A professional way to enhance photo clarity. How to sharpen in Photoshop

Defocus, shooting in motion, long exposure are the main causes of blurry images. By means of Photoshop, it is quite possible to sharpen such photographs and improve a bad frame.

Even experienced photographers do not always succeed in correctly setting the focus, ISO and exposure. Beginning photographers who use non-professional equipment are even less likely to get perfect shots. Because of this, most photos have to be further processed in the editor before publication. Typically, processing includes: color correction, brightness adjustment, sharpening, and .

Fuzziness, imperceptible at first glance, may increase after changing the proportions or resolution of the picture. The following methods will noticeably improve the quality of an image if it starts to look washed out.

Unsharp mask: A quick way to sharpen

If the photo is blurred evenly and not too much, it is most convenient to use the Unsharp mask filter, specially designed to sharpen the image. It's on the menu Filters → Sharpen → Unsharp mask...

Unsharp mask settings...

In the window we see three sliders for different settings. These parameters are called Amount, Radius and Treshold. Their optimal values ​​have to be selected manually, since they depend on the quality and color diversity of the image.

• Slider Amount adjusts the strength of the filtration. At low values, the correction is almost imperceptible, at too high values, noise and graininess appear.
• Paragraph Radius shows how many pixels will be involved in the calculation of the sharpness of the center point. The smaller the radius, the more natural the effect, but the less sharp. These two settings are set first. Their values ​​should be as high as possible, but such that the noise in the photo is still weak.
• Treshold shows how many color levels the contrasting areas of the photo are divided into. The more levels, the higher the image quality. This parameter is set last - it helps to remove noise and graininess.

Sharpen part of a photo

If you only want to sharpen a part of an image, you can do so with the History Brush.

Click on the square on the left

To open the History panel, go to Window → History. In the panel that opens, you need to click on the box to the left of the Unsharp mask line, and then click on the Open line (New in my case). The sharpening of the entire image will be cancelled.

Then you need to find the History Brush icon in the toolbar located on the left side of the window. Painting with this brush will cancel the action of the Unsharp mask in the right place.

High Pass: Subtle photo sharpening

To sharpen the photo in a more subtle way, you can resort to manipulating layers. In addition to adjusting the sharpness, they allow you to remove some photo defects, such as scratches.

After opening the image, you need to copy it to a new layer. This is done through the menu Layer → Duplicate Layer (the default options can be left unchanged). Then you should make sure that the work is being done on a new layer (look at the Layers panel). A panel will open in which you need to click on the line with the name of the new layer. The image should then be turned into a "contrast map". This is done through the menu. Filter → Other → High Pass.

High pass filter

In the window that appears, set the value of the radius of the area for which the contrast is determined. The optimal values ​​are in the range up to ten pixels.

You can then remove scratches and noise caused by dust on the lens or damage to the scanner glass. This is done through Filter → Noise → Dust & Scratches. Then the new layer should be desaturated to reduce the risk of color noise during adjustment (this can be done using Image → Adjustment → Desaturation).

After all the operations, you need to right-click on the discolored layer with the applied filters and select Blending Options. In the Blend Mode list, select overlay and use the Opacity parameter to adjust the desired sharpness of the photo.

Shake Reductions: remove blur from a photo

One of the most annoying and difficult types of blur to fix is ​​motion blur. It appears when shooting from a moving vehicle, or when the subject is moving. With a short exposure time, the frame manages to be captured faster than the image shift becomes significant. But with a long exposure, “smeared” faces, buildings and trees appear.

You can try to save the photo using the Shake Reductions feature, which appeared in Photoshop CC. Photoshop analyzes the tracks - "tracks" and stripes that appeared when objects were smeared. The filter automatically finds the most blurred area of ​​the image and calculates the correction parameters based on it.

Shake Reduction Filter Window...

To enable this filter, you need to find in the menu Select Filter → Sharpen → Shake Reduction. If you click the Advanced button, you can select a different section option for calculations. On the right side of the Advanced area there are icons for the Add Suggested Blur Trace tool (icon with a plus sign) and the trash can. Add Suggested Blur Trace is used to automatically select new areas with a blur pattern by Photoshop. The basket icon allows you to delete a section for calculations.

The filter can be configured manually. This is done using the toolbar at the top left of the Shake Reduction window.

