Output Sharpening on Export from Lightroom for Bay Photo?

brianb

I've read through some of the existing threads here about how much to sharpen and what method to use, but I'm not sure if there was really a definitive answer (other than it’s a personal choice and depends on the image and the size its printed). I'm in the process of updating my site and am wondering how to handle the sharpening situation. Assuming Bay Photo is used (I know EZ Prints has an auto-sharpen option, does that negate any output sharpening?), is extra/output sharpening needed for images, or does Bay do anything on their end?

I've been sharpening the images so the amount is about as high as I think looks good in Lightroom 2 (amount slider generally between 75 and 100 in most cases, using Matt K's sharpening presets as starting point), but then my question is on export what type of output sharpening to use (I do not print directly from Lightroom)? From some tests it seems like:

Sharpening Amount =
Screen < Glossy Paper < Matte Paper
and each of these has
Low < Medium < High

I've got a batch of 100% crops using all the combinations for Glossy and Screen (low, standard, high for each), can anyone weigh in which is the best (for a particular printed size), or if particular levels are too much, not enough, etc? If its too much, is it way too much (enough to forgo output sharpening altogether, or just lower amount)? I've got a combination of images from a Nikon D70s (as raw) and an older canon P&S (as jpeg).

http://photography.brianbillman.com/Portfolio/Sharpness-Question/11033682_QmR8E

Currently I'm leaning towards the Glossy Standard amount. I think lowering the sharpening amount SM uses to generate the smaller sizes is a good idea if artifacts start appearing, correct?

Thanks!
Brian

Andy

I'd go with Standard in your examples.
we do not add additional sharpening at Bay.

If you choose EZP with Auto, you get additional sharpening and color correction.

arodney

The output sharpening in LR (for export or in the Print module) is based on output to an Inkjet printer so YMMV (a lot).