Sharpening for prints----Help!

Wondering how others sharpen for large prints (16x20) (12X18). I sharpen so they look crisp on my screen and when printed they look soft. What do I need to do different?

When viewing on screen after sharpening do you view at a size and a distance that approximates your print size/viewing distance?

Also, know that a lot of people sharpen to where it looks "sharper" on screen than you would naturally prefer.

When I print 12x18 prints out of Lightroom, I just use the Lightroom "Standard" output sharpening and have been happy. But, if you are using a lab/external print provider, I'd do some tests by cropping a bit of a few images and having them printed at a smaller size, then viewing the prints at what would be your "normal" viewing distance for the larger print.

Thanks Tony. I like your suggestion of cropping and printing smaller sizes

CHUCK A wrote in post #14513077
What do I need to do different?

Sharpen (way) more.

http://www.creativepro​.com …ening-workflow?page=0%2C1

What program are you using for output sharpening? Are you applying output sharpening to the right media (i.e. did you sharpen for the paper you were going to print on -- matte? glossy?). I don't use lightroom's output sharpening anymore, but unlike Tony, I used the "high" setting for my print sharpening because I found LR's output sharpening to be pretty tame. You might want to experiment and compare printing using different settings.