How to sharpen an image
Upload your photo and the Effects tab opens with Sharpen set to 40 percent, a moderate amount suited to most soft images. Drag the slider between 0 and 100. When you download, the server applies an unsharp mask, a standard sharpening method that boosts contrast along edges while leaving flat areas largely alone.
The on-screen preview approximates sharpening with a contrast lift, so it gives a sense of the strength but not the exact edge detail. The downloaded file shows the real effect. If you are unsure, export once at the default and compare it with the original at full size.
What sharpening can and cannot fix
Sharpening helps photos that are slightly soft: images from small phone sensors, pictures that were resized down, scans of prints, and shots with very slight focus or camera shake. It makes text, eyes, fabric and foliage look more defined.
It cannot rebuild detail that was never captured. A photo that is clearly out of focus or heavily blurred by motion will look harsher, not clearer. No slider can turn a blurry face into a recognisable one, and this tool does not use AI upscaling or detail generation.
Avoiding oversharpening
Too much sharpening produces bright halos along edges, exaggerated noise and a crunchy, artificial texture, most visible on skin and smooth skies. For portraits, stay toward the lower end of the slider. For architecture, product shots and text, higher values are usually fine.
Sharpen last. Resizing, compressing or applying effects after sharpening can soften the result again, which is why the editor applies sharpening after colour adjustments and blur. PNG uploads are saved as PNG; other formats are saved as high-quality JPG.