Most of us upload our pictures or print them the way they were captured by our digital cameras. A lot of people that I know think that as soon as they hear about the techniques to sharpen pictures, that it’s going to be too much work or too complicated. I want to show you it’s not. Most cameras, especially in the "pro" category will capture an image without applying any sharpening to it, resulting in images that appears "soft" or even slightly "out of focus."
Some of the usual causes of blurry digital photos include:
- Camera shake (the most common)
- Incorrect focus
- Motion or your subject's movements
- Either too much light or insufficient light
- Low digital photo resolution
First lets go over what sharpening means and what it does. Sharpening enhances the definition of edges in an image. Whether your images come from a digital camera or a scanner, most images can benefit from sharpening. The degree of sharpening needed varies depending on the quality of the digital camera or scanner. Keep in mind that sharpening cannot correct a severely blurred image.
I’m going to go over a few programs you can use to sharpen your pictures.
Photoshop Elements:
Open Photoshop Elements and do File - Open - select the picture you want to work with.
In the menu select Enhance> Auto Sharpen. You should see slight changes in the sharpness. As a general rule of thumb Perform all other changes (color correction, saturation changes, distortion corrections, etc.) before sharpening. Save a copy of the corrected, but unsharpened version. (And you’ve already saved a copy of the original, right?)
Make A Copy
Open Photoshop Elements and do File - Open - select the picture you want to work with.
Immediately, save it as a different name, with a psd (Photoshop) extension. For example, if your original image was named IMG0001.JPG, then save it as IMG0001.psd (i.e. use the default extension of the image editing software you are using). This way, you will preserve the original file (IMG0001.JPG).
If the Layers Panel is not on your desktop, drag it from the tabs at the top into your work area. If necessary, drag the bottom edge down so you can see more than one layer. You will see your picture (probably named "Background") in a layer.
Double click on that layer and rename it as original. (You could leave it as "Background" but renaming it is a good habit, since you may want to add a real background in some cases.)
Now, drag it to the new layer icon (the middle one at the bottom of the Layers Panel) to create a new layer, original copy.
Click on the original copy layer to select it as the one you want to work with. (Remember, we never want to muck with the original layer.)
Sharpen
If not already selected, click the original copy layer to select it.
From the menu bar, select: Filter – Sharpen – Unsharp Mask… and type in Amount = 200%, Radius = 1.2, Threshold = 4. Click onPreview to view the original and sharpened version. Yeah!, I hear you say already. You may select different values, though the above values are a good starting point.
Separate Darken and Lighten Pixels
Now, copy the sharpened original copy layer by dragging it to the new layer icon. You'll end up with original copy 2.
Double click on original copy and rename it darken.
Double click on original copy 2 and rename it lighten.
Select the darken layer by clicking on that layer.
Set the blending mode to darken: See where it says, Normal in a drop down box at the top of the Layers Panel? Click on the down arrow and select "Darken":
Select the lighten layer by clicking on that layer.
Set the blending mode to lighten: Click on the down arrow and select "Lighten":
What we have done is separate the darken and lighten pixels into two layers. Now, we can control each layer separately.
Adjust Sharpness
If you are following this tutorial in your own Photoshop Elements and using our image, you'll notice that the lighten pixels (the highlights) are a bit too bright. (You might have to zoom in 200% to see things clearer.)
Click on the lighten layer to select it and adjust the Opacity until you are satisfied. (Ensure Preview is ON.) In my case, I select 26%.
Likewise, select the darken layer and adjust the Opacity until the darken pixels (the dark edges) just "jump out." I select 90%.
Each picture you sharpen will require different values, so if you are using your own image, adjust to your own liking.
There, you have it. Pretty simple, huh?
Here are some online programs to help with sharpening, if you don’t have PSE or want to see what else is available:
Focus Magic uses advanced forensic strength deconvolution technology to literally "undo" blur and recover lost detail. It can repair both out-of-focus blur and motion blur (camera shake) in an image. Sharpen some of your photos (up to 10 for the free trial)
15 Useful Online Image Editors
