Hi Paul, I've read about doing sharpening as you suggest. I've read to do it the way Tom mentions. There are probably dozens of techniques and variations. The photographer is probably best served by knowing as many as possible, and ultimately choosing the best one for the image and for the intended use. What will work for a pic destined for the web is necessarily best for one that'll be printed as a photograph, or as an inkjet print, and the final size will also influence at least the amount of sharpening.
Shel > [Original Message] > From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > I've read similar things in various places, most notably in Bruce Frasier's books and articles. However, I find I get better results if I sharpen RAW images a moderate amount before conversion. I don't go all the way with them, but I do enough to bring the RAW to a level somewhat comparable to an unsharpened scan. Usually that's between 24 (the PSCS Camera RAW initial default) and 50. After that, some additional overall sharpening or targeted sharpening can be applied before printing or after web resizing. I've tried working both ways. At least in terms of inkjet printing on my Epson 3200, those images sharpened before conversion show more apparent sharpness without artifacts than those sharpened only after conversion. > Paul > > > > My research and limited experience shows that any sharpening/unsharpening should > > be done to the final image after resizing for output. Contrary to what one would > > think, the smaller the image the more sharpening needed. Very large prints may > > need some blurring instead. It is very easy to over sharpen or unsharp-mask an > > image and it can not be undone once the image is saved without loss of quality. > > > > Ergo, produce the best possible image without any avoidable sharpening and save > > that as your archive, then sharpen as need just prior to printing or posting. > >

