software sharpening

[joe_cormier]

<p>I have the following software.<br>

1. CS-5<br>

2. Lightroom 3<br>

3. Nik software<br>

All 3 programs have a sharpening module. Does anyone have an opinion on which program works best.<br>

as always, thanks in advance<br>

Joe</p>

<p> </p>

[peter_gilbert4]

<p>Joe:<br>

Wow - does a Ford work better than a Chevy?<br>

Photoshop has different options for sharpening, Lightroom's system is similar to Photoshop, and I have no experience with the Nik (Sharpener? I assume).<br>

I use Photokit Sharpener 2 plug-in in Photoshop, fwiw. Capture, Creative and, sometimes, Output if I choose to print from PS and not LR.<br>

I think you need to Google this subject, and read a good book or tutorial then decide for yourself what works "best" for you. I think Luminous Landscape has/had an article (or several) on this (Ctein was most likely the author). Another good tutorial series is by Ron Bigelow (Google him and read his sharpening series, I think there were maybe 6 of them)<br>

Most folks I know who use CS5 use High Pass sharpening, but with edge masks.<br>

At some point you will come to realize that perfect sharpening is like searching for the lost Ark. ;~)</p>

[richsimmons]

<p>Depends on the subject. I like Photoshop's Smart Sharpen, but I also like DFine. Noise Ninja used to be pretty good, haven't used that in a while. You can get a smart sharpen tutorial from here:<br>

<a href="http://www.espacephotos.com/photonet/TUTORIAL/">http://www.espacephotos.com/photonet/TUTORIAL/</a> </p>

[digitaldog]

<p>Considering that natively, LR has a sharpening workflow that takes capture and output into account (and automatically when exporting to any size or printing), I’ll vote for Lightroom. </p>

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

[jcuknz]

<p>Peter ... Ark .... good one LOL :-)</p>

[Spearhead]

<blockquote>

<p> DFine. Noise Ninja </p>

</blockquote>

<p>These are noise reduction programs.</p>