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Sharpening workflow

Participant ,
Sep 27, 2025 Sep 27, 2025

I see a lot of posts on sharpening but can someone recommend a best practice tutorial for sharpening?  I have heard LR is the worst place to sharpen but I input sharpen in LR (and sometimes output sharpen).  But I'd love to see a tutorial.  Is high pass the best way to sharpen for printing?  

Mac 15.6.1

PS 26.11.0

LR classic 14.5.1

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Adobe
Community Expert ,
Sep 27, 2025 Sep 27, 2025

Regarding high pass sharpening vs other methods, here’s a reply I posted here a few months ago that’s my view on the subject:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/photoshop-ecosystem-discussions/sharpening-using-high-pass-filter/m-p...

 

Regarding the best way to sharpen, it sounds like you’re already aware of the three-stage sharpening workflow (input sharpening, creative sharpening, output sharpening) advanced by Bruce Fraser. In Lightroom Classic or Camera Raw:

Input sharpening = Sharpening panel with Masking adjustment, similar to High Pass sharpening.

Creative sharpening = Applying local sharpening to specific areas using a masked adjustment

Output sharpening = Sharpening options in the Print module (Lightroom Classic) and Export dialog box (Save dialog box in Camera Raw)

 

For input sharpening, there is a tutorial by the late Martin Evening that’s still valid in the current versions of Lightroom Classic and Camera Raw (PDF):

http://www.photoshopforphotographers.com/pscs4/downloads/Cameraraw-sharpening.pdf

 

If used properly, Lightroom Classic has almost all the sharpening tools that are needed. I think it's just that a lot of people aren‘t aware that Lightroom Classic has sharpen options in multiple places in the software, or why that should be or why it’s a good thing, unless they’re aware of Bruce Fraser’s three-stage sharpening workflow.

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Participant ,
Sep 28, 2025 Sep 28, 2025

Thank you! This really helps.  I know you shared the Martin Evening tutorial but is there something on localized creative sharpening?  Also, for general things that will likely only be web based (or just out of my control after I export and send out) I usually just do a standard sharpening for screen on export in LR.  Is that ok?   

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Community Expert ,
Sep 27, 2025 Sep 27, 2025

I mostly agree with Conrad. IMO the Camera Raw engine - Lightroom Classic or ACR - has superior sharpening to anything you find in Photoshop, because it gives you much more control over many more parameters. You should have a little initial capture sharpening on the raw stage, and then you can add output sharpening on RGB files in Photoshop in the form of the ACR filter, masked if you like.

 

High pass sharpening is what they used many years ago because that's all they had. Unsharp Mask is the more modern version that produces the same effect, and with all the same shortcomings like edge halos and artifacts.

 

Smart sharpen improves it a little because you can roll off the high and low end where most of the artifacts are. 

 

Either way, two things are critical:

  • do output sharpening at final pixel size, after any resampling. Any resampling after sharpening negates the effect.
  • set sharpening at 100% view. That represents each image pixel by exactly one physical screen pixel, so you see the actual pixel structure on screen. My rule of thumb is to err on the safe side and don't overdo it. Nothing looks worse than an oversharpened image! So I find what seems like a proper amount, and then dial back a little.

 

(Output sharpening for print is partly to counteract ink spread and diffusion in the paper. So there is already a small negative halo, and adding a small positive halo cancels that effect. So what you see on screen will be "diluted" a little bit on paper. To get a real life check on that, you may also try to see it at 50% zoom, which doesn't replace 100%, just an additional reality check). 

 

Ultimately, it's not life and death. "Just print the damn thing" will usually look just fine. But careful sharpening may add that extra little crispiness that lifts it.

 

(edit: I'd upvote Conrad's post, but the upvote button mostly doesn't work, no matter how many times I reload and try. So consider yourselves upvoted, everyone 😉 )

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Participant ,
Sep 28, 2025 Sep 28, 2025

thank you!

Is there any tutuorial out there --you would recommend-- on this?

 

'then you can add output sharpening on RGB files in Photoshop in the form of the ACR filter, masked if you like.

 

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Participant ,
Sep 28, 2025 Sep 28, 2025

Not having anything to do with my general sharpening questions above is there any way to 'clean up' this tiny tiny crop from a much larger image in terms of contrast, sharpening, etc.  This is an art project, I understand it's super low res and looks terrible. 

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Advocate ,
Sep 29, 2025 Sep 29, 2025

I use Frequency Separation for sharpening, with some custom adjustments that limit halos. Its all wrapped up in an action. Input sharpening in Lightroom. I never output directly from LR so my final image gets the output sharpening in Photoshop before I save it.

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Participant ,
Sep 29, 2025 Sep 29, 2025

Which layer would you sharpen in FS?  

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Advocate ,
Sep 29, 2025 Sep 29, 2025
LATEST

My output. So the final flattened image or main content layer.

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Community Expert ,
Sep 29, 2025 Sep 29, 2025

I would suggest that you test this yourself, with your images and output.

 

1) From capture to output with only output sharpening applied in the final resized image. No capture or creative sharpening.

 

2) Compared to capture, creative and output sharpening at final resize.

 

Test the same images, same resize etc.

 

Sharpening is usually more craft than science. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and there are so many variables that I don't believe that it's helpful to parrot others with something this subjective. Learn from others, but make your own conclusions and workflow based on your images, output, viewing conditions and subjective taste.

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Advocate ,
Sep 29, 2025 Sep 29, 2025
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Participant ,
Sep 29, 2025 Sep 29, 2025

yikes.  I'm sure it's merited but...maybe too much for me. 

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