Hi,

I was wondering if the sharpening tools in CS3 were sufficient or if an aftermarket sharpeing application is necessary...?

If so, which is best (Mac)?

http://www.pixelgenius.com/sharpener/

Necessary? No. Useful, convenient, and perhaps even "better?" Yes.

I second the recommendation of PK Sharpener.

Nill
~~
www.toulme.net

If you are using Canon, then DPP is the best sharpener known to man - like getting a new camera.
If you have a DB, digital back software also handles sharpening automagically, IMHO.

Edmund

I am using a Canon G9 shooting RAW. I do not believe DPP was included with the camera. Is there a way to get DPP for MAC without paying extra?

DPP is only available for and compatible with the EOS DSLRs.

Check out ImageBrowser, which you should have—it should have a similar sharpening feature.

I figured the cost of a good tutorial on sharpening was about equal to the cost of PK Sharpener, so I went with that instead. Almost no learning curve and it's fast. Gives me time to focus on other things.
David

I bought Focus Magic and really like the results, however you can do basically the same with careful use of Smart Sharpen in PS. Pixel Genius PK Sharpener is nice as creative sharpener tool and invaluable as a target sharpener, but for capture sharpening I prefer the first two.

Another vote for PK Sharpener, works very well and is very adjustable. It offers many options for capture, creative, and output sharpening. If you are sharpening in PS and not in your Raw converter then you should first run a noise reduction program on the file (in PS), I prefer Noiseware.

Dave

Good Photoworks