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Wildlife_in_Pixels
Wildlife_in_Pixels
Inspiring
April 6, 2018
Answered

Lightroom v7.3 Sharpening Amount Default Setting

  • April 6, 2018
  • 2 replies
  • 9975 views

Can anyone throw some light on as to why the amount default setting has been changed from 25 to 40 in Lr v7.3 ?

I would be very interested in why the Lightroom dev team felt this was needed - has there been some change to the sharpening algorithms?

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer Ian Lyons

There has been no change to the sharpening algorithms.

The sharpening amount increase (from 25 to 40), in conjunction with the new Adobe Color default profile, are part of an effort by Adobe to offer a more pleasing “out-of-the-box” rendering for Lr Classic, Lr CC, & ACR.

2 replies

tomy58605646
tomy58605646
Participant
April 17, 2018

I have been going nuts tonight trying to figure out behind the scenes changes to sharpening too (if any). I believe after finding some of my presets which I made a year or so back have been looking very 'blurred' when applied. I cannot say for certain but personally its never jumped out as an issue in past versions of LR but...

I think when using the before/after key, LR is no longer going from your current edited image to the image with NO adjustments. It seems to now toggle between your current edit and the new default settings, for sharpening this is now for example, going from MY sharpening mask and amounts  (amount 50, mask 80) to (amount 40, mask 0 new default). So you can't really compare the sharpening from the raw images to the edit now. This is so off putting as typically for my event work I have to shoot wide open in dark areas so my background which I know is OOF is being sharpened a LOT by the new defaults and so when I'm comparing the 2, it now looks like the whole image is getting too soft.

This has become very evident as work I do 2-3 times a month in the same rooms with the same light and the same presets is now looking very different, I typically have higher mask values for this work as its dark and I don't want sharpening applying to all the noise and any background objects, just my subjects. And its making it appear as if my files are now being blurred (which is not, just sharpening is much more selective).

Is this something anyone else has noticed? I could be completely mistaken but Ive used LR for a few years and only just seen this happen after going onto LR v7...

Thanks,

Tom

Wildlife_in_Pixels
Wildlife_in_PixelsAuthor
Inspiring
April 18, 2018

Hi Tom

If you take the image profile back to Adobe Standard, do they still look blurred with your original sharpening preset?

I only ask, because of what Ian said in his reply to me - +40 makes Adobe Color look more pleasing out of the box.

tomy58605646
tomy58605646
Participant
April 21, 2018

Its definitely an out of the box setting that is giving the false impression of what the raw file looks like. So yes having too much sharpening on areas that shouldnt have had any initial makes them look too soft when A/B-ing the 2 versions. So I guess I just have to adapt my work flow slightly, I just have to turn the sharpening on/off now to see the effect instead of using the old method of the before/after key command. I checked out your website and you have some awesome stuff there! I may invest in your sharpening tutorial package!

All the best, Tom

    Ian Lyons
    Community Expert
    Ian LyonsCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
    Community Expert
    April 6, 2018

    There has been no change to the sharpening algorithms.

    The sharpening amount increase (from 25 to 40), in conjunction with the new Adobe Color default profile, are part of an effort by Adobe to offer a more pleasing “out-of-the-box” rendering for Lr Classic, Lr CC, & ACR.

      Wildlife_in_Pixels
      Wildlife_in_PixelsAuthor
      Inspiring
      April 6, 2018

      Thanks Ian.

      Let me get a confirmation from you on something else if I may.  At a base level, they have not changed the unique demosaicing algorithm, just the default 'auto applied' process settings/profile/CLUT, neither have they changed the MelissaRGB GUI.

      Or have they?

      Ian Lyons
      Community Expert
      Ian LyonsCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      April 6, 2018

      At the 'base' level nothing has changed. The demosaicing algorithm is unchanged, MelissRGB is still the default colour space within the UI, and the Adobe Standard profile (DCP) for each supported camera is also unchanged. Likewise, the Camera Matching profiles are unchanged. All of the new Adobe Raw and Creative profiles are built on top of Adobe Standard (i.e. Adobe Standard remains the base profile for all supported cameras). As such, these XMP based profiles apply settings under-the-hood. I can't comment on the specifics of where LUTs are/ are not used.

      More info on how new profiles can be built is available in the new SDK at http://www.adobe.com/go/profile-sdk​

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