AboutScott Valentine Expertise Most anything about digital post processing (Photoshop, etc), effects, and image restoration, some technical information about digital imaging systems, light and electron microscopy, optical physics and image analysis. I can help with shooting basics, lighting setups, and getting the most out of your digital camera. I am also an 'expert' here for Photoshop (Computers/Technology > Software > Graphics Software > Photoshop).
I am currently writing a book for Adobe Press on composite artwork using Photoshop CS4.
Experience I've been an image analyst and advanced amateur photographer for over 6 years. I run an Adobe user group, focusing on digital media, and have lectured on digital image capture systems. Currently, I am an administrator for a rather large instructional Photoshop forum
Organizations Adobe User Groups, National Association of Photoshop Professionals, Advanced Imaging Specialists
Education/Credentials Bachelor of Physics, University of California, San Diego
Awards and Honors Winner: Best in Show and several category first place awards - Imaging Professionals of the Southwest Print Competition (multiple years)
Expert: Scott Valentine Date: 3/15/2007 Subject: RAW and JPG sharpness differences
Question I put my camera on a tripod and shot pictures in both RAW and JPG without making any other changes to the setup. I find that the JPG is much sharper than the RAW one. I know that part of the save process for JPG is to sharpen the image, but I haven't managed to get close to this using Photoshop for the RAW one.
Any ideas? My camera is a Samsung DSLR.
Answer Hi Helen,
Sorry I didn't see this question sooner!
You are right; JPG compression within the camera adds some sharpening. Any processing you want done on the RAW file will have to be done in something like Photoshop's ACR or other RAW image editors.
I typically don't sharpen the RAW file, as there are other operations that need to come first - cropping, rotation, color correction, dodge and burn, etc. Since the sharpening tools in ACR are limited at best, I'll presume you've tried a wide variety of combinations of curves, lens correction, sharpening and color correction, and still don't have satisfactory results.
If it helps, there are many others who advocate dropping the sharpen slider to zero so they can do the work in Photoshop.
In Photoshop, there are many approaches to sharpen. My favorite in CS2 and CS3 is the Smart Sharpen filter. It allows you to fade the sharpening in different tonal ranges (highlights and shadows) with lots of control. I usually start with a high percentage on the main tab, and 0.8 up to 2 pixels for the radius. Then in the other sliders, I just fiddle around until I can see a difference, then begin tuning the effect.
Another approach I like is to convert to LAB space, and run sharpening on just the L channel. This allows you to sharpen the luminosity mask without affecting colors, which helps avoid halos or color shifts. This can be a little tricky at first, but is definitely worth the effort. In fact, I do quite a bit of my color correction and sharpening in LAB space before converting back to RGB.
If you'd like more detailed help or would like to discuss this where example images can be shared, please check out PhotoshopTechniques.com/forum. I use the moniker 'lokki' on that site, but there is a large crowd that is more than willing to help you. You'll find lots of opinions on the best method, so you can pick and choose what works for you.
