Optipix User's Guide:  Safe Sharpen

This plug-in does something a little different than most sharpening techniques. It attempts to preserve or even fix color information while enhancing edges. As a side-effect it also enhances noise, but generally not color noise. The "blue noise" that is so typical in a digital image is reduced while the edges in the image are enhanced.

You could also call it a color-safe sharpen, and it works on both 8 and 16 bit images. Photoshop 7's built-in sharpen filter amplifies color noise and only works with 8 bit images.

200% image detail, before Safe Sharpen

200% image detail, after Safe Sharpen

It is generally a good idea to follow this step with some kind of noise remover, such as a Gaussian Blur or Median. Optipix Edge Enhancer is also a good choice.

Next: Safe Median
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