The Best Way to Sharpen Your Photos | Photoshop vs. Lightroom

[@rtoborek]

In Lr, you can stack brushes on top of one another for an amplified effect

[@the-pixel-whisperer]

This is great! Thanks. The High Pass sharpening method tutorial starts at 4:50.

[@joedusel]

Thanks for the video. I use Lightroom as my prime editing tool, especially for event photography with several hundred to a thousand images. One of the things that you did not mention with using the Detail section of LR is that holding the Alt or Option key while adjusting your Masking slider will show exactly where LR is applying the sharpening. I typically have this set to between 70 and 80. I also generally add a bit of Luminance noise reduction if I am shooting at higher ISOs. Love your high-pass filter method in Photoshop when doing portraits and detail work.

[@steevo1976]

Your high pass smart filter technique is, of course, superior. That being said, I feel you didn’t quite give the lightroom global sharpening a fair chance. You cranked it up to 100, which would be heavy handed for any image! The masking slider would have helped reduce the sharpening on the skin texture and you can hold alt to see the mask you’re creating in real time. I love all your videos Aaron, but this seemed unnecessarily dismissive of Lightroom. Lightroom needs a cuddle now. 😉

[@ocubex]

Agree, I think @PHLEARN needs to check that out. Most experienced Lightroom users know to tweak sharpening by using the alt key to fine-tune the mask.

[@HiddenmesaTravel]

I've been using the High Pass filter for years, but what I was not doing was desaturating the layer first and converting to a Smart Object. This seems to be better than what I was doing. thanks.

[@richski8061]

Great work Aaron. I am an advocate of high pass but I do it a little differently again. Rather than de-saturating, I apply the high pass directly to a copy of the image then change the layer to linear light.

[@ChristopherSmith-il6fo]

Like you mentioned, the Lightroom slider also has the masking feature which does allow you to have some control over what parts of the image get sharpen. You can also see that mask it makes by holding down alt while sliding.

[@ScripzC]

You Rock My Friend, one the greatest tutorials on KZbin. You made my photography boost up many notches. It's the small things that enhances a photographer's work when producing good work already to make it phenomenal work. If I'm making any sense but thank you sooooooo much 💪🏾

[@hazardstorms226]

Great video! One question please- So when I do my final export of images in LR what would you choose for sharpening? None since it is already done or do you still sharpen further here for print or web? Thanks!

[@stewartlogie]

Thanks for tackling this tricky topic! I’ve learnt about 3 stages of sharpening; 1. Input sharpening. 2. Creative sharpening. #. Output sharpening. Those make sense to me based on what camera I’m using, my creative intent for the particular image and how I am going to present the result. Do you go along with this? Which stage of sharpening are you addressing here?

[@jimstefely9252]

I usually use the high pass filter method also. However, there is a very simple way to get more than 100% sharpening with the adjustment brush in lightroom. Just click new and go over the same area with whatever strength adjustment you want. Alternatively you can right click on the black circle that indicates where you brushed and hit duplicate and then change you adjustment. High Pass in PS is still better (in my opinion) but the above technique is a way to go above 100% on any adjustment in LR if you need it.

[@FranHoganPanama]

I do lots of food and product photos and I've been using LR adjustment brush and Texture slider to sharpen. When I do people, I've always used High Pass selectively in PS but didn't known about de saturating first until now. thank you!

[@TanerAcarPhotography]

very cool features. thank you so much. you always do good job

[@rufussamuel924]

I was looking for this.I m impressed by High pass sharpening style. Thank you so much.

[@SandraJsAdventuresOutdoors]

I live your tutorials, they help so much. THANK YOU.

[@DanCantero]

As always top-notch content. Thanks Aaron. :-)

[@edwardsawicki7951]

I love the comparison of using different techniques for achieving a targeted result. Very helpful. As there are so many ways to achieve the effect between Lr and Ps, I would like to see more of these comparisons.

[@GSPhotographics]

Great tutorial .. I do most of my editing in Lightroom but I can definitely see the advantages of using the high pass in photoshop. I will absolutely be trying that out for myself .. Thanks for the brilliant Tutorials

[@josediazh3890]

Muchas gracias !!

[@brucefrazier5025]

Aaron, I've been using the high pass filter with masking for a long time but not with Smart Object so my work was not editable. Of course it seems so obvious now. Thank you!

[@jpillay72]

An excellent tutorial

[@madst7521]

Using Details sharpening and not using Alt/Option while pulling the sliders to pick the right level seems odd. Other than that, I wonder if adding a bit of clarity / detail to the local adjustment wouldn't a better result?

[@subhankardasfineart]

Aron, I use Smart Sharpen with edge masking technique for sharpening my landscape images.

[@rickberesford]

Me too. Smart Sharpen actually does a pretty good job of not sharpening the bits that you don't want sharpened anyway, but if it does apply some sharpening where you don't want it then, as you say, you can mask it out.

[@mdesoukymansour1]

Amazing !! Could you please make a tutorial about how to best use Adobe Bridge.

