Just started playing with TSS.

I'm wondering what the relationship of the numerical sharpening choices (in smart sharpening and normal sharpening) to the USM settings.  For example - if the default (5) is used in normal sharpening -- what is the radius and strength of that choice?

Also - what is being given up by using TSS & USM instead of smart sharpening?

Thanks Terry.  Yes, I had already read the details.  My assumption is that the final print sharpening should be - in most instances - turned off when using TSS - otherwise we'd be double sharpening.

I've been using qimage final print sharpening instead of doing it in PS for years now. In the particular image I'm playing with currently, any sharpening of the "sky" creates some artifacts.  Using TSS, I'm able to sharpen everything except the sky.  It looks good.  I originally used smart sharpening set at 15.  After some playing with the USM, I found that a radius of 3 with a strength of 300% is close to what I had with the smart sharpening. 

So while there may not be an exact correlation, certainly there must be some relationship between the final print sharpening numerical settings and the USM settings.  I have quite a few older images that I'd like to play with using TSS which already have been printed using just final print sharpening.  Almost all would use "target all except the selected tone".  Without having to experiment with each image, what I'm wondering is that if my original printing used say, smart sharpening at level 7, what would be a good approximation for the USM settings in TSS to match that.

Further - if it's not an exact correlation - then there must be something we're giving up. If smart sharpening, for example, takes into consideration print size, then my TSS & USM setting would be for a specific size and would need to be changed if I printed an image as a 5x7 and a 13x19.

Hope this makes sense!

I think you may be misunderstanding final print sharpening.  Final print sharpening is designed to get your final print to always be as sharp as the image itself (viewed at 100% on your monitor) no matter what size you are printing.  So final print sharpening is really a tool that allows you to match print sharpening with your monitor.  Sharpening is always a two step process.  First you apply the amount of sharpening needed to make the image look as sharp as it needs to be.  Then you use print sharpening to match that sharpness (that you see on the monitor) in print.  Once you've done that, you can apply TTS or any kind of image enhancements you want and the final print will always match what you've seen on the monitor.

Mike