Dynax Digital Forums

Peter- the amount of sharpening depends on your output. So in other words I leave my images unsharpened and only sharpen depending on whether I will print it or put it up on the web. Alternatively you can sharpen your image and save it under a different file name.
There are various ways of sharpening an image- most of them are under the darkroom tips and they all have their advantages and disadvantages:
My favs are:
edge sharpening: I created an action for this one and it works very well for something with a lot of fine edges such as landscape photography where you have trees and bushes
unsharp mask: ideal for high ISO shots as it has a grea threshold slider which when used can localie the sharpening just to the edges. Also very good for portraits.
bevel in connection with unsharp mask: great if you want to "pop" someting such as a still life of fruits.
smart sharpening: works well when you have a slight camera movement/blur

Also important: do the sharpening on a separate layer. You need to set the layer blending mode of this layer to luminosity (!). You can then work with a mask on thsi layer AND you can lower the opacity depending on your output.

I hardly use the sharpening in Raw but it does work well. I just don't want to sharpen an image before reducing the noise- this is counter productive. In other words the first thing I do if needed when opening up the image in PS is to reduce the noise and then I continue with whatever needs to be done.

In summary: there is no real right or wrong- you have to try the different techniques and see what works.
Hope this helps?
Stef.

Peter- Arthur is saying exactly what I am saying...sharpen a separate file. And sharpening is dependent on output.
MClark- again is saying what I have tried to say. You should sharpen a copy of your backgound layer at full resolution and then lower the opacity for your intended output. You should NOT downsize the image and then sharpen.
This is what I said:

Also important: do the sharpening on a separate layer. You need to set the layer blending mode of this layer to luminosity (!). You can then work with a mask on thsi layer AND you can lower the opacity depending on your output.

An important point to know that I did nto mention is that any sharpening technique does NOT make your image sharper but increases the contrast in a way that makes your eye believe it is sharper.
Stef.