Nik Sharpener 3.0 question

havanese

I'm new to using Nik Sharpener 3.0, but I was wondering what I should use for the output device if I plan to make prints from my SM galleries.

Thanks

Andy

Impossible to tell unless you show us a sample photo Thanks.

havanese

Andy wrote:

Impossible to tell unless you show us a sample photo Thanks.

Here are three for a trip last week to Cades Cove, Smoky Mtns.

http://randyandgerri.smugmug.com/photos/542670141_arKXF-X2.jpg

http://randyandgerri.smugmug.com/photos/542675289_9jRr7-X2.jpg

http://randyandgerri.smugmug.com/photos/542676479_uUWJM-X2.jpg

Andy

They'll print fine!

jfriend

havanese wrote:

I'm new to using Nik Sharpener 3.0, but I was wondering what I should use for the output device if I plan to make prints from my SM galleries.

Thanks

I'm not sure Andy answered your question. Are you asking what you should set this setting to in Nik Sharpener 3.0 in order to get the best results?

havanese

jfriend wrote:

I'm not sure Andy answered your question. Are you asking what you should set this setting to in Nik Sharpener 3.0 in order to get the best results?

Yes, that is what I am trying to determine.

jfriend

havanese wrote:

Yes, that is what I am trying to determine.

I'd be happy if someone else jumped in here to add more info, but here's what I've read.

EZPrints uses Fuji Frontier printers (or at least they did as of a few years ago) and those are laser printers with a print resolution of 300x600 (meaning 300 dpi in the paper feed direction, 600dpi in the laser scan direction). A laser printer is known as a "continuous tone" device (because they can vary the power and duration of the laser to any amount). So, I'm guessing that you should pick "continuous tone" as the printer type.

If you are printing at BayPhoto, I don't know what type of printers they use.

If you really want optimal results, you may need to try several different settings and then do a bunch of sample prints. Since sharpening for printing is not the same as sharpening for web display, you will also want to sharpen for print, upload to Smugmug and then see how the web display looks to make sure it's good enough for your purposes.

Andy

jfriend wrote:

I'm not sure Andy answered your question.

I asked havanese show show me some examples sharpened by his software, then I used my experience to determine if they'd print well at our labs. Thanks!

Andy

jfriend wrote:

I'd be happy if someone else jumped in here to add more info, but here's what I've read.

EZPrints uses Fuji Frontier printers (or at least they did as of a few years ago)

Partially correct, only for some stuff, and then only a fraction of that. There are Noritsus, Durst Thetas, Imaging Solution Fastprints as well.

havanese

Andy wrote:

Partially correct, only for some stuff, and then only a fraction of that. There are Noritsus, Durst Thetas, Imaging Solution Fastprints as well.

I used output to screen for the sharpening on those pictures.

I have fallen in love with the metallic prints from EZ (11x14), Andy would you think the "Display" option or "Continuous" would be better for those kind of prints. If Continuous what would you use for dpi?

jfriend

Andy wrote:

I asked havanese show show me some examples sharpened by his software, then I used my experience to determine if they'd print well at our labs. Thanks!

Except that isn't the question he asked. He asked what settings he should use for sharpening and the implication is that he wants the optimal sharpening. You just answered that whatever he was doing was fine. Clearly when someone is going to the trouble of using a third party sharpener and asking about the settings for it, they are trying to optimize things and I don't think he yet has an answer to that question.

I acknowledge that your eye is pretty experienced on these kinds of things, but I think he was asking for a more complete answer than "those would be fine".

havanese

jfriend wrote:

I acknowledge that your eye is pretty experienced on these kinds of things, but I think he was asking for a more complete answer than "those would be fine".

Andy

jfriend wrote:

Except that isn't the question he asked. He asked what settings he should use for sharpening and the implication is that he wants the optimal sharpening. You just answered that whatever he was doing was fine. Clearly when someone is going to the trouble of using a third party sharpener and asking about the settings for it, they are trying to optimize things and I don't think he yet has an answer to that question.

I acknowledge that your eye is pretty experienced on these kinds of things, but I think he was asking for a more complete answer than "those would be fine".

I can't because I don't use Nik Sharpener. So I gave the best answer I could, based on seeing about one billion prints over the last five years from our labs

Andy

havanese wrote:

I used output to screen for the sharpening on those pictures.

I have fallen in love with the metallic prints from EZ (11x14), Andy would you think the "Display" option or "Continuous" would be better for those kind of prints. If Continuous what would you use for dpi?

Continuous and what are the DPI Settings that are available? If you aren't thrilled, don't worry: You're fully covered by the SmugMug Guarantee.

havanese

Andy wrote:

Continuous and what are the DPI Settings that are available? If you aren't thrilled, don't worry: You're fully covered by the SmugMug Guarantee.

I think I will try some test prints in the coming weeks and see if I can tell the difference between "Display" and Continuous at 150, 200, 300, 400, and 500 (max) dpi