• Dotted rectangle icon. The Blur Estimation Tool (shortcut E) is used to draw a box highlighting the new track for sharpening analysis.
• Arrow and curve icon. Blur Direction Tool (hot key R) , you can choose the length and direction of the tracks without specifying a section of the photo.

The Source Noise, Smoothing and Artifact Suppression parameters are designed to smooth out the noise that appears during image correction. The Blur trace bounds item is similar to the Radius item in the tools described above. With its help, the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe area that Photoshop analyzes to calculate the increase in pixel sharpness is set.

Despite the fact that modern digital cameras are extremely easy to use, since the vast majority have an automatic adjustment mode, amateur photographs do not always turn out spectacular. One of the common problems for amateur photographers is the lack of clarity and turbidity of photos in general, or unsuccessful focus setting, as a result of which not the subject is in focus, but some insignificant background object, so the subject being shot looks blurry. Most often, blurry photos are caused by an incorrect depth of field, an incorrectly chosen focal length (when the camera is too close to the object), camera shake during shooting (which is typical for handheld shooting), and a number of other factors. You can improve such pictures by sharpening - the entire image as a whole or only in the focus area. At the same time, it is worth noting that even pictures taken on professional cameras usually need some sharpening, which allows them to be presented more advantageously. This is due to the fact that digital camera sensors and lenses always blur the image to some extent, so even professional digital photos require sharpening.

As for the wrong focus, a well-tuned focus gives the picture a b O more expressiveness, and the wrong setting of focus automatically leads to pictures that do not make the right impression, since the subject being shot merges with elements of the background. Unfortunately, it is impossible to radically correct photos with completely blurry focus, but it is quite possible to correct slightly blurry focus. Moreover, even on pictures with perfect focus in some cases (more often when shooting portraits, macro photography, when photographing close-ups) it makes sense to apply sharpening in the focus area - this will draw attention to individual fragments of the photo, focusing on some important detail ( e.g. in front of the eyes).

About sharpening techniques and tools

Sharpening (full or selective - taking into account objects in focus) is an integral part of the processing of any digital image, however, such an operation should be carried out with extreme caution, since excessive sharpening leads to increased noise and the appearance of color artifacts at the boundaries of contrast transitions.

The sharpening procedure should be resorted to only after performing the entire complex of traditional actions to improve the image - that is, eliminating noise, performing color correction, adjusting contrast, etc. Otherwise, these actions will be much more difficult to perform. In particular, sharpening prior to denoising typically results in a noticeable increase in noise that is difficult, and often impossible, to eliminate. It is also worth noting that when sharpening, it is necessary to view the image at 100% size (in extreme cases, at 50%), and not at a smaller scale - otherwise it will be problematic to correctly assess the changes during the selection of parameters.

There are different ways to sharpen photos - you can use the built-in sharpening filters in Adobe Photoshop (combined in Filter → Sharpen), however, obtaining high-quality results with their help usually involves working on several layers with sequential adjustment of the sharpness level on each of the layers and their subsequent mixing at carefully selected levels of transparency. Other ways to sharpen in Photoshop have been developed - using channels and filters that have a completely different main purpose (for example, Emboss), etc. It is obvious that all these methods are very laborious, and it is difficult to call them intuitively understandable. In addition, if you need to adjust different options for the level of sharpness for different fragments of the image, it is necessary to painstakingly select the corresponding areas, and this requires additional time. As for the focus, no software solution is able to sharpen an image with a completely blurred focus - at best, you can slightly correct a slightly blurred focus, but no more. How? In general, everything is quite simple - you need to increase the sharpness of the object in focus while blurring the background elements. Thanks to this, the subject will be highlighted against the general background, and the image itself will look clearer and more expressive. Of course, all these operations can be performed in Adobe Photoshop.

An alternative is to use third-party specialized plug-ins and even independent applications (such applications solve the same tasks as plug-ins, but do not require Photoshop to be installed on the computer). With their help, you can achieve high-quality results faster and with much less effort (often without the need for selection and masking).

