# Sharpening - in LR or PSD or both? And when to apply it?



## queuenal (May 16, 2013)

Hello!

My question is about Sharpening - whether it should be applied in Lightroom or Photoshop or both, and the stage at which it should be applied. I largely shoot architecture and interiors and use LR for processing the RAW file. My workflow is as follows:

*Step 1:* LR - In the Develop module, I adjust the Basic, Tone Curve and HSL panels. Followed by local changes using Adjustment Brush.

*Step 2:* LR - I then go to the Detail panel in Develop module, and adjust the Noise Reduction, followed by Sharpening (usually around 40, 0.8, 80, 40). And then export the RAW files as PSD files (with no Output Sharpening applied in Export settings)

*Step 3:* All images are then edited in Photoshop for the following, in this order:


overlaying multiple exposures / HDR
perspective corrections (using Free Transform & Wrap tool) - _This is unavoidable in almost every image, since it's absolutely crucial for having all the vertical and horizontal lines perfectly aligned._
shadow & highlights adjustment
cloning
hue saturation
local dodging or burning
local colour balance
curves adjustment
sharpening (Localised sharpening using Unsharp Mask, usually at 139% 1px and 8threshold)
 
*Step 4:* The PSD files are then imported back into LR. And exported from LR as JPG files with Sharpening for “Screen” and “Standard” amount (done in the Export dialogue box)


I find that at Step 3.2 - after I have used the Free Transform or Wrap tools, the sharpness of the images along edges drops noticeably. The Unsharp Mask at Step 3.9 brings back some sharpening, but not as much as what I had when I brought the file into PS in the first place (ie before step 3.2).

I have also tried: Avoiding step 2, and directly exporting a PSD from LR with the Detail panel turned off. Doing Step 3. And on re importing in Step 4, to apply the Detail panel settings before exporting the JPG. Still this doesn’t seem to get as sharp images as before using the transform tools in PS.

*My questions are:*
 - Is there a workflow improvement that I can implement to not loose the sharpness of images?
- Should the sharpening not be applied at all the steps I have described above?
- Am I causing damage to the image by sharpening in LR before and then using transform tools in photoshop?
- Or is the loss of sharpness due to transform tools a given, and there is no way to avoid it?

Phew! That was a long post. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated!

Many thanks!
Q


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## Tony Jay (May 16, 2013)

Hi Q, welcome to the forum.

From what I can see of your workflow it makes perfect sense logically to me.
You do the initial capture sharpening in Lr.
Creative sharpening you are, in the workflow outlined, performing in Ps.
(It is possible to do localized creative sharpening in Lr as well, but no issue in doing it in Ps given the rest of your workflow.)
Output sharpening done in Lr - the very best place to do it given current technology.

Seems to me that you got this whole approach pretty much down pat.
It will be interesting to see what the boffins on this forum have to say.

Tony Jay


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## Bryan Conner (May 18, 2013)

While I consider myself to be more buffoon than boffin (I had to look up the definition of boffin...thus apparently giving credence to the buffoon theory), your workflow seems logical to me too.  Depending on how much you mangle the pixels while using tools such as warp and transform, you may have to add intermediary sharpening steps to offset the blurring that transformations and warping can introduce.


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## queuenal (May 20, 2013)

Thanks for the replies Tony and Bryan. While it's assuring to know that I've been doing the (seemingly) right thing, I  was hoping that someone would find a fault in my workflow :shock:. Where are all the boffins again ?


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## DianeK (May 20, 2013)

Just wondering out loud here...I know you can resize images multiple times in PS without degradation if you convert them to Smart Objects first.  Would this apply here, i.e. convert the image to a Smart Object before transform/warp functions to preserve LR's sharpening effect?
Diane


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## tzalman (May 21, 2013)

In a recent lecture by Eric Chan in which he discussed what operations are best done in LR and what is better done in PSCS, one of the things he mentioned was lens corrections, perspective corrections and rotations. According to him, each operation needs to be done separately in PS and each operation involves resampling. Resampling inevitably involves a loss of sharpness and artifacting and in PS you are doing multiple resamples. In LR's parametric workflow the various image changes are combined into one single operation and thus one resampling and in Eric's opinion it is therefore preferable to do those corrections in LR. The audio (no video available) of the presentation is availabe at http://www.photography.org/audio/Eric.mp3


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## Tony Jay (May 21, 2013)

tzalman you are correct.
Personally I do, nearly, all my work in Lightroom and these days I certainly do all my shaprening steps from within Lightroom.
The OP, on the other hand, does significant creative work in Photoshop.
It would not be unusual, in that context for regional creative sharpening to be done in Photoshop.
Many individuals have somewhat complex workflows involving both Lightroom and Photoshop.

Tony Jay


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