Using the Sharpness slider to reduce blur
In the Detail tab of the Camera Raw dialog box, the Sharpness slider adjusts the image sharpening to provide the edge definition you wish. The Sharpness adjustment is a variation of the Photoshop Unsharp Mask filter, which locates pixels that differ from surrounding pixels based on the threshold you specify and increases the pixels' contrast by the amount you specify. When opening a camera raw image file, the Photoshop Camera Raw plug-in calculates the threshold to use based on camera model, ISO, and exposure compensation. Users can choose whether sharpening is applied to all images or just previews.
To adjust the amount of sharpening:
- Zoom the preview image to at least 100%.
- Move the slider to the right to increase the amount of sharpening and to the left to decrease the amount of sharpening. A zero value turns off the Camera Raw sharpening. In general, the Sharpness slider should be set to a lower value for cleaner images.
If you're not planning to edit the image extensively in Photoshop, use the Photoshop Camera Raw plug-in's Sharpness filter. However, if you plan to edit the image extensively in Photoshop, turn off the Camera Raw sharpening, and later use the sharpening filters in Photoshop as the last step after all other editing and resizing is complete.
To specify whether an image or preview is sharpened:
- Do one of the following:
- (Windows and Mac OS) In the Advanced mode, choose Preferences from the Photoshop Camera Raw plug-in menu.
- (Mac OS) With the Camera Raw dialog box open, choose Photoshop > Preferences.
- In the Camera Raw Preferences dialog box, choose one of the following:
All Images
Applies sharpening to the camera raw image.
Preview Images only
Applies sharpening only to the preview image and not the actual camera raw image. This option is for users who do not want to apply sharpening with the Photoshop Camera Raw plug-in.