Which option is better - each user decides for himself. If we talk about plug-ins and independent applications, then everything is obvious: professionals will work with plug-ins (this provides the possibility of complex selective sharpening using selected areas and masks, etc.), amateurs will prefer applications (they often do not need complex and expensive Photoshop ). In turn, the choice between Adobe Photoshop sharpening filters and tools from third-party manufacturers is by no means obvious. Much here depends on the usual technology of work, personal preferences and your own visual assessment of the results of processing in a particular solution.

Therefore, we will not single out more or less preferred software tools, but will limit ourselves to considering specific examples of sharpening and focus manipulation in such well-known professional software solutions as Nik Sharpening Pro and FocalBlade, as well as in not so popular, but also interesting programs for amateur photographers - AKVIS Refocus and Focus Magic.

Sharpening

Perhaps the easiest tool to use for sharpening images is the program. AKVIS Refocus. Let's use it to sharpen the entire image as a whole, choosing a slightly blurry image for experiments (Fig. 1). Let's launch AKVIS Refocus (in this case, a separate application), open the source image - the image will be automatically processed with the default settings (AKVIS Default preset), and the result will be shown in the tab Before in the preview area (see Figure 1). Further actions are reduced to selecting the most appropriate parameter values ​​for a particular image, which can be achieved either by choosing one of the built-in presets or by manually adjusting the settings (Fig. 2).

Rice. 1. Applying the AKVIS Default preset in AKVIS Refocus to a photo

Rice. 2. Sharpening a Photo in AKVIS Refocus

Sharpen your pictures with FocalBlade also does not require special efforts from the user, if limited to the use of automatic and semi-automatic tools in the mode Easy mode designed for beginners. For example, let's open the original photo in FocalBlade (mode Easy Mode), click on the button reset to set the default values, change the view to top view(with checkbox enabled multiple) and then indicate that the image is supposed to be displayed on the display (option display for parameter Output). The result of applying the default settings is shown in fig. 3. To ensure that the photo is sharpened in the central part of the image without the appearance of visible noise and with a limited degree of impact on textured surfaces, change the basic settings on the Auto tab: set the parameter to sharpness(adjusts the amount of photo sharpening) option high, and for parameters surface(determines the nature of texture processing) and Details(adjusts the level of detail) options light and Very Rough respectively. As a result, the flower in the photo will become more expressive - fig. 4.

Rice. 3. Automatic image processing for display in FocalBlade

Rice. 4. Sharpening the center of the photo with FocalBlade

Perhaps an even faster way to improve images in FocalBlade is to use the built-in presets, which, according to the developers, are more than 80. Let's consider this option. Open the original image and make the initial settings (mode - Easy Mode; display type - right view with checkbox enabled multiple; display image - option display for parameter Output) - rice. 5. To better distinguish small details, increase the display scale to 300% and see that the sky area turned out to be noisy (Fig. 6). Apply a preset to a photo Noise Reduced Sharpen, which provides sharpening while reducing noise - as a result, the mountains will look sharper, and the noise in the sky will be almost invisible (Fig. 7).

Rice. 5. The result of auto-processing the image in FocalBlade

Rice. 6. Zoomed view (FocalBlade)

Rice. 7. Sharpening with Noise Reduction in FocalBlade

V Sharpener Pro, in principle, there are also opportunities for rapid sharpening. In the simplest case, all you need to do is open the original image in Adobe Photoshop, activate the module output sharpener(Fig. 8) and correct as desired in the section creative sharpening sharpening parameter values: Output Sharpening Strength(adjusts the strength of global sharpness), structure(provides control over the display of fine details) and local contrast(adjusts the degree of local contrast). For example, in this example, we changed the value of the parameter structure to negative (so that too small inclusions in the sand are not visible) and choose the appropriate value from the point of view of this image local contrast. As a result of these simple manipulations, the blurry image became much less blurry, and the selective one (in this case, by adjusting structure) sharpening made it possible to draw attention to marine life thrown onto the sand (Fig. 9).

Rice. 8. Original photo opened in Sharpener Pro

Rice. 9. Adjusting processing options in Sharpener Pro

Bringing the image into focus

To begin with, consider the option of bringing a certain object into focus in AKVIS Refocus. Let's open the original image (Fig. 10), but we will not make any changes in terms of setting the sharpening parameters (we will trust the default settings). Now you need to tell the program the focus area (the fragments where you want to sharpen - in this case, this is an insect) and the background. To do this, we outline the approximate outer contours of the focus area with a blue pencil, and the inner contours of the background objects with red. All paths must be closed - otherwise the effect will extend beyond the drawn borders. Very careful selection of fragments, as a rule, is not necessary, although when forming contours it is still better to draw lines close enough to the border separating the focusable object and the external background, since in this case the probability of a program error will be minimal.

