What’s the difference between sharpness and clarity in photo editing, and when should I use each?
Asked 12/19/2013
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In Lightroom/Photoshop, I understand the sharpening controls, but I’ve also started using the clarity slider. Clarity seems to make images look much sharper, but sometimes it also reduces image quality. I’ve noticed that photos with increased clarity can look noisy or show more compression artifacts after uploading to Facebook, while the same files look fine on 500px. If I remove the clarity adjustment and only sharpen, Facebook output looks better. What does clarity actually do compared with sharpening, and when is it better to use clarity versus regular sharpening?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
12y ago
2 Answers
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The difference between sharpness and clarity, is basically that clarity is a sharpness applied with a very large radius, a relatively low amount, and mostly to the midtones.
This means that you have to use very much of clarity to get the same sharpening effect as sharpness, which also means that you add a lot of local contrast around details.
When the images are compressed using JPEG, it's exactly that high local contrast that is hardest to compress, so it's there that you will notice the compression artifacts very clearly. As the clarity uses a large radius, the effect is still there if you scale down the image, while normal sharpening disappears at the same rate that you scale down the image.
Use sharpness for normal sharpening, and use just a little bit of clarity to counter unwanted softness of the image.
Originally by user149. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user149
12y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
Sharpening and clarity are related, but they do different jobs.
Sharpening boosts edge definition on a small scale, making fine details look crisper. Clarity mainly increases local contrast over a larger radius, especially in the midtones, which gives a stronger “pop” and can make an image seem sharper even though it’s not the same as true sharpening.
Because clarity boosts larger-scale contrast, it can also make noise, halos, and JPEG compression artifacts more visible. That’s why a file with heavy clarity may look worse after Facebook recompresses it, while normal sharpening often holds up better. Clarity’s effect also tends to remain visible even after the image is resized, whereas regular sharpening diminishes more naturally with downscaling.
Use sharpening for normal detail enhancement. Use clarity more sparingly when you want extra midtone contrast or punch. If an image is going to be heavily compressed for social media, be careful with clarity, as too much can exaggerate artifacts.
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