output sharpening

[van bogaert erik]

hello, when i export a Tiff file to a smaller size JPG (lightroom) i loose a bit of sharpness , that is normal i believe ? correct me if am wrong on this one ?

Will i correct this to choose output sharpenig by export ?

Or otherwise can i import the ' not so sharp Jpg ' in to lightroom and do output sharpening with the plug-in from nik software?
if yes ; i have a second question ; when i do this output sharpening with the plug-in is this all i have to do
to save the image with the output sharpening or will i have to export it again with the same size (unchecking output sharpening) to save the image on my hard drive .

[BobbyPerkins]

Shouldn't be sharpening TIFF files at all, and sharpening for output only after it's been resized.

[Don Lacy]

Downsizing an image will cause some lose of sharpness this can be corrected at the time of downsizing using the bicubic sharper method to downsize or you can correct it with output sharpening once you have the image ready my preferred method. Once you have the image sized saving it to the HD will not effect its sharpness. I think what Bobby is suggesting is to keep one master file of an image at its native size and with all your adjustments except sharpening, this way you can pull upthe master file size it and sharpen it to its desired output be it printing or web display.

[Diane Miller]

I rarely need to sharpen a JPEG after export from LR. If the original file is sharp, the export sharpening from LR is excellent. I will usually compare the three different amounts to see which one is best for any given image. And Save for Web in PS also has several sharpening settings.

If you have PS you can sharpen the JPEG there, with Nik or with PS's Smart Sharpen. That saves a round trip to LR, where you don't necessarily want the JPEG. I export JPEGs to a desktop folder (not cataloged in LR) where they are easy to send on their way to whatever destination. But if you do choose to import back to LR for sharpening, you really don't need to export the JPEG again. It will be in whatever folder it is in and you can just use it from there. Or if it's easier to export again, you are correct that you want to un-check sharpening and re-sizing that time.

[Joe Subolefsky]

Diane is there a way to preview LR's 3 different sharpening export settings? I use it but always have to reopen the files after export to check them.

[Diane Miller]

Not that I know of. I'm a Mac user so I just click on the exported file in my desktop folder "LR Exports" and Preview shows it accurately. If I re-export it, it will write over the previous one so the process is quick and easy.

[Joe Subolefsky]

I do the same thing on my Mac just thought there might be a way to preview that I was missing thanks.

[BobbyPerkins]

Downsizing an image will cause some lose of sharpness this can be corrected at the time of downsizing using the bicubic sharper method to downsize or you can correct it with output sharpening once you have the image ready my preferred method. Once you have the image sized saving it to the HD will not effect its sharpness. I think what Bobby is suggesting is to keep one master file of an image at its native size and with all your adjustments except sharpening, this way you can pull upthe master file size it and sharpen it to its desired output be it printing or web display.

Yup, I'm not a user of Lightroom and I could of elaborated more as you did so well, thanks Don.