Rice. 10. Opening the original image in AKVIS Refocus

For masking, select a tool Focus area and draw a blue outline around the insect. Then activate the tool Second plan and draw a red outline to limit the objects of the second plan (Fig. 11). Please note that the unsuccessful fragments of the blue and red outlines can be easily removed with an eraser, and then again drawn more carefully. After that, start the processing by clicking on the button Start. The converted image will be displayed on the tab. After(Fig. 12).

Rice. 11. Masking an Object in AKVIS Refocus

Rice. 12. Result of Focusing in AKVIS Refocus

A little more difficult (mostly due to the need to determine the degree of blur “by eye”) is to “focus” on Focus Magic. Let's try using this solution to improve a photo that is noticeably blurry due to the movement of the object. Let's open the original image in Adobe Photoshop and select the desired area of ​​focus by tracing the corresponding "lasso" fragment (Fig. 13). Let's carefully consider the image at an enlarged scale and roughly estimate the extent of the blur (in pixels). Activate the Focus Magic plugin ( Filter → Focus Magic) and choose the module Fix motion blur. Since the default value of the parameter image source(determines the source from which the image was obtained) was set correctly, then we restrict ourselves to setting the parameters Blur direction and blur distance- the first sets the direction of the blur (it is easier to set it using the built-in compass), and the second indicates the extent of the blur (Fig. 14). In order to additionally highlight the object in focus, blur the background - invert the selection and apply a Gaussian blur ( Filter → Blur → Gaussian Blur) with blur radius ( Radius parameter) in 5-6 pixels. After the manipulations, we will see that the subject began to look much clearer, and the picture itself now makes a better impression, although we were not able to completely eliminate the blur (Fig. 15).

Rice. 13. Selecting an Object in Adobe Photoshop

Rice. 14. Adjust sharpening options in Focus Magic

Rice. 15. View of the photo after final processing by means
Adobe Photoshop and Focus Magic

For comparison, consider an example of obtaining the soft focus effect of portrait optics, which is possible using FocalBlade. Let's open the original photo (Fig. 16). Apply a preset to it portrait sharpen(Fig. 17). Activate the tab effects and apply a soft focus effect to the photo soft focus from the group Blur. As a result, the portrait photo will look softer (Fig. 18).

Rice. 16. Original photo opened in FocalBlade

Rice. 17. The result of applying the Portrait Sharpen preset in FocalBlade

Rice. 18. Soft focus effect with FocalBlade

V Sharpener Pro the selective sharpening process based on focus is implemented differently, since the area of ​​focus (as well as other areas) is usually set through control points. Open the original image in Photoshop and activate the module output sharpener- image view with preview disabled (checkbox preview) is shown in Fig. 19. Turn on the preview mode. In chapter output sharpening select output to inkjet printer ( Inkjet) and determine the type of paper used ( paper type) and printer resolution ( Printer Resolution). In chapter creative sharpening select the appropriate values ​​for the selected photo sharpening parameters: Output Sharpening Strength, structure and local contrast. In chapter Selective sharpening activate the formation of a focusable area by control points ( control points), add control points to the original image (button Add Control Point) and adjust the radius of application of the effect and the strength of its impact - fig. 20. Additionally blur the area to the left of the bud, because it looks too clear. To do this, in the lower left corner of the image, create a new control point of the desired radius and with negative focus. After that, we will make several duplicates of this control point and place them sequentially on the left side of the image around the bud (Fig. 21). Before printing, we will evaluate the appearance of the processed image by activating the mode Sharpening Soft Proof- this mode provides the ability to preview the final result (in this case, printouts on an inkjet printer) on the monitor. As can be seen from fig. 22, there is a qualitative sharpening taking into account the focus area in the absence of noise and other artifacts.

