So what does "clarity" actually do?

[Bill L.]

As I'm sitting here weeding and editing some of my landscape shots after my first major outing with my H3DII-39, I find that for different shots I like the effect of the "Clarity" slider and some it is extremely annoying.  I got to wondering what exactly does the clarity command do?  It appears to be some sort of midtone contrast enhancement, I think?  I'd appreciate any info on the matter - I don't particularly like making edits to my photos where I'm not sure exactly what it is I'm doing to them.

Thanks!
Bill

[Dustbak]

I think this link will give a pretty good description. This is what I have read and been told by several people.

http://www.oreillynet.com/digitalmedia/blog/2007/07/lightroom_11_the_clarity_tool_1.html

Not sure whether the clarity tool is implemented by every application the same way. I assume it is more or less but would not want to bet on it. I agree, I also prefer using things where I know exactly what is happening. Question is, how far do you want to take this?

[Bill L.]

Thanks!  That's kind of what it looked like, but wanted to make sure as I couldn't find it in the Phocus documentation.  I should have thought to search this site!