How To See The Sharpening Now, But Not Apply It
Many pros prefer to apply their sharpening in Photoshop itself, using Unsharp Mask or the Smart Sharpen filter, rather than in Camera Raw. If that sounds like you, wouldn’t it be nice to just see what the sharpening would look like, even if you don’t apply it? Of course, you could simply adjust the Sharpening slider (under the Detail tab) for a moment, look at the image, then slide it back—but there’s a better way. While you have an image open in Camera Raw, press Command-K (PC: Control-K) to open the Camera Raw Preferences. When the dialog appears, change the Apply Sharpening To pop-up menu so it shows Preview Images Only. That way, any sharpening you apply in Camera Raw will only be applied to the preview you see onscreen in Camera Raw, and not the photo itself, so you can apply it later in Photoshop.