Digital sharpening

Make the most of your editing software to produce sharper work

The final piece of the sharpening jigsaw is digital sharpening, which is applied to an image as it’s processed – either in the camera or in software. When sharpening is applied digitally, it essentially boosts the contrast between the edges of objects and their surrounding areas. The stronger the digital sharpening, the greater the emphasis made to outlines in an image.

Digital sharpening can be separated into ‘input’ and ‘output’. The input sharpening is what was dialled in on the camera when shooting a JPEG, or the sharpening applied when processing a Raw. Shooting Raw gives you more control.

To adjust the strength of the sharpening on your camera, you’ll need to visit the Picture Style menu – each preset has a set amount of Sharpness. The Standard and

Landscape options deliver the sharpest results, but the Fine Detail option available on high-end bodies is better at resolving more delicate details. You can increase or decrease the sharpness of any Picture Style by pressing the DISP or INFO button when the Picture Style is highlighted in the menu. Advanced cameras offer more detailed control over Strength, Fineness and Threshold of the sharpening effect, which acts in a similar way to the Unsharp Mask interface found in photo editing software.

‘Output’ sharpening is where you apply extra sharpness in Photoshop or your preferred image editor, tailored to the end use of the image. If you’re printing the image, you may want to add more sharpness than you would if you’re just sharing online. Avoid over-sharpening the image at either stage, or you’ll increase noise and create halos around the edges.