[@vijaym2752]

Hi Aaron. Your tutorials always helps enhancing learning curve. Few queries...(1) LR global sharpening can be localised through ACR masking (2) can PS sharpen tool be masked? if yes, even that would be a local change (3) PS has sharp filter options. with smart object they would be editable. With masking filters can be localised. Aaron, requesting to reply for above, if you think these have some merit. I would want to know your preference as possible. Thanks.

[@allantee]

How about Filter/Sharpen/Sharpen? Any good?

[@Jus_Demon]

I swear you have gone back in age, might be the hair :)! Thanks for the video,

[@simonsun6342]

⁷⁷⁶

[@HernandezMFotografia]

Thanks for this video. It provides an interesting angle on sharpening with Photoshop. Perhaps it would be a good idea to create another video where you can review in more detail the different techniques that can be used in Lightroom, and that were somehow overlooked in this video.

[@1337ghomri]

I use high-pass filter for landscapes

[@raindropsneverfall]

I've used Camera Raw in Photoshop when sharpening. I've always felt I've got good results. I don't like sharpening in Lightroom. The method of sharpening is not the same in Lightroom and Camera Raw, right?

[@sarimner]

Lightroom and Camera Raw is the same yes..

[@FrankNitsch]

@@sarimner Lightroom has the output sharpening when exporting images. Does that exist in Camera Raw as well? Otherwise yes, the basic development adjustments are just the same.

[@scopher911]

Aaron, you can duplicate the brush in Lightroom when you've reached 100%, it will just double the sharpening effect.

[@sayedraza_]

What's the reason of inverting layer mask???

[@rubengarza8901]

With the Find Edges filter, Apply Image, and Levels, I create an edge mask in Photoshop that works similarly to the edge mask in Lightroom. Then I use High Pass to sharpen the edges (noise or texture in smooth areas like skin are left alone). Then I hide it all with a layer mask and paint the areas I want sharpened. Of course I have an action that makes it quick. If anyone wants to see the steps, I can make a video.

[@KostasYoutube]

Although the video is showing a great detail on the photoshop method, it doesn't really use all the tools of Lightroom. For better sharpening in LR you can add to your brush (apart from sharpening), Texture, Clarity, Dehaze, etc... Lightroom does the job equally good and faster, plus it can apply to multiple photos, also LR uses A LOT less disk space than photoshop 😁👍

[@sarimner]

use Channel calculations For a portrait I make a selection from the red channel and sharpen using unsharp mask at around 300 i found look more real.. ;)

[@wiseheartmedia]

Beautiful tutorial as always but you didn't tell, what opacity, flow and smoothing range. I had to zoom in to see what range you used. Thanks all the same.

[@19Photographer76]

Lightroom Global, I noticed the Highlights on the cheeks being affected, what caused that? I don't use LR so I'm clueless on how it works.

[@STONESOLDIER]

Can you set a specific percentage of flow as a keyboard shortcut? (5%) thanks Chris.

[@aaronnace2900]

You can, just press shift then use 1-0 on your keypad to set shift. 5% would be SHIFT + 05

[@KmalSadek]

Why not to sharpen all the photo... It's full of grains or is it me who sees them

[@catcatcatcatcatcatcatcatcatca]

"So let's sharpen this image" *chooses already super sharp image with no problems with noise* I sharpen and remove noise from raws in lightroom - but both of those should probably be done in Photoshop, as even if you use cameraRAW you can do duplicates and mask them. But then again my raws are nowhere near as sharp as the example here.

[@moonwalkerstudio445]

only open folder subfolder file on photoshop. is there any script of the pocess??

[@oliuzzamanshanto462]

High pass filter method win definitely, have a lot of control.

[@SandraJsAdventuresOutdoors]

I like the high pass in photoshop.

[@terricleary7497]

Why apply image instead of merge visible aka stamped layer?

[@a1exsand]

I go into Photoshop and create a new layer then I change to luminosity. Depending if I'm posting this photo on my feed or as an IG story I resize the image. If this is going to my story I will resize to height 3840 x 2160 width. Then I apply smart sharpen filter at 100% at 0.2 and apply 3-4 times depending on image. Then after that I resize to 1920 x 1080 which is IG story resolution then I add 1 more smart sharpen at 50% and 0.1 then I extract photo.

[@a1exsand]

I am a landscape photographer btw. I don't shoot portraits.

[@jannekarki3205]

Perhaps more useful would have been to compare: PS smart sharpen tool, High pass technician, for ex. Topaz DeNoise app and Lightroom. And the example image should be blurry and noise-contains to compare differences.

[@mobilefreelancer3831]

Can you do a tutorial how to sharpen images for youtube thumbnails

[@goalvalentina]

Photoshop for the win!

[@txduggan]

Bring the beard back! LOL Thanks again for the info...