Rice. 19. Original photo opened in Sharpener Pro

Rice. 20. Determine the area of ​​focus (Sharpener Pro)

Rice. 21. Set Control Points for Blur Areas (Sharpener Pro)

Rice. 22. Preview of the image enhanced with Sharpener Pro

A Brief Overview of Sharpening Programs

Sharpener Pro 3.0

Developer: Nik Software, Inc.

Distribution size: Windows version - 72 MB; Mac version - 159 MB

Work under control: Windows XP(SP3)/Vista/7; Mac OS 10.5.8-10.7; Adobe Photoshop CS3/CS4/CS5

Distribution method: shareware (15 day demo - https://www.niksoftware.com/site/)

Price:$199.95

Sharpener Pro is one of the most popular solutions for sharpening digital images for a variety of devices and media, including monitors and printers. The program is presented as a plug-in for Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Photoshop Elements, Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, etc. and is aimed mainly at professional photographers.

The main differences between Sharpener Pro and other solutions under consideration are support for output to a wide range of devices with the ability to manually configure specific parameters (for example, when outputting to a printer, you can determine the type of paper and printer resolution) and the use of a two-stage sharpening system. To implement such a processing system, the product includes two modules: RAW Presharpener and Output Sharpener. The RAW Presharpener module is designed for preliminary sharpening in RAW files. It is used to compensate for the action of the camera's low-pass filter and allows you to slightly sharpen the image even at the stage of the RAW file without increasing the noise level and other artifacts that inevitably appear to one degree or another during the final sharpening. In turn, the Output Sharpener module is used for the final sharpening (of the entire image or selectively) taking into account the features of the image output technology. With its help, the basic sharpness parameters, data relating to the features of the output of a particular image (on a monitor screen, printer, etc.) are adjusted, and sharpness is fine-tuned in specific areas. Selective sharpening, which allows you to fine-tune the level of sharpness in those areas of the image to which you want to draw attention, is carried out by setting control points (determine the radius of the effect), forming selected areas with a special brush, or specifying specific colors for which individual sharpening is required. Selected settings can be saved to presets for later use. The Sharpener Pro plugin can work with 8-bit and 16-bit images and supports TIFF, JPEG and RAW image formats.

FocalBlade 2.02b

Developer: Harald Heim

Distribution size: Windows version - 2.73 MB; Mac version - 1.7 MB

Work under control: Windows 98/NT/Me/2000/XP/Vista/7; MacOS X; Windows 32-bit - Adobe Photoshop version 3 and above; Windows 64-bit - Adobe Photoshop CS4 and above; Mac OS X - Adobe Photoshop version 7 and higher

Distribution method: shareware (demo that watermarks images - http://thepluginsite.com/download/)

Price: $69.95

FocalBlade is a renowned solution for sharpening images (for both screen and print viewing) with minimal artifacts. The product is presented as a standalone application and a Photoshop plugin (only a plugin is offered for Mac OS X) and is interesting for both beginners and professionals. For the former, a simplified automatic correction mode (Easy Mode) is designed, while the latter can take advantage of the fine-tuning of numerous parameters in the Classic Mode and Advanced Mode, which allows you to achieve high-quality results on various types of images.

FocalBlade includes many preset presets, so you can achieve a variety of processing effects with minimal effort. The solution supports one-, two- and three-pass sharpening algorithms and provides full control over this process, in particular, it allows you to control sharpness on surfaces and contours in various ways, ignore certain fragments and specific colors during processing, sharpen the central part of the photo without affecting it background, etc. Any transformations can be performed on a group of images at the same time. Additionally, the plug-in can be used for noise reduction and a number of effects, such as glow, soft focus, etc. FocalBlade supports sharpening in any color model (RGB, Grayscale, Lab and CMYK) with a color depth of 8/16 bits per channel and works with major graphic formats including JPEG, TIFF, PNG, PSD, RAW and DNG.

AKVIS Refocus 1.5

Developer: AKVIS LLC

Distribution size: Windows version - 23.8 MB; Mac version - 27.3 MB

Work under control: Windows XP/Vista/7; Mac OS X 10.4-10.7; Adobe Photoshop 6-CS5

Distribution method: shareware (10 day demo - http://akvis.com/en/refocus/download-sharpen-photo.php)

Price: depends on the type of license: Home - $39; Home Deluxe - $49; Business - $72

AKVIS Refocus is a tool for sharpening fuzzy, blurry, out-of-focus pictures. The program is presented as a separate application and a Photoshop plugin and is aimed at both a wide range of users and professionals.

