How should I resize and sharpen photos for the sharpest prints?
Asked 7/28/2010
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2 answers
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I process RAW files in Lightroom and print with custom ICC profiles, but my prints still look softer than the image on screen. I’m trying to avoid pixelation, blur, and sharpening artifacts/noise.
What’s the best workflow for preparing an image for print? Specifically:
- when should sharpening be applied in the workflow,
- how should sharpening differ from screen output sharpening,
- how do print resolution and PPI affect sharpening settings,
- and are tools like Photoshop Smart Sharpen, Unsharp Mask, or Nik output sharpening better suited for print?
I’m mainly interested in getting the clearest print detail rather than color management advice.
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
16y ago
2 Answers
12
Unsharp mask works just fine when sharping for print, the original method was actually used when creating prints in a darkroom. You just have to know how to adjust the parameters for the specific resolution.
A good base value for the radius is 0.1 mm, which you have to translate to a value depending in the resolution:
radius = 0.1 mm * ppi / 20
So, for images intended for screen, which has a resolution around 100 ppi, you use a value around 0.5. For an image printed at 300 ppi you use a value around 1.5.
To get an approximate preview of the effect, you can zoom the image according to the resolution. An image to be printed at 300 ppi can be viewed at 33% on the screen to see roughly what the sharpening will look like.
Originally by user149. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user149
16y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
For print, sharpening should be an output step done last, after resizing to the final print dimensions. ICC profiles affect color, not sharpness.
Print sharpening usually needs to be a bit stronger than screen sharpening, because prints naturally look less crisp than pixels viewed on a monitor. Unsharp Mask can work well for print if the radius is matched to print resolution rather than screen viewing. One rule of thumb from the answers is a radius based on about 0.1 mm, which comes out to roughly 0.5 px at 100 ppi and about 1.5 px at 300 ppi.
If you preview sharpening on screen, view the image at a zoom that roughly matches print resolution; for example, a 300 ppi print can be judged around 33% screen zoom.
To reduce noise and avoid sharpening flat areas, Smart Sharpen or output-sharpening tools such as the Nik plugin can be helpful, since they better target edges and print settings.
So the practical workflow is: edit normally, resize for final print size, then apply print-specific output sharpening as the last step, usually slightly stronger than you would for screen-only display.
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