[@FrankNitsch]

It's quite disappointing how you are explaining only two of Lightroom's sharpening stages and completely ignore the purpose of each stage. Of course LR isn't meant to provide the same flexibility that a toolbox like Photoshop does. However, applied in a reasonable way Lightroom's sharpening is a lot better than what you have demonstrated. Let me explain quickly: the "Details" tab is meant to be used for sharpening the image as a whole. It's for applying a basic sharpening to it, not to emphasize certain parts of the image. By default the topmost slider of the Details section will never by at zero. Here you make decisions for the overall look of the image. The adjustment brush, but basically all other masking tools like the gradient provide you with options to sharpen certain portions of the image only. And when you are saying that you cannot go beyond 100% of sharpening with the adjustment brush: you can duplicate a gradient, a brush etc. It will add another layer of the same thing, the same selection, the same settings. You can either duplicate whatever you have selected with the brush and leave the settings (for sharpening and everything else) or adjust them to your liking. You can get whatever amount of modification/sharpening you like with this method. Of course you can use the brush tool once more and paint a different area, maybe only a subset of the area you had sharpened with the brush before. You see: there is a lot of flexibility in terms of stacking sharpening in your image and even go crazy with the amount or add more subtle sharpening, which might look more natural than having only few more extreme sharpening layers. But the most significant sharpening hasn't been discussed at all: the output sharpening! This final stage takes into account for which media you are exporting and image and at what size. There are three steps (low, normal, high) but the most important settings are the output media (matte paper, glossy paper, screen) and the size. You will get vastly different results by picking the right settings for your photos. And once you have become familiar with the output sharpening (show me how this is easily done with Photoshop), you will see that you don't need to add so much general sharpening in the Details section of the Develop module. I hope this is helpful for some folks...

[@kelvinaustin6693]

High pass all the way.. Been used it for years..

[@shaunclapham2936]

I would like to see a skin softening technique as well.

[@davidreichel3394]

I typically soften skin in ACR by reducing the texture slider; I have a portrait preset that puts texture at -10 that works well for me. If you use NIK Color Efex, the Dynamic Skin Softener is powerful.

[@munninoorani]

Nice video

[@jacquesjohnson639]

Excellent comparison!

[@Hassi1972]

You can duplicate the brush tool as many times you like - but why sharpen the white in the eyes more?

[@eduardobrigas4177]

I'm not the first comment but you are the best Man (again) 😂

[@DmitriMironov]

Thank you!

[@jpdj2715]

My learning process generally requires an understanding of why, in the first place, or else little will sink in. In the second place there is the "to what?" Why is sharpening a hot item in digital when it never was in the film days? Because of digital artifacts? For the same reason we have anti-aliasing and TrueType fonts? This then implies how much sharpening we need depends on two things: the resolution we started with and second the resolution we will depict at. Each combination might need its own specific approach. The other aspect is noise reduction - not the same as sharpening and dehazing or what not. It is hard to appreciate how these sliders work together or are antagonists. Then there is the question what level of sharpness we want as, actually, we may want to make certain details less clear or sharp. As to the "sharpen in the end" - isn't it true that, working in layers allows us to more easily focus on parts in the photo? Without such context, calling out a series of tricks does not land with me and I loose focus. Which is a pity, as the subject is so important to get to grips with.

[@gaeladanho5387]

There are many photoshop was edit this image on many channel. This picture it's on they website so

[@ArmandoBruck]

you were not far with LR, you can always repeat the brush.

[@lyta1138]

The photo looks like it was shot too underexposed. Very noisy to start with.

[@Ghazkul666]

I think the sample picture was a really poor choice. It has a lot of details and pretty sharp already. The method you used in LR was really exagurated.

[@Filmman586]

OMG! You’re hair is sooooo long! ;)

[@karunnaidu5060]

I'm waiting

[@pezbalboa]

I think that the most of the photographers works in raw.

[@gossamerwarner]

I was hoping the technique would be with a photo that needs sharpening. This example does not.

[@heelfan78]

Sorry, but this video is just not that helpful. The image he uses does not show any discernible change in sharpness, so I can’t see or say if this process works. He made a bad image choice for this video. Can anyone see a change? I doubt it. Hopefully he will repeat this tutorial with a beginning image that needs sharpness added and he will do so in Photoshop. I almost feel like this is an April Fools joke to see if I fell for it. Or Emperor’s new clothes where we’re all supposed to say “Yes, great job”, but we can’t see it and don’t want anyone to think we’re ignorant or blind. Heretofore his video tutorials have almost universally been superb, but this one was a huge, huge letdown.

[@davidreichel3394]

Focus on the eyelashes -- the sharpening effect is most noticeable to me on the eyelashes

[@MarcKoetse]

Very valid for portraits, I suppose, but for landscapes that you want to sharpen throughout, LR is way easier with sufficient control.

[@dgtvbd1638]

It looks like you are younger. 😋😋

[@MrDvaz]

as soon as I see someone who does not know how to hold a pen....I turn it off......off you go!!!!

[@TheMoksa]

Hi my name is Jilly

[@stkuj]

what happened to your hair LOL?

[@MrPrzempas]

Lr sharpening is awful: very grainy and destructive.

[@WAVEY2520]

To fast !

[@karayuschij]

A blurry video to speak about sharpening… funny, isn't it?

[@gopimk3122]

why doing all things with 3 girls.