Learn the key settings for one of the simplest and best sharpening tools in Photoshop

Unsharp Mask is one of the best filters available in Photoshop for sharpening your images. It should be used at the end of your workflow, after the resolution has been set for a specific output. Unsharp Mask sounds like the opposite of what it actually does - so why the strange name? It refers to an old film process in which two versions of the image - one sharp negative, one intentionally blurred (‘unsharp’) positive - were sandwiched together, resulting in crisper details. Here are the key settings...