Hi. This is Marty from Blue Lightning TV.
I'm going to show you how to convert blurry, low-resolution graphics into sharp, high-resolution
graphics and then later, I'll show you how to convert photos from low-resolution into
sharper, high-resolution in versions CC and later.
Keep in mind, there are no techniques that will recover 100% of the detail in low-res images
because once detail is lost; it's lost; it can't be recovered.
However, we can ultimately give it a sharper appearance by removing blurriness, while increasing
its resolution, thereby making an otherwise unacceptable image into one that, in most
cases, can be used.
For your convenience, I provided this low-resolution, black and white graphic that you can download.
Its link is in my video's description below or project files.
Feel free to use your own graphic if you like.
Before we begin, if you’re already a subscriber to my channel, hit that small “Subscriber”
button at the lower, right corner or the link in my video’s description below.
To fit the graphic onto your canvas, press Ctrl or Cmd + 0.
To check its size and resolution, go to Image and Image Size.
This particular graphic is very small.
Its Width is only 119 pixels and Height 128 pixels.
Its Resolution is 72 pixels per inch.
If the graphic has no background, as it this example, we need to make a white background behind it.
If your graphic already has a white background, you can skip the next few steps.
Ctrl-click or Cmd-click the New Layer icon to make a new layer below the graphic.
Fill the empty layer with white, by pressing Shift + the F5 key at the top of your keyboard
or go to Edit and Fill.
Open the "Contents" list and click "White".
Then, merge the two layers by clicking the icon at the upper, right corner and clicking,
"Flatten Image".
Once your graphic is on a white background, go to Image and Image Size.
Make its Resolution 300 pixels per inch.
Make sure the chain-link icon is active.
This will ensure that the shape of the graphic retains its aspect ratio when we increase its dimensions.
In either the Width or Height, type in 2000 pixels.
The other dimension will automatically adjust its size correctly.
Hover your cursor over the bottom of the Preview window and click the "minus" symbol a few
times until see some detail of your graphic.
You can drag it in the window to see the detail you want.
If the Resample isn't "Automatic", open the list and click it.
Then, click OK.
To fit the graphic onto your canvas, press Ctrl or Cmd + 0.
Next, we'll smooth out the edges and make them crisp, but first, we'll convert our graphic
into a Smart Object, so we can modify it non-destructively.
To do this, click the icon at the upper, right corner and click, "Convert to Smart Object".
Go to Filter, Blur and Gaussian Blur.
Drag the Radius to the right just enough to smooth out the edges of the graphic, so you
don't see any bumpiness.
Click the Adjustment layer icon and click "Curves.
In the Curves adjustment panel, the image’s tonality is represented as a diagonal line on a graph.
The upper-right area of the graph represents the highlights and the lower-left area represents
the shadows.
The middle area represents all the mid-tones.
By dragging the highlight corner of the diagonal line halfway across,
we're forcing the highlights over 50% to be pure white.
By dragging the shadows corner of the diagonal line to the right as far as it'll go,
we're forcing the shadows under 50% to be pure black.
Doing this removes the blur, essentially making our graphic have crisp, sharp edges.
It’s important to note that sharp corners of your graphic will become rounded, so to
restore them, you’d have to manually add them back in.
One of the best tools to use for that would be the Pen Tool.
If you want to make our graphic appear thinner, drag the highlight point to the right
and the shadow point to the right as far as it'll go.
Conversely, to make our graphic appear thicker, drag the shadow point to the left
and the highlight point to the left as far as it'll go.
For this example, I like the weight of the graphic when the highlights and shadows are
in the middle.
For versions CC and later, there's a hidden filter, called, "Preserve Details 2.0" makes
a low-resolution or small photo more usable once its enlarged.
Open a small-sized or low resolution photo that you'd like to up-scale.
I downloaded this one from Shutterstock.
This particular image is only 488 pixels wide.
After applying the filter, I enlarged the image 300% to get this image.
As you can see, the up-scaled image is perfectly usable.
Photoshop calls it, "artificial intelligence-assisted up-scaling", which increases sharpness and
clarity and makes it less pixelated.
It's a more effective alternative than using the Sharpen filters when you're up-scaling photos.
To enable it, go to Edit and Preferences.
Click "Technology Previews", which you'll only see in version CC and later.
Check, "Enable Preserve Details 2.0 Upscale".
Go back to Image and Image Size.
Open the "Resample" list and click, "Preserve Details 2.0".
For its parameters, I'll click "Percent" and type in 300 in either the Width or the Height,
which will make the photo three times its size.
We can instantly compare the before and after by clicking and releasing to toggle back and forth.
In addition, you can reduce the noise in the image if you like.
Dragging it all the way to 100% removes all the noise and in doing so, it removes all
the detail, as well, so I'll keep it at 0%.
Feel free to adjust the noise for your image.
To make our up-scaled image even sharper, we can add a "High Pass" filter.
First, make a copy of the photo by pressing Ctrl or Cmd + J. Go to Filter, Other and "High Pass".
I'll type in 1 pixel, which is just enough to start seeing a bit of detail.
Feel free to adjust this amount, depending on the size and resolution of your image.
Change its Blend Mode to "Overlay".
If my tutorials have helped you learn or improve in Photoshop, consider supporting my channel
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Click the Patreon button at the upper right or the Patreon link in my video's description below.
This is Marty from Blue Lightning TV.
thanks for watching!