Using CS4; I have decided to start with Pixel Genius Sharpener and Nik Define 2.0 Noise Reduction as the two programs of choice to move my images along. I have other Sharpener and NR programs; my brother has suggested that these would be the two easiest to start with.
I have now been using PG for awhile; very easy to use and seems to work very well without oversharpening.
Now it is time to move on to NR; Nancy Elwood suggested Define as that would eliminate learning Masks at this stage of the learning process. I already have and use Viveza so I have some understanding of the Control Point selection approach. As an aside, I wish Nik would allow for a more feeehand selection of the capture area instead of those circles that never limit themselves to the area you want to impact.
PG suggests that the first PP to be done after conversion (I am using LR 2.6) is to run PG Capture Sharpener and then flatten. Thereafter, you would run Define and then flatten. Having done those two PP, I would then complete the PP including Viveza and save as a layered PSD before reopening for sizing etc.
It seems to me that running a sharpener first is simply sharpening the noise that you want to get rid of; therefore, shouldn't you run a NR program first, e.g., Define, then flatten, then run if you want PG CapSharp, flatten, do the rest of your PP, and save as a layered PSD.
When I reopen the layered PSD I create a duplicate flattened copy, resize and run PG Output Sharpener.
Any suggestions regarding this suggested workflow or the use of these programs is greatly appreciated.