Low
The result you keep. Good for screen output, a shop zoom, and quiet edges that already exist.
ONE EDGE PASS — LOW BY DEFAULT
Sharpen a photo that is already in focus.
Sharpen raises the contrast of edges that exist. It does not reverse a smear, and it does not add pixels. One strength. Stop before the edge doubles.
BeforeAfter
In-focus jacket edge, slightly quiet. After: clearer edge, no white rim.
Upload a soft photo
Strength: Low
One free preview per day. New accounts start with 1 credit to download.
JPG, PNG, or WebP, up to 4 MB.
Failure note: a white halo on lashes or a product edge means the pass went too far. Discard High results that rim.
Local contrast, not reconstruction
What this page does
The file is already the right photograph. Its edges are simply a little quiet.
This fits a lens that is soft wide open, a mild phone export, a product edge that lacks bite, or an in-focus portrait that looks slightly flat after the light pass.
The pass increases local contrast along edges: lashes, a collar, a bottle rim, or a leaf against sky. It does not recover detail that was smeared or never captured.
What this page does not do
Dark or flat exposure
A dull dinner photo needs light. Sharpen adds noise and halos.
Homepage enhancerText that is already unreadable also stays unreadable. Contrast cannot invent a letter.
One boundary tells you
The edge test
Zoom in and pick one hard boundary. Judge that same edge after a Low pass.
01
Single soft edge. This page. The line is correctly placed and only quiet.
02
Streak or doubled ghost. Unblur. Sharpen will trace both lines.
03
Squares and stair steps. Upscale. The problem is pixel count.
04
Crack or dust spot. Restore. The edge itself is damage.
05
White or dark rim after Low. Stop. Do not move to High to finish it.
Low is the product
Which strength to use
One pass. A second pass stacks the rim. If Low is not enough, the file is probably blur—not softness.
Medium
For a slightly soft lens, checked at 100%. Fine on a product rim; risky on lashes and backlit hair.
High
The failure case: rimmed hair, gritty cheeks, white bottle lines. Never the default and never called HD.
Good candidates
Where sharpen holds
Product on a plain background
Already in focus. The rim gets clearer without gaining a second outline.
Landscape edge
A branch against sky that is already visible. Low only.
Portrait after a light pass
The eyes were already sharp and only hair looks quiet. A bright lash line means stop.
Stop conditions
Where it fails
Noisy night photo
Grain becomes edges and the sky turns gritty. Fix light; do not sharpen afterward.
Backlit hair
The rim is already a line. Sharpen adds another line around it.
Anything already unblurred
Unblur estimated the edge. Sharpen would trace that estimate.
The final pass, when needed
When sharpen is the last step
Sharpening belongs at the end, and often does not belong at all.
Dull and in focus
Fix light, then Low only if edges remain quiet.
Small and sharp
Upscale first. Low only if the export looks soft.
Smeared
Unblur, then stop. Sharpen is not the finish.
Scan with dust
Restore, then stop. Sharpen is not cleanup.
Already good
This page, Low, once.
Edge questions
Questions about sharpening a photo
No. Blur is a smear. Sharpen makes that smear more visible. Use an unblur pass instead.
No. It raises local contrast along edges that already exist in the file.
The strength was too high, or the camera already sharpened the file. Return to Low, or download nothing.
Only when the enlarged file looks soft at 100%. Use one Low pass after upscaling.
Only when the eyes were already in focus. Lashes and flyaway hair show the halo first.
No. Sharpening does not change the crop, aspect ratio, or pixel count.
One free preview per day. New accounts start with 1 credit to download.
JPG, PNG, and WebP files up to 4 MB.
No. Run Low from the original. High is a different, worse result—not a preview stage.
No. It treats grain as edges and makes noise more visible, especially in dark skies and skin.
Low, once, then look at the edge.
Upload a photo that is already the right picture. If a rim appears, the pass is done. Do not push the control.