So what tools do you use to sharpen?
Lightroom Slider - How?
Photoshop Tools? How?
Topaz? How
Here is what I am currently doing and maybe this thread will enlighten others.
First I use Fast Raw Viewer when picking images and specifically when choosing between those that are close I use this tool covered in page 130 of their current manual. You can look at the
manual to see:
Outlining In-Focus and Highly Detailed Areas
FastRawViewer can help identifying if the sharp areas are indeed where you wanted them to be on the image. This is accomplished through outlining the following:
• Bold high contrast edges.
• Areas containing small (“pixel-level”) sharp details.
• Additionally, you can turn on the simultaneous display of both types of outlines (not possible
for some video cards).
You can cycle through these modes using Menu–View–Toggle Focus Peaking (or by pressing the P
key on the keyboard), like following: Everything off – High contrast edges – Fine details – Both filters– everything off.
For actual sharpening I use either Photoshop's
Smart Sharpen on a Smart Layer or
Vivid Light Sharpening from PixImperfect. I usually mask the subject. If you are using Topaz and haven't tried these two alternatives, you might want to give it a go. The Smart Sharpen is written instructions and the Vivid Light is a video with an action for Photoshop.
So if you were going to sharpen Steven's beard, what would you use?