To sharpen or not to sharpen?

I regularly sharpen my photos (with PS CS2 Smart Sharpen) as part of my post-processing workflow, but I've noticed that some magazines and many stock agencies requires not-sharpened files...what to do?

Of course I keep all the RAW, untouched, files, so if it was really necessary I could re-process a photo excluding sharpening...

Do you apply sharpening to the post-processed photos? Or do you save them not-sharpened and you apply sharpening only when you make a print or web version?

Thanks for sharing you experience.

Juza,

I keep a master 'Edit' file of all my images in .psd format. I use the Adobe RGB color space and leave this file Unsharpened. When I want to create a jpeg for the web, I resize as needed, convert the file to sRGB, sharpen, and then flatten the image. I then save for the web. Once this is done, I close the 'Edit' file without saving the changes.

-PB

I store my files unsharpened. When a client wants them sharpened, I create a duplicate layer and sharpen that (usually selectively as a mask) and flatten or merge down the file. I save this as a new file, usually with the client's name incorporated. The original file is left unaltered. It's all pretty quick, and with the new file name, easy to track.

I always store my files unsharpened. If a pulisher wants an image at a specific size I will sharpen it for the sumission, unless explicitly asked not to.

Guy

I also store them unsharpened and just ask my client how he/she wants the material....

I second what Jasper said.

I'm on board with everyone else here: save an unsharped master (PSD format), and then resize and sharpen for a specific output when the need arises: web, calendar, whatever. This makes sense because (as you mention) some clients want it sharpened while others don't, and different outputs can require different levels of sharpening.

It's been my experience that picture editors are used to viewing unsharpened pics, that's the way they like to recieve them because each mag seems to require their own 'brand' of sharpening. They are not too happy to get a sharpened pic and most (all?) picture agents insist that pics are not sharpened.

Hope that helps.

Thanks very much to everyone!