried LR3 a while ago and came to the same conclusion, just didn't feel like I had the same amount of control.
Maybe my brain is just more compatible with the gimp/photoshop/layers and USM type processing?
I appreciate everyone's contributions to this thread.

[thatguyfromvienna]

Same here, Brian.
Been using PS since version 5 (NOT CS5!) and installed the trial of LR.
Believe me, it took me a really long time to get accustomed to it because the workflow is totally different.
But now I'd really miss it if it weren't there.

Nevertheless, LR will never be a total replacement for PS. There are times when you just need PS (or GIMP, in your case).

[Carl in Louisiana]

Well I tried some new ideas, and while I do like the results better, they are still not as good as what I am used to with GIMP. The masking slider works great for certain areas, but always seems to not do what I want somewhere else. Perhaps more practice will improve, I will keep trying for 27 more days
LR4 definitely does some things better, but I don't know if I can use it if I can't figure out how to get as good of sharpening and as much control over what gets sharpened (such as not muting contrast and saturation in a GND gradient like GIMP does). I tried LR3 a while ago and came to the same conclusion, just didn't feel like I had the same amount of control.
Maybe my brain is just more compatible with the gimp/photoshop/layers and USM type processing?
I appreciate everyone's contributions to this thread.

Hey Brian,
I am just now learning some about Nik software Sharpener Pro 3.0. It can be applied globally or in just your specified areas and to the degree that you choose, it also has RAW presharpening. It is a plug-in that can be used with LR. Don't know if you've tried it or looked at it yet. Hope this will be of some help.

[herbert]

Well I tried some new ideas, and while I do like the results better, they are still not as good as what I am used to with GIMP.

Hi Brian,

As you state in your original post you have to use DPP as a raw converter before GIMP. Lightroom will provide you with a different raw converter for the basic colour management of the image. You can then render a TIFF and then sharpen in GIMP as per normal. I switched to Lightroom a year ago and prefer the control I have over the colour and tones to DPP. I like the way DPP respects your camera settings, picture styles and also saves edits back to the original .CR2 file. But I found Lightroom a more powerful editor. I also like the cataloguing features of Lightroom given that I produce thousands of images per year and want to be able to find them in the future.

There are some advantages to sharpening in Lightroom. Since it is working in linear gamma the slider settings are not directly comparable to unsharp mask and so it takes a bit of tweaking to get equivalent effects. Linear gamma may give it an advantage for preserving shadow detail. It also will apply sharpening at an appropriate stage of the raw conversion. Doing it later will always be on top of everything you have already done.

The big BUT is that it has to satisfy you. If you do not like it (once you have tried all the options) and are happy with your workflow then don't change. It is good to try new software but the final judgement must be based on how easy it is to produce the output you desire (and how much it costs to do it).

Alex

[deseng]

Really enjoyed reading the posts. A fair bit went over my head but now I think I can try sharpening in LR.

[Glenn NK]

I missed this thread until tonight.

One comment on NIK - it has been bought by Google, and that is not good news for its future:

http://www.naturescapes.net/phpBB3/v...p?f=2&t=222706

Glenn

[speedneeder]

Really enjoyed reading the posts. A fair bit went over my head but now I think I can try sharpening in LR.

Excellent - if some of it went over your head, that just means you learned something