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Sometimes our photos are a little softer than we'd like them
to be. Or perhaps you have a photo with more than one subject,
as shown below, where one of the subjects is not quite as sharp
as the others. This tutorial will show you how to use the Unsharp
Mask to sharpen up your photo.

As you can see, one of the subjects is not as sharp as the others.
First we will draw a selection around the part of the photo that
we want to sharpen. Select your lasso tool, and set the feather
to 2px. This will help it blend into the background better, and
not leave a distinct line around where you're sharpening.
Click on Filter>Sharpen>Unsharp Mask. (If you are not using
the marquee, and simply sharpening the entire photo, you may click
on various parts of your photo to see the results in the screen
as you change settings.)

Start with these settings, and adjust to your liking. Be careful
not to sharpen too much, or it will look pixelated, and you might
get a halo effect. The Amount slider determines just that...the
amount of sharpening you are doing. The Radius slider determines
how many pixels out from the edge the sharpening will affect.
The Threshold slider controls the intensity of the sharpening.

Below is the after shot, where individual faces were sharpened
a bit, then the entire photo sharpened subtly as well. Have fun
with this handy tool, and remember, sometimes less is more!

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