Sharpening raw files

[Sunny]

Novice question...have raw images that seem soft/ noisy when converted to jpeg....best to sharpen in raw or does it matter that much?

[bullsparade]

I have found sharpening in a bit in RAW a helps. I may even need to do a bit of 'unsharp mask" on PS afterwards. I do as much as I can in RAW before I do conversions. A jpeg is a compressed file and has less data than a jpeg. I prefer to convert to 16 bit .tif file, then do work in PS. Once I have completed all post processing I then convert to jpeg or whatever output file I need. Its always better to work with files before they get compressed (jpeg).

[engstrom]

The "generally accepted" approach is to little to no sharpening in the RAW conversion. I use ACR and never sharpen my RAW files. The last thing I do to a picture is to resize it to the dimensions I want then sharpen. There are a million different ways to sharpen - straight USM, Photokit Sharpener, Focal Blade, Fred Miranda's Intellisharpen, etc. - pick your poison but I suggest you try to stay away from using straight USM. The reason is USM will sharpen all parts of the picture instead of just the edges of objects in the picture. By limiting sharpening to the edges you are able to apply more sharpening without inducing sharpening artifacts.

[Abel]

i started using Smart Sharpen in CS2 and love it more than the regualr USM thats available...

if youre using CS2 i definitely recommmend giving it a try.

[Sunny]

Lots of good advice here...I love this forum...boy do I have a lot to learn!

[BobbyC]

I never sharpen during conversion and I never have to manually resize files because I use Qimage to print or re-size for the lab, sharpening is done at the time of sizing.

[AjP]

Never use sharpening in RAW, its adds noise.. I use USM in PS2 after RAW conversion

[bullsparade]

I dont know about yall but I have not been real happy with CS2's Raw handling. I prefer to use Pixmatec Rawshooter for raw file handling. They have been doing it alot longer than PS and it is as straightfoward as you get and it includes great batch features.

It is a matter of choice of course but being a decade user of PS I am loyal to them...I am just not comfortable with their RAW handling. Maybe its just me.....

[BobbyC]

The workflow is just better with a program like Raw Shooter Premium or C1 Pro, I too have been disappointed with PS workflow and results, had used C1 Pro until Pixmantec finally came out with the Premium version of Raw Shooter, I've all but quit using C1 (Tired of buggy lockups, not good for such a high dollar program) since getting it. Great price and fantastic results.

[engstrom]

I've been using ACR for a while now. The workflow improvements in CS2 with Bridge are huge. I've been very pleased with the quality of the conversion from ACR and now with Bridge I'm able to easily select and process many files from the shoot.