Sharpen up soft shots

1 Import image

Choose File>import. Browse to sharpen_ start.jpg. Click the ‘Review for Import’ button. Double-click on the imported shot’s thumbnail. Click the ‘Edit’ button at the top-right.

2 Magnify photo

Press the Z key to zoom into 100% (actual size). Only at 100% can you effectively see how sharp a shot really is. Drag with the Hand tool to view a close-up of the dog’s face.

3 Access sharpening tools

In Adjust toggle open the Sharpen panel to reveal the Intensity, Edges and Falloff sliders. Click ‘Auto’. In this case the auto-sharpening is too subtle. Click ‘Revert to Original’.

4 Understanding artefacts

Drag the three sharpening sliders to the far right. This creates a sharper shot but blows out the highlights on whiskers and adds grainy picture noise to the soft-focus background.

5 Tweak the settings

Set Intensity to 0.81. This controls the contrast change around edges. Lower the Edges slider to 0.55 to shrink the spread of the edge contrast change and reduce any halos.

6 Tweak Falloff

Falloff controls the combined effect of the Intensity and Edges slider. In this example a value of 0.66 helps compromise between sharpening the shot while minimising artefacts.

7 Before and after

Tap the M button to toggle between the edited version and the less sharp original. Bright contrasting features such as the dog’s whiskers pop out in the sharpened version.

8 Add definition

Go to Definition. This slider increases midtone contrast to make delicate details such as fur stand out. If you drag it too high it’ll add dark halos around the edge of the dog.

9 Fine-tune definition

Drop the Definition panel’s Amount slider to a more subtle 0.31. This teases out more fur detail without adding noticeable dark halos around the edge of the pet.