Sharpening: before uploading and by Smugmug after uploading

TheDuck

I'm trying hard to better understand when and how to sharpen photos. Just as I think I may be beginning to figure out what to do better, I read on Smugmug's help section that

The effects of resizing/sharpening

SmugMug uses the Lanczos algorithm that many high-end image software packages use to resample images because it preserves the most detail. It is not often seen in packages like Photoshop, because it is CPU-intensive. [URL="javascript:toggleShow('reSize');"] Tell me more[/URL].
Preserving detail is sometimes confused at first glance with oversharpening. SmugMug applies very gentle unsharp mask after resampling so most of the resulting look of our display copies is from Lanczos resampling.
We have found that 90% of people like the detailed look and they are typically photographing cars, landscapes, and wildlife. 10% prefer the softer look of bicubic resampling and very little unsharp mask and they are typically shooting portraits or are fine art photographers seeking a film look.
If you're looking for a softer look, you may not wish to apply much unsharp mask before uploading to SmugMug. Perhaps in the future we can allow you to specify your preferences for SmugMug resizing.

So...now I don't know what to do all over again! If I sharpen before uploading, does Smugmug's automatic Lanczos resampling "oversharpen"? If this is for display only, how will I know the effect on prints before ordering?

Interesting that 10% of your customers want a softer look for some photos! Any progress on making sharpening more customizable?

Thanks for helping!!!

Be seeing you,
The Duck

ps - go Bears!!

Andy

Hi Duck,

Are there photos on your site you can point us to, ones that you think are sharp, and not sharp?

Our Auto Color will gently sharpen your files for printing, so no worries there.

marlinspike

On your computer, sharpen them to where you want them to be (I do this while looking at the image at 100%). The smugmug sharpening (unless you use auto color when printing) only affects what people see when browsing your website. When you downsize and image you have to sharpen to make it look right, so that's why they do it.

TheDuck

Andy wrote:

Hi Duck,

Are there photos on your site you can point us to, ones that you think are sharp, and not sharp?

Our Auto Color will gently sharpen your files for printing, so no worries there.

Thanks for the quick reply, Andy. I should've watched this thread instead of the Superbowl :cry

Thanks for offering to help with specific images...I'll take you up on that later. What I'm really trying to focus on is my batch workflow, and how (and whether?) and when sharpening fits in for the bulk of photos, rather than how to carefully tweak those occasional (too occasional!) excellent shots.

I shoot RAW, and use BreezeBrowser Pro to review the shots, deleting the OOF and other toss-aways. I like BB's "high quality" viewing mode very much (must be some sort of on-the-fly similar display-only sharpening similar to what Smugmug provides for viewing resized photos). I've never EVER been able to replicate BB's "high quality" mode using BB for RAW processing, no matter how carefully I copy the sharpening parameters from what I've got the "HQ" mode set at. Once resharpened, viewing the photo on BB with HQ mode on is either (1) still improved by the HQ mode display (implying insufficient sharpening) or (2) shows REALLY bad artifacts (from the resultant oversharpening of displaying a sharpened image with more sharpening).

When I got Canon's 15mm fisheye, I began using DxO because of the excellent lens distortion processing, and began just using DxO for batch raw processing, and letting it do the sharpening because DxO tunes sharpening to the peculiarties of individual lenses. (BB Pro also now provides lens distortion correction, of course, but DxO continues to improve and I generally really like the results.

For '07, I really want to be more timely about adding photos to Smugmug, and I also want to go back and "redevelop" some of my better shots using the current version of DxO on the original RAW images. I've never really used photo editing software for much (I've got Elements 4.0), and I also want to begin experimenting more with adjusting color and contrast. I understand that I should use Elements before any sharpening, so I'm considering turning sharpening off in DxO batch processing - doing my own "tweaking" for a few photos, and - if Smugmug sharpens uploaded photos - uploading the bulk without any sharpening.

I appreciate Marlinspike's comments - it sounds like Smugmug displays would look good, but the print would only be sharpened by Smugmug with "auto color" on.

Andy - and I apologize for what has turned into more babbling than intended - when you say Smugmug "auto color" applies "gentle sharpening" - what do you mean by "gentle sharpening"?? Can you relate that to radius/pixel terminology of USM or???

Thanks again for any comments and help!!

Be seeing you,
The Duck