PS Camera Raw Clarity slider

[FredSpencer]

I love the effect it has on skin - the biggest problem I have though is that it's also applied to other areas where it's not so desireable at times (like hair).

The great thing about using it in Lightroom is that you can do it selectively with either the adjustment brush, just 'painting' it over the areas you want, such as skin, or with the graduated filter if you want to do a whole strip, a background for example. It can, of course, be used globally as well.

[Colin Southern]

The great thing about using it in Lightroom is that you can do it selectively with either the adjustment brush, just 'painting' it over the areas you want, such as skin, or with the graduated filter if you want to do a whole strip, a background for example. It can, of course, be used globally as well.

Interesting. ACR uses the same engine, but localised clarity adjustments also give a psudo exposure change, so one would need to use the adjustment brush very carefully (thus the reason painting a mask of a gaussean blur in Photoshop gives better control, and is reversable).

[FredSpencer]

Interesting. ACR uses the same engine, but localised clarity adjustments also give a psudo exposure change, so one would need to use the adjustment brush very carefully (thus the reason painting a mask of a gaussean blur in Photoshop gives better control, and is reversable).

All adjustments in Lr are reversible. While doing the adjustment as I described you can adjust quite a number of parameters at the same time, such as the exposure, brightnesss, contrast, sharpness, and saturation as well as the clarity. You can also adjust colour. i.e. skin tone, by adding a weak colour adjustment - very handy for reducing redness or applying a tan. This allows you to make separate adjustments for different people in a shot which can come in handy considering the multitude of skin tones there are. With all the sliders you can have both positive and negative adjustments.

Have you tried Portrait Professional? The latest version, 10, looks really good for getting a natural look.

[ScoutR]

Here are a couple examples of what I like trying with the clarity slider. Note I just went into my files and quickly selected a shot where I thought I might like the effect. This is not necessarily the best example or what I would call a keeper, but sometimes I really do like the effect on this type of shot. This one only has RAW processing, normally I would take a shot like this into Elements and do noise reduction and sharpening and whatever else.

I find when I do this quite often I will increase contrast and black clipping points before or after the negative clarity. I don't know if it makes sense and I'm sure it's not everyones cupa.

default clarity +25


clarity -45


Wendy

[Gingerbaker]

I love the effect it has on skin - the biggest problem I have though is that it's also applied to other areas where it's not so desirable at times (like hair).

Colin

If I remember correctly (odds of that go down by about 1% per year), you can use (-) Clarity via the adjustment brush and gradient tool in ACR so you can get a localized effect.

It's too Clarity is not available in regular Photoshop. The midtone slider in Shadows and Highlights works in a quite different manner.

[Colin Southern]

Colin

If I remember correctly (odds of that go down by about 1% per year), you can use (-) Clarity via the adjustment brush and gradient tool in ACR so you can get a localized effect.

You can, but beyond "just a touch", you'd have to paint a full mask, which ACR's adjustment brush really isn't great at. In contrast, if you do it via a gaussean blur on a seperate layer in Photoshop then (a) it's non-destructive in that you can change it later without having to dump everything and start again from ACR, (b) you can vary the blur radius (I normally set it to be the same as the camera MP count), (c) you can retouch the mask to add / subtract what the blur is applied to at any time, and (d) you can change the opacity to vary the strength of the effect.

So personally I thing -ve clarity in ACR is somewhat useful as a quick and dirty trick, but in terms of ultimate control, doing it in Photoshop is going to win

[RonH]

I used ACR Clarity on both these pics and they did rather well in the mini-comps

[wilgk]

and to balance Ron's examples of how to use it effectively - here is 1 of mine when I first read about the control and used it exactly as described....
however I neglected Colin's important bit of advice (well 1 of them) use it according to the age on skin softening.
A friend who is 30 said she 'looked old' and could see lines on her face when I photographerd her - so i looked up how to skin soften - BUT then used the technique as described on an 18 yr old.... as you will see here, yes she looks nice, but she doesn't need this amount of the dose...

here is my friend with no clarity slider used....




and here is my first use of the control - as is often the case we need a happy medium between the 2.

[Colin Southern]

Hi Kay,

How to put this so as not to offend ...

I know ... the first shot looks great, the 2nd, um, ...

Sorry, 2nd is a train wreck; sure, the skin is smooth, but just about everything else is mucked up.

Have you tried my gaussean blur technique?

On a seperate note ...

[wilgk]

do not worry - no offence taken - I posted this as an example of how not to use the clarity slider.....helping others learn from my mistakes you see.....
and no have not tried the gaussean blur technique....but will have a go following the steps earlier in this thread?

[Colin Southern]

no have not tried the gaussean blur technique....but will have a go following the steps earlier in this thread?

It's a powerful technique. The hardest part is filling the mask with all black after you've added it. Just make sure your swatches are set to the default before you start (d), and then press alt while you click "add vector mask".

