How to improve Image Quality in Photoshop CS6

Improving image quality is one of the many things that Photoshop CS6 is used for. Photoshop is one of the top image editing software. Photoshop is used by many to edit images. Improving the quality of a low-quality image is very important to hobbyists and professional graphic designers. Different graphic designers will have different ways of improving the picture and each method will work. Keep experimenting with different methods and tools until you improve or old methods or discover new ones. Note that depending on the original image quality and color combination, it may take more or less work and strategies to get it done.

Enhance & Improve image Quality in Photoshop CS6

There are times when a wonderful picture may need some improvement. A picture may have been taken with a low resolution or an image needs to be made larger, but it is losing the quality. Lots of graphic designers sometimes get low-quality images from clients for projects. Photoshop can be used to improve these images. For the best quality image, it is best to use proper equipment to capture it, but if this is not possible, Photoshop CS6 can be used to improve the quality. Be sure to make all changes on a copy of the original image so that the original image will not be damaged.

1] Use the Sharpen feature

Open the image that you want to work on in Photoshop CS6. Make the document window 100 percent so that the image is shown at its actual size.

Go to the Menu Bar at the top and press Filter then Sharpen then Smart Sharpen.

A window will appear showing a preview of the image. Click the Preview tick box in this window to make any changes you make visible on the image that is on the canvas.

If the image is for display on screen only, type a value of 150 to 200 percent in the Amount field. If you want to print the image, then type a value of 100 to 150 in the Amount field. You can move the sliders and observe how the image changes. Choose a range that fits what you are looking for.

If the image is for display on screen only, type a value of 0.5 to 1 in the radius field. If you want to print the image, then type a value of 2 to 3 in the Radius field. You can move the sliders and observe how the image changes. Choose a range that fits what you are looking for.

Go to the Remove option and click the drop-down arrow and choose which of the blurs to reduce. Whether the Gaussian Blur, the Lens Blur, or the Motion Blur. Motion blur is due to camera or the subject moving during the shot, Lens Blur is to reduce halos or bright areas due to over-sharpening.

If you choose Motion Blur, you will have to choose the Angle of the Motion Blue. Type the angle of the blur in the Angle field. You can click in the value area and use the up or down arrows on your keyboard to adjust the value up or down. Watch the changes in the image and stop when the results are satisfactory.

Check More Accurate option to accurately but slowly remove the blur in the image.

Choose Advanced to get more options.

Click the Shadow tab and adjust the sliders for the Fade Amount, the Tonal Amount, and the Radius.

Click the Highlight tab and adjust the sliders for the Fade Amount, the Tonal Amount, and the Radius.

Move the Fade Amount slider to the left or right to change the amount of fade on the shadows or highlights.

Move the Tonal Width slider to the left or right to change the highlights or shadow tone range.

Move the Radius slider to the left or right to change the size of the space around each pixel. Click OK when finished.

Related: How to convert Low-Resolution images to High-Resolution in Photoshop CC

2] Increase image resolution without sacrificing quality

You may have an image that is large in dimension but low in resolution, you can use Photoshop CS6 to fix that. You can increase the image’s resolution without sacrificing quality.

• Open an image in Adobe Photoshop CS6.
• Go to Image > Image Size. Image Size dialog box will show.
• Uncheck Resample Image checkbox so that Photoshop will not add any pixels.
• Enter a resolution in the Resolution text field. Photoshop keeps the same pixel size but reduce the document size when you enter a higher resolution.
• Click OK.

Remember that image size (dimension) and the resolution (Pixels Per Inch) are different. An image can be large in dimension but low in resolution. This will make it look low in quality and the bigger it is the lower in clarity it will be. When you increase the resolution but don’t allow resampling, Photoshop decreases the image thus keeping the same number of pixels per inch but they would be closer in a smaller space so resolution and quality would increase. An images resolution is dependent on the number of pixels per inch.

Read: Photoshop Tips and Tricks for Beginners

Are there other ways to Improve Image Quality in Photoshop CS6?

There are different methods to improve image quality in Photoshop CS6. The different methods will sometimes have some overlaps in the steps. Different designers will develop different methods on how to get it done. Over time people will find easier and better ways to accomplish the task.

For images that do not have a lot of color there are other things that can be done easily. You can sample the colors and save them as swatches; you can then change the entire image to black on a white background. You can then use the blur tool to make improvements to the pixelated areas at the edges. You can then use the Photoshop to automatically improve the edges. You would the return the original color to the image and save.

What is Noise in Photoshop?

Noise is any color or distortion in the design that was not to be there. Just like there can be distortion in sound that we call noise, so there can be color distortion. When images are improved, the noise can become more obvious, so it will require reducing the noise after the improvement.