<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE html
  PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
<!--#config errmsg="" --><!-- saved from url=(0022)http://help.adobe.com/ -->
<html lang="en-us">
    <head>
        <meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />
        <meta name="lang" content="en-us" />
        <meta name="area" content="livedocs" />
        <title>Adobe Photoshop CS4 * Sharpen selectively</title>
        <meta name="product" content="Photoshop" />
        <meta name="keywords" content="" />
        <script type="text/javascript" language="Javascript" charset="UTF-8"><!--[CDATA[
        var currentTreeNode = "WSB5D75388-8DC6-4c2d-B274-D311CE624673a.html";
// ]]--></script>
<script src="terms.js" type="text/javascript" language="Javascript" charset="UTF-8">...</script> <script src="help.js" type="text/javascript" language="Javascript" charset="UTF-8">...</script>  <script src="utilities.js" type="text/javascript" language="Javascript" charset="UTF-8">...</script> <script src="event.js" type="text/javascript" language="Javascript" charset="UTF-8">...</script> <script src="treeview.js" type="text/javascript" language="Javascript" charset="UTF-8">...</script> <script src="toc.js" language="Javascript" type="text/javascript" charset="UTF-8">..</script> 
<script type="text/javascript">
<!--[CDATA[
var headId = document.getElementsByTagName("head")[0];         
if (use_ie_6_behavior) {
    var linkId = document.createElement("link");
    linkId.href = "content-ie6.css";
    linkId.rel = "stylesheet";
    linkId.type = "text/css";
    headId.appendChild(linkId);
}
function initRoboHelpDOM() {
    if (use_robohelp_behavior) {
        hideElement("searchbar");
        hideElement("hierarchy");
        hideElement("col1");
    }
}
YAHOO.util.Event.onDOMReady(initRoboHelpDOM);
// ]]-->
</script>
<!--#include virtual="/livedocs/ssi/globalheader.ssi" -->
        <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="tree.css" />
        <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="content-fonts.css" />
        <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="content-hyperlinks.css" />
        <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="content.css" />
        <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="localeSpecific.css" />
    </head>
    <body id="content_body" onload="window.focus();">
        <a name="top"></a><div id="mnemonic">
            <div class="Photoshop"><table><tr><td class="banner">Adobe Photoshop CS4</td><td class="pod"><img src="images/PDF.gif" width="16" height="16" hspace="15" valign="50%" />&#160;&#160;
                     <a title="PDF" href="http://help.adobe.com/en_US/Photoshop/11.0/photoshop_cs4_help.pdf">
                         PDF (adobe.com) 
                    </a></td></tr></table></div>
        </div>
        <div id="searchbar">
<!-- BEGIN SEARCH CONTENT -->
            <form class="search_form" id="search" name="search" action="search.html" target="_self">
                <img src="images/search.png" />
<script type="text/javascript">
<!--[CDATA[
function clearSearch(){
    if (document.search.q.value == terms_AHV_SEARCH_BUTTON){document.search.q.value = ""}; 
}
document.write('<input class=\"search_input\" \
        name=\"q\" \
        id=\"q\" \
        type=\"text\" \
        maxlength=\"256\" \
        value=\"' + terms_AHV_SEARCH_BUTTON + '\" onclick=\"clearSearch()\"><\/input>'); 
// ]]-->


</script> 
            </form>
        </div>
<!-- BEGIN PAGE CONTENT WRAPPER -->
        <div id="page_content_wrapper">
<!-- BEGIN PAGE WRAPPER -->
<table id="page_content_table">
<tr>
<td id="col1">
<!-- BEGIN IONCOMMENTCOUNT -->
            <div id="ionComCount">
            </div>
<!-- END IONCOMMENTCOUNT -->
<!-- BEGIN GROUP TOC WRAPPER -->
            
<!-- END GROUP TOC WRAPPER -->
<!-- BEGIN NAV WRAPPER -->
            <div id="group_toc">
<script type="text/javascript">
<!--[CDATA[
if ( typeof(terms_BOOK_SHORT) != 'undefined' ) {
  document.write("<p>" + terms_BOOK_SHORT + "<\/p>");
}
// ]]-->


