Usually, you want sharpening to be the last step in your processing, because it can be affected by other adjustments. For example, Unsharp Mask works by analyzing color differences between neighboring pixels, and accentuating the color/tone difference if they fall within certain criteria. If you adjust the color/tone range before sharpening, the filter will be acting on different colors than if you sharpen afterwards.
But, as you say, the only way to know for sure is to process several (types of) images through both workflows and see which look better. |
