Tips: Using Adobe Lightroom Version 3 – Sharpening Tool

This post is for Photo Enthusiast and for newbie in photography.

I would like to discuss the photo enhancement by using Adobe Lightroom Version 3.0. As a disclosure, I just learn the use of Adobe Lightroom Version 3.0 in Digital photo post processing. UMIF introduced the basic through our seminar and it’s up to us students to learn more about the advance (I only enroll for Basic Photography). Let me discuss what I have found today about the sharpening option as shown in this post.

{ Slider }

An explanation from Adobe site as follows :

Amount  – Adjusts edge definition. Increase the Amount value to increase sharpening. A value of zero (0) turns off sharpening. In general, set Amount to a lower value for cleaner images. The adjustment locates pixels that differ from surrounding pixels based on the threshold you specify and increases the pixels’ contrast by the amount you specify.

Radius  – Adjusts the size of the details that sharpening is applied to. Photos with very fine details may need a lower radius setting. Photos with larger details may be able to use a larger radius. Using too large a radius generally results in unnatural-looking results.

Detail – Adjusts how much high-frequency information is sharpened in the image and how much the sharpening process emphasizes edges. Lower settings primarily sharpen edges to remove blurring. Higher values are useful for making the textures in the image more pronounced.

Masking – Controls an edge mask. With a setting of zero (0), everything in the image receives the same amount of sharpening. With a setting of 100, sharpening is mostly restricted to those areas near the strongest edges.

 

{ Source }

{ Sharpening Tips }

While doing the adjustment try to press the “alt key” while sliding the sharpening slider tools, you will see a black and white photo highlighting the changes your are making in the photo.

{ Original vs Post Processed Photo }

Here is the two version of the photos I showed in my previous post.

Post Processed Photo of Nerebi

Original Photo of Nerebi

Minor changes can be seen from the photo but framing (learning about rule of thirds) and sharpening tool did it’s part.I am still a newbie when it comes to photography and post processing but learning new each day is a great indication of improvement. Do You have any other tips for this particular slider ? I would be willing to hear about it. Be my friend in @ Flickr .