</script> 
            </div>
            <div id="nav_content">
            </div>
<!-- END NAV WRAPPER -->
</td>
<td id="col2">
<!-- BEGIN CONTENT WRAPPER -->
<!-- BEGIN BREADCRUMBS -->
            
            <div id="breadcrumb">
                
<ul class="navigation"><li class="prev"><a accesskey="p" class="prev" href="WSDFE786F0-6401-4dba-A009-5E15118B9A6Ca.html" title="Sharpen using Unsharp Mask"><img src="images/blank.gif" alt="Previous" width="17" height="17" /></a></li><li class="next"><a accesskey="n" class="next" href="WSA75837E3-FE05-4f86-A9DF-3C0DD602CA63a.html" title="Add lens blur"><img src="images/blank.gif" alt="Next" width="17" height="17" /></a></li></ul><div class="hierarchy" id="hierarchy"><a href="WSfd1234e1c4b69f30ea53e41001031ab64-763ea.html">Retouching and transforming</a> /
     <a href="WSB5D75388-8DC6-4c2d-B274-D311CE624673a.html"><b>Adjusting image sharpness and blur</b></a> 
     </div>

            </div>
<!-- END BREADCRUMBS -->
            <div id="content_wrapper">
<!-- BEGIN PAGE TITLE -->
                <h1>
                    Sharpen selectively
                </h1>
<!-- END PAGE TITLE -->
                <br clear="both" /><div id="minitoc"><div class="t"><div class="b"><div class="l"><div class="r"><div class="bl"><div class="br"><div class="tl"><div class="tr"><div><h3>Contents [<a href="#" onclick="return toggleMiniToc('minitoc-links', this);" class="hideLink">Hide</a>]</h3><ul id="minitoc-links"><li><p><a href="#WS215C4CB8-8670-4cdf-BB0B-021268E913C9a"><h1 class="topictitle1">Sharpen a selection</h1>
</a></p></li><li><p><a href="#WS3BC25259-5DCE-4928-97EA-98E277F37A12a"><h1 class="topictitle1">Sharpen an image using an edge mask</h1>
</a></p></li></ul></div></div><br clear="both" /></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><br clear="both" /><div><div class="section"><p>You can sharpen
parts of your image by using a mask or a selection. This is useful when
you want to prevent sharpening in certain parts of your image. For example,
you can use an edge mask with the Unsharp Mask filter on a portrait
to sharpen the eyes, mouth, nose, and outline of the head, but not
the texture of the skin.</p>
<div class="fignone"><img alt="" id="tr_32" src="images/tr_32.png" /><div class="figdesc">Using an edge mask to apply the Unsharp Mask only to specific
features in an image</div><br /></div></div>
</div>
<div id="WS215C4CB8-8670-4cdf-BB0B-021268E913C9a" class="nochunk"><a name="WS215C4CB8-8670-4cdf-BB0B-021268E913C9a"></a><h3 class="topictitle3">Sharpen a selection</h3><div><ol><li class="stepexpand"><span>With the image layer selected in the
Layers panel, draw a selection.</span></li>
<li class="stepexpand"><span>Choose Filter&#160;&gt; Sharpen&#160;&gt; Unsharp
Mask. Adjust the options and click&#160;OK.</span> <p>Only the selection is sharpened, leaving the rest of the
image untouched.</p>
</li>
</ol>
</div></div>
<div id="WS3BC25259-5DCE-4928-97EA-98E277F37A12a" class="nochunk"><a name="WS3BC25259-5DCE-4928-97EA-98E277F37A12a"></a><h3 class="topictitle3">Sharpen an image using an edge mask</h3><div><ol><li class="stepexpand"><span>Create a mask to apply sharpening selectively.
There are many ways to create an edge mask. Use your favorite method,
or try this one:</span><ul><li><p>Open the Channels panel and select the
channel that displays the grayscale image with the greatest contrast
in the document window. Often, this is the green or the red channel.</p>
<div class="fignone"><img alt="" id="tr_33" src="images/tr_33.png" /><div class="figdesc">Selecting a channel with the greatest contrast</div><br /></div></li>