This solution allows you to enhance the sharpness of the images as a whole or only on certain fragments of the image; if desired, certain fragments ignored during sharpening can be blurred, which, in combination with sharpening in the focus area, visually provides the effect of “bringing into focus”. It is possible to save favorite settings (presets) for their further use, as well as batch processing files. AKVIS Refocus works with 8-, 16-, and 32-bit images in RGB, Grayscale, CMYK, and Lab color modes and understands major graphic formats, including RAW.

Focus Magic 3.02a

Developer: Acclaim Software Ltd

Distribution size: Windows version - 1.5 MB; Mac version - 2.5 MB

Work under control: Windows 95-7; MacOS X; Photoshop (almost all versions, including CS2/CS3/CS4CS5)

Distribution method: shareware (demo version that allows you to process up to 10 photos - http://www.focusmagic.com/download.htm)

Price:$45

Focus Magic is a simple solution for sharpening blurry (due to lens movement during shooting or subject movement) and out of focus photos. The program has a minimum of settings, works quickly and is presented as a Photoshop plugin, as well as a separate application, so it may be of interest to a wide range of users.

The solution includes two sharpening modules - Out-of-Focus Blur and Motion Blur, which work according to different algorithms. The Out-of-Focus Blur module is designed to improve out-of-focus shots, while Motion Blur is used to sharpen blurry photos. Additionally, the program can be used for noise reduction and to deal with dust and scratches on the scanned image. Focus Magic can restore sharpness in RGB, Grayscale and CMYK color models (color depth 8/16 bits per channel); the standalone application only understands JPG files, the plugin works with all formats supported by Adobe Photoshop.

Conclusion

We looked at several well-known solutions for sharpening blurry and out-of-focus images, including both quite expensive professional products and more affordable programs aimed at the widest audience. It is very difficult to single out the best among the presented solutions, since a lot depends on the type of source images, tasks and preferences, although in general Sharpener Pro and FocalBlade products provide better results. The Sharpener Pro solution stands out for its tools for preparing images for printing (taking into account the printer's resolution, paper type, etc.), as well as the functionality for quickly selectively changing the sharpness in different fragments of the image. In turn, FocalBlade is interesting with a lot of preset presets, with which you can effortlessly and in a matter of minutes achieve high-quality results when solving a variety of sharpening tasks. At the same time, both tools allow you to fine-tune a variety of sharpening parameters, which is important for professional photographers. As for the programs AKVIS Refocus and Focus Magic, they are attractive due to their simplicity and comparative availability (in terms of price and in terms of development) - even a novice amateur photographer can improve pictures with their help.

Unfortunately, even choosing a professional tool for work, you should not deceive yourself, since blurring and defocusing can only be corrected to a certain extent, and not in any picture. If the main details of the objects being photographed are clearly visible in the resulting image, then the chances of its successful improvement are high, but, of course, you should not hope to save completely blurry photos.

Instruction

Open the photo in Photoshop and make a copy using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+J. In the future, all image correction actions must be performed on copies of the layer so that the main image does not suffer from unsuccessful changes.

Duplicate the top layer by using Ctrl+J again. In the menu Filter (“Filter”) in the group Other (“Other”), find High Pass (“Color contrast”) and set the radius to 0.5 pixels - so that the outlines of the image are barely visible from under the gray mask. Apply to this layer the blending mode Overlay (“Overlap”) and merge the layers Ctrl + E.

If the image quality does not satisfy you, duplicate the top layer again and repeat the sharpening operation as many times as necessary. You can slightly increase the radius of the filter.

Adjustment layer masks will help to add clarity to the image. Click on the round black and white button at the bottom of the layers panel and select the options Brightness / Contrast (“Brightness / Contrast”) and Levels (“Levels”). Carefully move the sliders to achieve the optimal sharpness of the photo.

Click on the eye image next to the background layer to make it invisible. Merge visible layers using Shift+Ctrl+E keys.

It is possible that the original color scheme of the image has changed during processing. You can try to fix this side effect with the Photo Filter tool from the Adjustments section of the Image menu. In this case, it is more convenient to apply a Warming Filter(81) to add the feeling of a warm sunny day.