Quick links to procedures on this page:

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Sharpening images

You can sharpen images to increase contrast, enhance image edges, or reduce shading. To sharpen an image, or an editable area of an image, you can use filters or brushstrokes. Filters can also be applied using a lens. For more information about lenses, see “Working with lenses.” Sharpening is usually done after adjusting the color and tone of an image and after resampling or resizing.

Photo Paint ret sharpen Sharpening images

You can reveal more image detail by sharpening an image.


To sharpen an image by applying a filter

Photo Paint btnbacktotop Sharpening images
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Click Image Photo Paint onestep Sharpening images Correction Photo Paint onestep Sharpening images Tune sharpen.
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Move the Percentage slider to set the amount of sharpening that is applied each time you click a thumbnail button.
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Click any of the following thumbnail buttons:
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Unsharp mask — lets you accentuate edge detail and focus blurred areas in the image without removing low-frequency areas.
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Adaptive unsharp — lets you accentuate edge detail by analyzing the values of neighboring pixels. This filter preserves most image detail, but its effect is most apparent in high-resolution images.
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Sharpen — lets you accentuate the edges of the image by focusing blurred areas and increasing the contrast between neighboring pixels. Move the Background slider to set the threshold for the effect. Lower values increase the number of pixels changed by the sharpening effect.
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Directional sharpen — lets you enhance the edges of an image without creating a grainy effect.

You can also
Remove shading
Click Effects Photo Paint onestep Sharpening images Sharpen Photo Paint onestep Sharpening images High pass. The High pass filter removes image detail and shading to give an image a glowing quality by emphasizing its highlights and luminous areas. However, it can also affect the color and tone of the image.

Photo Paint note Sharpening images

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The Unsharp mask filter provides best results for most photographs.
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Most sharpen filters support all color modes except 48-bit RGB, 16-bit grayscale, paletted, and black-and-white. The Sharpen filter supports all color modes except paletted and black-and-white.

Photo Paint tip Sharpening images

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You can access each of the sharpen filters individually by clicking Effects Photo Paint onestep Sharpening images Sharpen, and clicking a filter.
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You can use this procedure to sharpen an editable area of an image.

To sharpen selected areas by applying brushstrokes

Photo Paint btnbacktotop Sharpening images
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In the toolbox, click the Effect tool Photo Paint pgx effect tool Sharpening images.
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On the property bar, open the Effect tool picker, and click the Sharpen tool Photo Paint pgx sharpen tool Sharpening images.
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Choose a brush from the Brush type list box.
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Choose a nib from the Nib shape picker.
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Type a value in the Size box to specify the nib size.
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Drag across an image area.

Photo Paint tip Sharpening images

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You can quickly choose a square or round brush shape by clicking the Round nib button Photo Paint pgx round nib button Sharpening images or the Square nib button Photo Paint pgx square nib button Sharpening images on the property bar.

Sharpening images