Clarity slider in Lightroom

[mark_beaumont]

<p>What is this slider actually doing? can the effect be replicated in PS? It seems to really add something, just giving an image the edge, but equally it works quite well when going in the other direction to soften the image, just curious as to what is actually going on.</p>

[mark_sirota1]

<p>It's similar to (but not identical to) a low amount, large radius unsharp mask.</p>

[mike_stemberg]

Here's a brief overview of the three 'presence' sliders:

<a href="http://digital-photography-school.com/making-sense-of-clarity-vibrance-and-saturation-in-lightroom-2"> Making sense of Clarity, Vibrance and Saturation in Lightroom 2.<a/>

[Tim_Lookingbill]

<p>There are two kinds of contrast adjusts in image editing, global and local. Global adds contrast to the entire tonal scale within an image from black to white where as local adds more definition to tonal gradation accentuation to edge detail that can be more readily seen by the eye in the mid to lighter tones over edge detail in the shadows. </p>

<p>Clarity adjusts local contrast and you have to be careful using it because if overdone you'll start getting dark and thick halo's along high contrast edges giving the image a fake look. Clarity doesn't affect shadow detail but does remove the slight haze seen in images that kind of look flat from bad lighting and/or lenses with low contrast characteristics.</p>

[Tim_Lookingbill]

<p>I couldn't see much of a Clarity demonstration in Mike's linked tut, so I'll show you where it really comes in handy really giving definition in images with a lot of delicate light tones. Below shows the before on the left of new lens I'm trying out which renders brightly lit subjects noticeably flat and on the right how it appears with a plus 100 Clarity.</p><div></div>

[jtk]

<p>Reducing "clarity" sometimes helps female portrait egos. But if you go too far, and if they're strong-willed, they notice and complain that they've earned their wrinkles. :-)</p>

[digitaldog]

<blockquote>

<p>What is this slider actually doing?</p>

 

</blockquote>

<p>Its based on Mac Holbert's (with Jeff Schewe's tweaking) Midtone Contrast. Should be able to find the Photoshop Action its based on here:</p>

<p>http://www.rmacholbert.com/</p>

[symple]

<p>I know I just ruined a print with clarity adjustments that should never have been applied. I had one test print done, then readjusted the colour and local exposure in areas of the file for a second print. I then opened the file in lightroom and must have slid the clarity for viewing the effect on the overall image in full view, and then exported the file as an 8bit TIFF to disk for printing without resetting the clarity. When I got the print my stomach turned because the image looked VERY over-sharpened compared to the first, even though the sharpening settings were not changed when I made the adjustments. I went back to the file I exported and saw that clarity was set at +20 in lightroom, something I did not intend to keep, and my 96 inch print is pretty much ruined. The effect looks cool on the monitor, but it does have its dangers when printed, so print some crops of the images you have applied clarity to before you get a full enlargement done! On the other hand I have had great results with a few small landscape images (23x10inch) with a sharp single feature, and then reducing the overall clarity to create a misty/foggy image, and they printed alright and I will still (deliberately) use the minus clarity setting.</p>

[macmoss]

<p>Positive clarity as noted above is a form of sharpening. Although there are cases to be made for multi-stage sharpening, in general the rule of thumb is that sharpening, if used at all (depending on subject matter), should be at the END of the workflow. And I would argue that in most images sharpening applied globally is a bad idea.<br /><br />For example, even though sharpening in ACR has advantages, they are only valid if that is the end of the process, i.e. you intend to do nothing in Photoshop after you come out of ACR. LOL.<br /><br />Negative clarity is another issue entirely. As noted above, it's especially tempting with portraits of women, and not just for egos; used in moderation, it can be a graceful entry into a more incandescent skin rendering.<br /><br />But all things in moderation- except, of course, for oversaturation of landscapes, which now appears to be an inviolable formula (is there an emoticon for "gag me with a spoon"?- someone should invent one!).</p>

[digitaldog]

<blockquote>

<p>Although there are cases to be made for multi-stage sharpening, in general the rule of thumb is that sharpening, if used at all (depending on subject matter), should be at the END of the workflow.</p>

 

</blockquote>

<p>Many would disagree (the part about in general). Output sharpening should be done at the end of the workflow, capture at the beginning:<br>

http://www.creativepro.com/story/feature/20357.html <br>

This idea has been incorporated into Lightroom and ACR based on Fraser's work by Fraser and later Jeff Schewe and the Adobe teams. </p>

 

<blockquote>

<p>For example, even though sharpening in ACR has advantages, they are only valid if that is the end of the process, i.e. you intend to do nothing in Photoshop after you come out of ACR.</p>

 

</blockquote>

<p>No, you could implement capture sharpening in ACR and do output sharpening in Photoshop. ACR also has output sharpening options in the Workflow Options settings. The Sharpening Tab in ACR is capture not output sharpening. Output sharpening in both ACR and LR.'s print module is based on ink jet output devices (and the size and resolution of the document). </p>

<p>Clarity is far more a creative sharpening. So like other rendering settings, its subjective AND based on the initial capture sharpening. </p>