How to Sharpen an Image in Photoshop

This wikiHow teaches you how to use Adobe Photoshop to contour (retouch) photos on a Windows or Mac computer.

Table of Contents

Prepare photos for focus

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Open the image you want to remap in Photoshop. With Photoshop open, click File in the top menu bar, click Open … and select the image.

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Click Layer in the menu bar.

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Click Duplicate Layer… (Duplicate the layer…) and then click OK .

You can give the new layer a different name, otherwise the layer will be named “[Original Layer Name] copy.”

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Click on the duplicated layer in the “Layers” window in the lower right part of the screen.

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Click the “Opacity:” field in the upper right of the Layers window.

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Set transparency to 50%.

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Click the padlock icon at the top of the Layers window to lock the layer.

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Click Layer in the menu bar.

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Click New and then click Layer… .

Take pictures

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Click the “Tracing” layer at the top of the window.

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Click View in the menu bar.

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Click 200% to enlarge the photo. Click Zoom In or Zoom Out in the View drop-down menu and set the image to the appropriate size for you to focus on.

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Choose a color for the stroke. Click the overlapping square button in the color menu at the top right of the screen, then click a color in the spectrum below the squares. Click on the remaining square and then click on the same color.

White and black are on the right side of the spectrum.

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Select the tool in the tools menu on the left side of the window.

Pencil Top: Creates ink strokes of the same thickness and size from start to finish. This tool is suitable for small strokes at the end. Pencil Top is shaped like a pencil and is located near the top of the second item of the tools menu. If you see a brush icon instead of a pencil, long click on the brush image, then click Pencil Top .
Brush Top: creates strokes that are lighter and narrower at the end, darker in the middle. This tool is suitable if you want to go with soft brush strokes. Brush Top has a brush icon and is near the top of the second section of the tools menu. If you see a pencil icon instead of a brush, long click on the pencil icon and then click Brush Top .
Pen Top: creates editable paths with anchor points that you can move or adjust. Pen Top is suitable for mapping objects that you want to change or tweak a lot after creating strokes. Click the fountain pen icon below the T in the tools menu to select Pen Top.

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Adjust the Pencil and Brush Top settings in the upper left part of the window.

Click the drop-down box next to the tool icon to adjust the strength and gradient (increase/decrease or hardness) of the stroke. The higher the gradient, the more like drawing with a real pencil or brush.
Click the folder icon to the right of the size menu to adjust the shape and character of the brush or pencil.

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Adjust the Pen Top setting in the upper left part of the window.

If you want to use Pen Top to create paths when you stroke, click the drop-down box to the right of the icon and click Path .

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Start to focus. Use the mouse or trackpad to move the tool over the line you want to trace.

To use the Pencil and Brush tools, hold down the mouse and drag the tool over the stroke. Release the mouse to move the tool and start a new stroke.
To use Pen Top, you click and release the mouse along the stroke of the image you want to trace, a line will appear between the start and end points. With highly detailed curves or strokes, you’ll need to click more.

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Hide the original image. To see your results, click the eye icon next to the middle layer (the layer containing the original image). The original image will disappear, the image you have mapped will appear on a white background.

Once done, click View in the menu bar, then click 100% to see the image in actual size.

Warning

You need to understand and respect the copyright of the original photo owner.
Don’t just copy someone else’s work (what’s so good about it?)

Steps

Prepare photos for focus

Take pictures

Warning

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