Sharpen Edges Only

Use the Find Edges Filter in Photoshop Elements to sharpen only the areas of your image that you want to sharpen.  This method is a bit complicated, but is worth it for shots where there are larges areas that you want to remain soft while still sharpening the edges crisply.

• Duplicate the layer you want to sharpen (after flattening the image, if necessary) and select Filter/Stylize/Find Edges.
• Desaturate the new layer by typing Control + Shift + U (in Windows)
• Increase Contrast by going to the Enhance Menu and selecting Adjust Lighting/Levels.  Move the left input slider to the left to darken the outlines in your image.  Move the right input slider to the left to remove as much non-detail area as possible.  The dark outlines are the areas that will be sharpened the most and the white areas won’t be sharpened at all.
• Select All in the layer (Control A)
• Copy the selection (Control C)
• Create a new layer with a Layer Mask
• Alt + Click on the Layer Mask thumbnail in your new layer to turn your workspace white
• Paste (Control V)
• Make the two new layers you have just made invisible by clicking on the eyeballs next to them in the Layers Palette
• Click on the background layer (or the layer where you want the sharpening to happen) to activate it
• Control + Click on the layer mask thumbnail to select
• Invert the selection by typing Control + Shift + I
• Now the edges in your image will be selected and you can run the Unsharp Mask on them without sharpening the areas that should remain softer.

Eeek.  Have questions?  I understand – it ain’t easy.  But I’ll help if I can!

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