<li><p>Duplicate the selected channel.</p>
</li>
<li><p>With the duplicate channel selected, choose Filter&#160;&gt;
Stylize&#160;&gt; Find Edges. </p>
</li>
<li><p>Choose Image&#160;&gt; Adjustments&#160;&gt;
Invert to invert the image.</p>
<div class="fignone"><img alt="" id="tr_34" src="images/tr_34.png" /><div class="figdesc">Find Edges filter applied and image inverted</div><br /></div></li>
<li><p>With
the inverted image still selected, choose Filter&#160;&gt; Other&#160;&gt;
Maximum. Set the radius to a low number and click&#160;OK to
thicken the edges and randomize the pixels.</p>
</li>
<li><p>Choose
Filter&#160;&gt; Noise&#160;&gt; Median. Set the radius
to a low number and click&#160;OK. This averages the neighboring
pixels.</p>
</li>
<li><p>Choose Image&#160;&gt; Adjustment&#160;&gt;
Levels and set the black point high to get rid of random pixels.
If necessary, you can also paint with black to retouch the final edge
mask.</p>
<div class="fignone"><img alt="" id="tr_35" src="images/tr_35.png" /><div class="figdesc">Setting the black point high in Levels to eliminate random
pixels in the edge mask</div><br /></div></li>
<li><p>Choose Filter&#160;&gt; Blur&#160;&gt; Gaussian
Blur to feather the edges.</p>
<div class="important"><span class="importanttitle">Important:  </span>The Maximum,
the Median, and the Gaussian Blur filters soften the edge mask so
that the sharpening effects blend better in the final image. Although
all three filters are used in this procedure, you can experiment
using only one or two.</div>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li class="stepexpand"><span>In the Channels panel, Ctrl-click (Windows) or Command-click
(Mac&#160;OS) the duplicate channel to make the edge mask a
selection.</span></li>
<li class="stepexpand"><span>In the Layers panel, select the image layer. Make sure
the selection is still visible on the image.</span></li>
<li class="stepexpand"><span>Choose Select&#160;&gt; Inverse.</span></li>
<li class="stepexpand"><span>With the selection active on the image layer, choose
Filter&#160;&gt; Sharpen&#160;&gt; Unsharp Mask. Set the
desired options and click&#160;OK.</span> <p>To view your results, select the RGB channel in the Channels
panel and deselect the selection in the image.</p>
 <div class="tip"><img src="images/tip_help.png" />You can create an action to conveniently
apply all the steps in the procedure.</div></li>
</ol>
</div></div>

                <div id="related">
                    <div class="separator"><a href="#"><img src="images/BTT.jpg" /></a>&#160;</div>
                    
                    
                </div>
                <div id="footer">
                    <p><img src="images/Community.png" />&#160;<a title="community help (adobe.com)" href="http://www.adobe.com/go/lr_Photoshop_community_en">community help (adobe.com)</a></p>
<!-- BEGIN IONCOMMENTS -->
                    <div id="ionComHere">
                    </div>
<!-- END IONCOMMENTS -->
<!--#include virtual="ionComments.ssi" -->
                    <p id="creativecommons"><a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/" id="creativecommons_text"><img id="creativecommons_img" src="images/CC.png" alt="This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License" /></a></p>
                </div>
            </div>
<!-- END CONTENT WRAPPER -->
</td>
</tr>
</table>
        </div>
<!-- END PAGE CONTENT WRAPPER -->
<script type="text/javascript">
<!--[CDATA[
scrollToNameAnchor();
// ]]-->
</script> 
<!--#include virtual="/livedocs/ssi/globalfooter.ssi" -->
<!--#include virtual="/ubi/analytics/analytics_ssi.html" -->
    </body>
</html>