I would like to know what sharpening software that people are using. I am getting weird patterns using photoshop CS4 sharpening. I am thinking of trying Nik Sharpener Pro 3.0. Doeas anyone have other suggestions. I am using a Mac computer, HPZ3200 printer and and IQ3 smart scanner to scan my film.

I'm using Photokit Sharpener Pro. I think it's the best sharpening software available, and can handle film scans very well. In any event, you should use a noise reduction program first to reduce grain, because sharpening grain can produce ugly effects. If you have Lightroom, you could import your scan to Lightroom (if in TIFF or PSD format - JPEG not recommended if you are doing further image adjustments), go to the Detail panel and select a combination of noise reduction and sharpening which gives you crisp edges where you want them, without the grain. In fact, do as much other image editing as feasible in Lightroom, then export it to Photoshop if you need to do things which Lightroom can't handle or can't handle as well.

I have lightroom but find it difficult to use, i guess i need to work with it more.

PhotoResampling. You can download a demo version.

Jacopo

I suggest you buy Michael and Jeff's Lightroom 2 tutorial from this website, download and watch it. You won't find LR difficult after that.

I am curious, what can Nik do that can not be done in PS CS4???