Technique 37: Accenting with Sharpening or Blurring
Save Time By
Sharpening and adding glows
Blurring to create selective focus
Folks are always surprised when I suggest blurring portions of an image to bring out a specific detail. Sure, sharpening makes sense. After all, it adds to the detail. But, blurring? Trust me; sometimes a technique that you think of as a complete opposite can create your desired effect.In this technique, you use the powerful Unsharp Mask filter to precisely sharpen images. You also experiment with the Unsharp Mask to increase the detail in an image until the edges start to glow. This can be used to create interesting effects. From there, you use the Blur filters to selectively blur portions of an image in order to emphasize the sharp areas. This technique has been used since the invention of photography and film.