How to Use the Sharpen Tool in Photoshop

Setting Up the Sharpen Tool on a New Layer

The Sharpen Tool sits under the Blur Tool in the toolbar and looks like a triangle. Create a new layer first and turn on Sample All Layers in the options bar so the tool can read the image below while keeping the effect on its own layer. That way you can toggle it, lower its opacity, or delete it without touching the original.

Sharpen Tool Brush and Technique

Use a soft Sharpen Tool brush a little larger than the area you’re working on: set Hardness to 0, and resize with the square bracket keys or by right-clicking on the canvas. Paint small circles over the area you want to enhance and the tool builds detail in the highlights and shadows as you go.

Know When to Stop

This is the whole skill with the Sharpen Tool. A few passes over the eyes lifts the portrait; keep going and the texture turns crunchy and artificial. Aaron demonstrates both, and the fix for the bad version is simply deleting the layer. Because the sharpening lives on its own layer, you can also dial it back with layer opacity instead of undoing.

Protect Detail

Leave the Sharpen Tool’s Protect Detail option checked. Compared side by side on two eyes, the version with it off looks coarse and blocky while the one with it on holds fine detail cleanly. It was a later addition to the tool and it made a real difference.

Mode: Use the Layer Instead

The Sharpen Tool has Darken and Lighten modes, but Aaron recommends leaving it on Normal and changing the blend mode of the sharpening layer instead, to Darken, Lighten, Soft Light, or anything else. You get the same look and you can always set it back to Normal.

Sharpen Tool Quick Reference

• New layer + Sample All Layers keeps sharpening non-destructive.
• Soft brush, Hardness 0, slightly larger than the area; [ and ] to resize.
• Protect Detail on — always.
• Small circles, then stop before the texture goes crunchy.
• Change the layer’s blend mode rather than the tool’s Mode.