# Lightroom - Clarity , can you tell?



## itskub (Apr 2, 2008)

Hello. I get a bit annoyed (like most of us here im sure) when people up the contrast way too much, or increase saturation, use selective color, etc... all those effects you can spot right off the top that make the photo look cheesy. 

Having said that, messing around with Lightroom, I found upping the clarity to 100% (all the way) can look pretty cool on the right photo- Such as skin in soft light. Now, Im just taking pictures of friends and random snapshots (pretty much for facebook), so its not like Im using this effect for or actual use.

Any opinions on Clarity, can you spot it right away? Its not something Ive ever hit upon in Photoshop, so maybe Im just overly-amused for the time being.


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## ShaCow (Apr 17, 2008)

what do you mean by "can you spot it right away?" if your pp skills suck of course people are going to be able to see your errors..


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## Sobek5150 (Apr 25, 2008)

I don't know anything about lightroom, but it seems to me that if it looks good to you, and other people you know then its viable for use.  

Honestly, if no one's saying it looks super fake and people enjoy the look of that photo you've edited, it should not matter.  If it fits the feel of the photo they good, if not don't use it.


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## molsen (Apr 27, 2008)

it depends.  in some scenes, a clarity boost causes obvious halos around edges and other contrasting objects


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## Rabieshund (May 3, 2008)

Clarity can also be found in Camera raw in Photoshop. It's pretty much the same thing as a highpass filter with high radius on soft light.


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## GwagDesigns (May 4, 2008)

I tend to use it as well as recovery, but its always best to zoom 100% while adjusting so as to avoid the hallowing.


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## Renair (May 4, 2008)

I used it for the first time today, I agree, its pretty good.


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## Sw1tchFX (May 4, 2008)

itskub said:


> Hello. I get a bit annoyed (like most of us here im sure) when people up the contrast way too much, or increase saturation, use selective color, etc... all those effects you can spot right off the top that make the photo look cheesy.
> 
> Having said that, messing around with Lightroom, I found upping the clarity to 100% (all the way) can look pretty cool on the right photo- Such as skin in soft light. Now, Im just taking pictures of friends and random snapshots (pretty much for facebook), so its not like Im using this effect for or actual use.
> 
> Any opinions on Clarity, can you spot it right away? Its not something Ive ever hit upon in Photoshop, so maybe Im just overly-amused for the time being.


That's really subjective, and you using it 100%, i might think it's too much. 

I don't normally use the clarity slider, I just assume run high-pass filters in photoshop instead and layermask, more control that way.


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## LeftyRodriguez (May 8, 2008)

I can spot it right away...what annoys me is the sharpening in lightroom...I can't really tell how sharp something is until after I export it or move it to photoshop, so usually I just do all my sharpening in PS.  Also, I hate how it automatically adds some sharpening to RAW photos.


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## molsen (May 8, 2008)

LeftyRodriguez said:


> I can spot it right away...what annoys me is the sharpening in lightroom...I can't really tell how sharp something is until after I export it or move it to photoshop, so usually I just do all my sharpening in PS.  Also, I hate how it automatically adds some sharpening to RAW photos.


yea...ibut all you have to do is create a preset with the sharpening at zero, and have that auto applied at import


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