Raw Tuesday: what to edit (and when) in Adobe Camera Raw

0 Comments

How to Edit Raw Files, 9-10: Sharpen the image

How much sharpening you need to apply to your raw images in ACR will depend on how much processing  you plan to do in the main Photoshop interface once the images are converted.

If your image needs only basic adjustments, sharpen using the Sharpening tools found under the Detail tab. Choose an Amount of 25 or less.

For images that don’t need extra adjustments, you can apply a larger Amount of around 50, while for images that you are going to print straight from the processed file you can apply a higher Amount of around 60.

9 Zoom in
To get an accurate view of how your sharpening adjustment is affecting the image (and to spot any ugly sharpening artefacts), zoom in to 100% using the bottom-left zoom adjustment.

10 Sharpen up
Now adjust the sharpening controls. We set the Amount slider to 50 for the image shown at the top of each page, because it didn’t need any further adjustment in Photoshop.

PAGE 1: The best order for editing raw files
PAGE 2: Adjust white balance
PAGE 3: Correct exposure
PAGE 4: Recover lost highlight detail
PAGE 5: Recover lost shadow detail
PAGE 6: Sharpen the image