Sometimes this bit seems to get all confused, so if the blur doesn't disappear then try alt + backspace to fill it with black, then switch to the white swatch - choose a soft brush and paint away (set the layer to 50% opacity initially so you can see where you're painting).

Master this technique and you can rule the (Photoshop) world! (because the same technique works on all sorts of layers and masks).

[wilgk]

I'll try - but I might be running before I can walk!
I have CS5 - because I had CS nothing and if you work at a school you get it for very very cheap - less than elements.....but of course now I am learning how to use it.

I'm looking into courses around here - but I would imagine a subject so vast with a class at different levels would be tricky.
I may sign up for the video training lessons - was just taking pity on BC and not spending any more of his money just yet.

I tried a couple of step by step techniques in the Scott Kelby book - but as I say run before walk... I can follow some steps clearly, but some they assume knowledge, I seem to be failing at basic 'choose a big soft brush'

anyway sorry to hijack this thread - but I guess it's still sort of on-topic.
Here are a couple I practiced following the step by step guides in the Scott Kelby book.
I will try your above technique asap.

Possibly more train wrecks just different tracks! - but hopefully with a bit of a shove the train can get going again

this was 1 of a school play cast member for possible use in the program so most likely b/w hence tried the pp b/w conversion technique..



another technique I see done which looks really nice is the soft filter look...not extreme narrow DOF, but sort of like a softening vignette...
again - this is not how I wanted it to turn out - the example in the book wasn't a portrait and the notes did say it will look more saturated...but as I say I have seen the look I want done on portraiture...
...the curve of learning have many steep steps...

[Colin Southern]

Hi Kay,

Back in the days that I was learning to fly (ok - semantics - it was actually the plane doing the flying, but I was "kinda" controlling it!) my instructor said "you have a natural talent, so I'm going to be harder on you" (what do you say to something like that? "Gee" - "thanks" ).

Anyway - Kay - you have a talent for portraiture; the technical side of the capture we're developing nicely, but the hard part is the compositions and that's something you're good at - and that's something I'm envious of because that's the hard part! So I'm going to be harder on you. Not because it'll necessarily help you, but it just feels good because I'm envious! (just kidding - kinda!).

Anyway - here's where we're at ...

- Technically, your captures are fine; you'll fine tune them with better lighting as you gain more experience, but I've seen professional work with many more flaws than I'm seeing in your work - so well done!

- Asthetically, as I've already mentioned, you're doing great - not to say you won't get better - but I do think you've reached a point where we can take the training wheels off and you can probably accelerate this part rapidly by yourself as much as with our help.

- Post processing wise, you've come a long way, but it's the part that's clearly letting you down. And I wanted to be blunt about that. I might add a couple of things though (a) it's still better than some "professional" work I've seen (that customers have paid a lot of money for!), and (b) don't sweat it because it's not hard -- you just need to know the techniques; which brings me to the crux of the conversation ...

... I can teach you these techniques, but (a) they're time-consuming for me to write, and (b) they're going to be time consuming for you to learn this way - so here's what you need to do (and if you don't - well I'm not normally a man known for resorting to violence, but I will consider getting BC to tickle you crazy while I smack your hand with a large plastic grey card!) ... point your browser at www.kelbytraining.com - sign up for one month (only USD $24.99) - search by instructor - click on Scott Kelby - and choose "portrait retouching part 1".

Do it, and do it now. In all seriousness, if you don't find it to be the best training you could ever hope for with regards to portrait retouching - by a HUGE margin - let me know, and I'll personally refund your $24.99.

So go do it ... right now!

PS: Have you done it yet?

[djg05478]

anyway sorry to hijack this thread - but I guess it's still sort of on-topic

I wouldn't worry at all about hijacking the thread, I've been following/learning the whole time from everyone's input. This thread is packed with good info. I wish there was a way to save it as a favorite for reference (in lieu of that feature I have been "subscribing" to threads that I find info packed and may want to reference in the future).

[Colin Southern]

I wish there was a way to save it as a favorite

There is. Literally, just save it as a favourite with your browser.

[wilgk]

Thanks Debbie for being understanding........and yes Colin I've done it right now.....
except what the heck - I thought seek forgiveness not permission - so I've got 12 months to get it right - not 1

[Colin Southern]

and yes Colin I've done it right now.....
except what the heck - I thought seek forgiveness not permission - so I've got 12 months to get it right - not 1

Well done

You'll probably find Scott Kelby's Portrait Retouching of immediate benefit, along with James Schmelzer's & Joe McNally's tutorials.

[wilgk]

watched some already and BC has had over 20 years to realise I have no concept of the whole budget thing....why break the habits of a lifetime....it would only confuse him

[Colin Southern]

watched some already

Which ones? What are your first thoughts?

[wilgk]

so far the one you suggested of course
and yep better and much easier to follow than a book for sure.......
I do believe you might have said that once or twice...? this is where you say why you no risten to me!!