I’m new to RawTherapee. I had some modest experience using Gimp years ago, and am now getting back into things.
If I export from RawTherapee to Gimp, should I be sharpening in RT? I recall that sharpening was something you should do as the last step prior to exporting to a ‘final’ image, and that you would apply different sharpening for each different output format (e.g., print, web, different scalings). Which I think means I should leave sharpening until after I finish my gimp adjustments. But RT has some pretty sophisticated sharpening available too, so I’m not sure if my ideas are outdated.
I usually export to GIMP using a large gamut output profile like RTv4_Large in Color tab | output profile, without sharpening from sharpening tab. However if it is a RAW file I almost always apply RAW tab | capture sharpening before exporting to GIMP.
I do an edit step, like cloning, in GIMP and then go back to RT for more work, like further creative sharpening. I am careful to stay in 16 bit TIFF RTv4_Large (ProPhoto) space, when I export and import from and to RT.
Good question. I too have wondered about this. But I am not sure if there can be a general answer to this - probably depends on your picture, format and taste I suppose.
For raw files my choice has been RT first and gimp if needed. Even within gimp, I tend to almost always use the excellent GMIC filters.
The local adjustments filters of the RT-dev offer amazing controls within the masks including sharpening and contrast.
i have a base sharpening with capture sharpening and then RL deconvolution to taste. I only usually do it for screen/online use. if i was going to take it into gimp for further work and then outputting a smaller size and or different target then i would sharpen in one final stage to match the requirements of that media -e-g unsharp mask to sharpen a little after resizing or more aggressive sharpening for print
I usually export to GIMP using a large gamut output profile like RTv4_Large in Color tab | output profile
I wondered about this. The Astbury videos recommend finding & installing the ProPhoto profile, specifically for compatibility with Photoshop. But if I’m using Gimp instead, I think any profile that Gimp understands should be ok?
I do an edit step, like cloning, in GIMP and then go back to RT for more work
Aha! I didn’t even consider coming back to RT after doing work in Gimp. This opens up a lot of options.
The GMIC filters are new since my last venture into Gimp. I’ll check that out.
I’ve just compiled the dev build, and took a quick look at the Astbury video on this feature. Looks like it could handle much of what I thought I’d need Gimp for.