Output sharpen... Do I need to do it?

[Adam C]

OK, first post so pardon me if I am repeating an otherwise well covered topic.

Output is to a Fuji machine and I've already done a Capture and Creative Sharpen in my workflow. Just for laughs, I wanted to see what the Output Sharpener would do and on the screen it looks INsAneLY over sharpened.

I know it is a matter of taste, but does anyone find that it is NECESSARY to use Output Sharpener for Photo machine output?

By the way.... I went for cheaper programs before and I should have just saved my money for Pixel Genius, because this program rocks! Thanks!

[Jeff Schewe]

Read the manual...you can NOT judge output sharpening on the display. You must actually judge output sharpening on the final output. If you wish to "try" to guess what the final output will look like, a rule of thumb is to set your zoom % to 50%. This will be only a rough guide as a low resolution display @ 72ppi simply can not show the results of high resolution output at 240-360ppi.

Run a test print and see for yourself.

[Adam C]

Thanks Jeff for your reply. Yeah, I read the manual and it seemed like you guys ALWAYS dig output sharpening. I ran a test print at my pro lab and it seems like what I used for Capture and Creative Sharpen in my workflow worked extremely well, so I'll pass on the output sharpen. I was trying to keep costs down on a no budget job.

[Mark D]

I find there isn't a hard and fast rule for any of this. It all depends on the kind of image it is and your taste. That is what is so wonderful about PK Sharpener Pro - you can concoct virtually any recipe you want between sharpening, smoothing, fine detail sharpening, less fine detail sharpening, sharpening some areas of the image and not others, skipping one of the three "stages" or doing them all but toning them down or enhancing them, or doing likewise to selected layers of them - it's endless. I agree with Jeff that the monitor shows the effects best at 50%, but the print is the final determinant. If you are doing low budget jobs, you may wish to consider running "proofs" on cheap photo paper (surface resembling your final output surface) with a low cost inkjet printer just to see the differences in the sharpening effects you try before spending the bigger dollars at a professional service.

[Dr. Laurence]

I am a new user of PK Sharpener Pro. Before using your program, I was tempted to put my digital camera away and return to film. Now I am outputting pictures worthy of a fashion magazine. I am very happy.

My question is, The output size must be critical or you wouldn't advise adjusting the image to this size. I first adjusted the image size in Photoshop CS, but I felt that this may be lossy. I now set the crop tool to the output size. By using a wide crop, very little of the image is removed and the original pixels are untouched.

Is this a good idea?

[Adam C]

What's up Doc? Sorry, couldn't resist. Anyway.... There are better ways to resize the image. First using the marque tool crop the image.
Next, go go to image size and select the size you want. DON'T HIT OK YET.
Now's the important part... If making the picture bigger then sampling method should be Bicubic smoother. If the number of pixels are going down for the size and resolution you want, then choose bicubic sharper. The other method you describe doesn't let you do this. I hope this helps.

[Dr. Laurence]

Thank you Adam, your good advice arrived this Eve(ning). I also couldn't resist.