Crop, then sharpen OR Sharpen, then crop?

[dennybeall]

I also usually Crop first just to reduce the amount of work the pc and I have while making any adjustments. Sharpen is always last.

 

[JacaRanda]

Generally, I am likely to import 100's of images at once. In those cases, I am using a preset with several adjustments including sharpening to all the images.
If it's just a few, and I remember, I would definitely crop first.

 

[Dao]

I do most of my POST with LR. And I always just work from the top to the bottom from the tool bar for adjustment. And LR by default put crop tool at the top, so I usually just crop/rotate the photo first.

 

[Dikkie]

The case where you have the moiré effect is always tricky.

Then you have to blur first, crop, sharpen again.

 

[unpopular]

The case where you have the moiré effect is always tricky.

Then you have to blur first, crop, sharpen again.

Cropping, provided that the image is not being resized or rotated as well, will have no affect on moire whatsoever.

Cropping alone does not affect the pixels within the crop region. These pixels stay the same as before, moire and all.

The crop tool does permit resizing and rotating though which will affect things like moire.

 

[unpopular]

I do most of my POST with LR. And I always just work from the top to the bottom from the tool bar for adjustment. And LR by default put crop tool at the top, so I usually just crop/rotate the photo first.

Does LR even actually crop the image? I though t this was a "soft" adjustment.

 

[Dao]

I do most of my POST with LR. And I always just work from the top to the bottom from the tool bar for adjustment. And LR by default put crop tool at the top, so I usually just crop/rotate the photo first.

Does LR even actually crop the image? I though t this was a "soft" adjustment.

That's a good question! I honesty do not know since it all the adjustment are non-distructive.

 

[Streets]

By all means, Crop first and then apply the magic.

 

[Ido]

Are we talking about a pixel editor (such as Photoshop), or a metadata-based raw editor (such as Lightroom)? If the latter, the order in which you do things has no effect on the outcome, because the software will apply the changes in whichever order it was programmed to. The changes form a picture when you export the image, or when the software regenerates the preview; then it takes all the changes you've made, and applies them in the order it was programmed to.

 

[The_Traveler]

Before I crop, I always try to correct any perspective distortion, then I know exactly how much image I am left with.

 

[WayneF]

Are we talking about a pixel editor (such as Photoshop), or a metadata-based raw editor (such as Lightroom)? If the latter, the order in which you do things has no effect on the outcome, because the software will apply the changes in whichever order it was programmed to. The changes form a picture when you export the image, or when the software regenerates the preview; then it takes all the changes you've made, and applies them in the order it was programmed to.

I would assume the raw software is smart enough to KNOW to crop and process and resample first, and sharpen last.
Sharpening first seems a dumb thing to do if you are then going to follow it with resampling. Resampling seems a dumb thing to do it you are going to follow it with cropping.

 

[The_Traveler]

Assume anything at your own risk.

This is how the adjustments to the file are stored in the XMP sidecar file.
I image that they are processed in this order.

crsrocessVersion="6.7"
crs:WhiteBalance="As Shot"
crs:AutoWhiteVersion="134348800"
crs:Temperature="5350"
crs:Tint="+7"
crs:Saturation="0"
crs:Sharpness="25"
crs:LuminanceSmoothing="0"
crs:ColorNoiseReduction="25"
crs:VignetteAmount="0"
crs:ShadowTint="0"
crs:RedHue="0"
crs:RedSaturation="0"
crs:GreenHue="0"
crs:GreenSaturation="0"
crs:BlueHue="0"
crs:BlueSaturation="0"
crs:Vibrance="0"
crs:HueAdjustmentRed="0"
crs:HueAdjustmentOrange="0"
crs:HueAdjustmentYellow="0"
crs:HueAdjustmentGreen="0"
crs:HueAdjustmentAqua="0"
crs:HueAdjustmentBlue="0"
crs:HueAdjustmentPurple="0"
crs:HueAdjustmentMagenta="0"
crs:SaturationAdjustmentRed="0"
crs:SaturationAdjustmentOrange="0"
crs:SaturationAdjustmentYellow="0"
crs:SaturationAdjustmentGreen="0"
crs:SaturationAdjustmentAqua="0"
crs:SaturationAdjustmentBlue="0"
crs:SaturationAdjustmentPurple="0"
crs:SaturationAdjustmentMagenta="0"
crs:LuminanceAdjustmentRed="0"
crs:LuminanceAdjustmentOrange="0"
crs:LuminanceAdjustmentYellow="0"
crs:LuminanceAdjustmentGreen="0"
crs:LuminanceAdjustmentAqua="0"
crs:LuminanceAdjustmentBlue="0"
crs:LuminanceAdjustmentPurple="0"
crs:LuminanceAdjustmentMagenta="0"
crs:SplitToningShadowHue="0"
crs:SplitToningShadowSaturation="0"
crs:SplitToningHighlightHue="0"
crs:SplitToningHighlightSaturation="0"
crs:SplitToningBalance="0"
crsarametricShadows="0"
crsarametricDarks="0"
crsarametricLights="0"
crsarametricHighlights="0"
crsarametricShadowSplit="25"
crsarametricMidtoneSplit="50"
crsarametricHighlightSplit="75"
crs:SharpenRadius="+1.0"
crs:SharpenDetail="25"
crs:SharpenEdgeMasking="0"
crsostCropVignetteAmount="0"
crs:GrainAmount="0"
crs:ColorNoiseReductionDetail="50"
crs:ColorNoiseReductionSmoothness="50"
crs:LensProfileEnable="0"
crs:LensManualDistortionAmount="0"
crserspectiveVertical="0"
crserspectiveHorizontal="0"
crserspectiveRotate="0.0"
crserspectiveScale="100"
crserspectiveAspect="0"
crserspectiveUpright="0"
crs:AutoLateralCA="0"
crs:Exposure2012="-0.77"
crs:Contrast2012="0"
crs:Highlights2012="0"
crs:Shadows2012="0"
crs:Whites2012="0"
crs:Blacks2012="0"
crs:Clarity2012="0"
crsefringePurpleAmount="0"
crsefringePurpleHueLo="30"
crsefringePurpleHueHi="70"
crsefringeGreenAmount="0"
crsefringeGreenHueLo="40"
crsefringeGreenHueHi="60"
crs:ConvertToGrayscale="False"
crs:ToneCurveName="Medium Contrast"
crs:ToneCurveName2012="Lin

 

[GHK]

It probably doesn't make much difference in this instance, but there are many cases when it does.
This being so, the advice to leave sharpening right to the end is very sound; make it a routine procedure.
GHK