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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
  • 9982 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.

      I
      IanScicluna
      Participating Frequently
      May 22, 2018

      I want Lr to apply no sharpening at all at RAW conversion stage - infinitely prefer Ps for this task with the camera I am using now.

      Can someone please remind me how to convert all images to zero sharpening after import, and how to set default sharpening

      to zero so that none is applied on import.

      Thanks beforehand.

      Ian

      michaelfromoz
      michaelfromoz
      Participating Frequently
      May 23, 2018

      All of your points are correct. I have created presets for each of my lenses which seem to optimize the sharpening to my taste. I don't set the sharpening to 0 on import, but that is my personal preference. Sometimes I think we get a little obsessed with sharpening. At least I feel that I did initially. I seemed to expect even more than what my camera could produce or my monitor could display. After a while I decided it wasn't worth all the worry. I'm not a professional, and those who look at my work never seem to worry about whether or not the image is perfectly sharp. All they want to know is who are the people in the picture. If they can see who they are and recognize them, that's all that matters. Yeah, bad attitude. But it sure makes life a lot simpler.


      Jim,

      Yes, sharpening is a very personal thing and some can get quite uptight and opinionated about it.

      I tend to treat my landscape images such that they should be viewed from an appropriate distance as a single view and apply two basic rules to the image:

      1. foreground sharper than background

      2. light areas sharper than shadows.

      This requires that I use grad filters, radial filters and brushes to select areas suitable for sharpening or softening.

      I can then address the actual subject / focal point

      Portraits too come in for heated discussion sometimes. I have seen beautiful portraits where the faces are not quite sharp and have an ethereal quality about them.

      Yes, sharpening, a very personal thing indeed.

      Mcihael

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