Enhancing or smoothing detail

The Detail Enhancement slider, located at the bottom of the "Exposure and Detail" filter panel, controls a sophisticated local contrast enhancement algorithm:

The slider has two modes and is very simple to use:

• Move to the right to increase the appearance of detail. Usually, modest amounts yield natural-looking results.
• Move to the left to smooth without blurring. This can be useful for portraits.

Here is an example of the enhancement effect. Note the improved definition of the mountain, clouds, and foliage:

And here is an illustration of the smoothing effect. The skin has been effectively smoothed, yet the image retains a sharp appearance:

Some additional examples are here.