Even mild sharpening can result in a very artificial look; I wonder what kind of image would actually be suitable for the most extreme sharpening?

DxO PureRAW
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I have to zoom in on the face and adjust the sharpening for every single image—don’t you find the sharpening effect looks artificial? I’m talking about portrait photography here. I don’t understand why the baseline level of sharpening is set so high; the “Soft” setting is practically unusable. There are four preset levels—what kind of image would actually work with the maximum setting of 200? If not a single image looks good at 200, what is the point of that setting even existing?

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I find that higher settings of lens sharpening are effective with noisier photos. Otherwise, keep it low. If the option is available to you (I know PhotoLab 9 has this), sharpening as a local adjustment can help with portrait photography.

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You may use mildly negative microcontrast for portraits or, if you have filmpack license, use fine-contrast. There’s also negative sharpening available.

EDIT: Oops, sorry, thought it was about PhotoLab, not PureRAW.

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If you take photos of large metal tubes with rivets and windows and wheels and things (aircraft), a high level of sharpness can look good.

Conversely, it is very difficult to get fine grasses to look right due to apparent over-sharpening.

Same tool, different subjects.