Almost every RAW file requires some degree of sharpening to
counter the effect of blurring that occurs at some stage of
image capture or image processing. But when do you apply the
sharpening? In Camera Raw or later in Photoshop? The answer
isn't as straightforward as you might think. The fact is, there
are compelling reasons to apply some sharpening to your RAW file
using Camera Raw. There are also compelling reasons to turn off
sharpening in Camera Raw, wait until your RAW file is open in
Photoshop, and then apply sharpening via the new Smart Sharpen
filter or one of the many third-party sharpening tools. It
really depends on what you want: optimal workflow or ultimate
flexibility and user control.  To sort through some of the
misunderstanding about when and how to apply sharpening, I find
it useful to break sharpening down into three general
categories, applied sequentially in the order listed here:    1.
Capture sharpening: sharpening that compensates for purposeful
blurring at either the camera level or