Nikon software

Get crisper-looking shots while avoiding adding artefacts

Sharpen up delicate details in your photographs without unnecessary artefacts creeping into your shot

1 MAGNIFY IMAGE

Browse to our supplied sharpen_start.nef image in Capture NX-D’S Folders panel. To see how sharp a shot really is, choose View>view at 100%. Use the Hand tool [H] to position the net of sea sponges as shown, so you can also see some of the background of the image, too.

2 UNDERSTAND ARTEFACTS

In the Edit panel, click the Unsharp Mask icon. Drag Intensity to 100 to increase edge contrast. Drag Radius to 100 to increase the spread of the edge contrast change. Now you can see sharpening artefacts, such as clipped black and white haloes, and noise in the background.

3 SIDE BY SIDE

Reduce the sliders back to 0. Click the Multi icon and choose Compare Before and After Images. Click the Original icon to see the soft start file in the left window. In the Unsharp Mask panel, drag Intensity to 70 and Radius to 30 for a more subtle but noticeable sharpening effect.

4 REDUCE NOISE

The Intensity and Radius adjustments have teased out more detail in the net and sponges, but they’ve also exaggerated noise in the background bokeh. By dragging Threshold to 5 you can limit the amount of sharpening in these blurred areas and reduce sharpened noise artefacts.