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Unsharp mask

Last updated

Unsharp mask is a Blur & sharpen effect.

The frame before Unsharp mask is appliedThe same frame with Unsharp mask applied
Drag the handle. Unsharp mask applied on the right, the original frame on the left.

The picture is compared against a blurred copy of itself and the difference is added back.

ParameterControlRangeDefaultUnit
AmountSlider0 to 30060Per cent
RadiusSlider1 to 50; down to 0 and up to 1008Pixels at composition size
ThresholdSlider0 to 10.05-
Luminance onlyCheckboxOn or offOn-
MixSlider0 to 100100Per cent
BlendDropdownNormal · Darken · Multiply · Colour burn · Linear burn · Darker colour · Add · Lighten · Screen · Colour dodge · Lighter colour · Overlay · Soft light · Hard light · Linear light · Vivid light · Pin light · Hard mix · Difference · Exclusion · Subtract · Divide · Hue · Saturation · Colour · LuminosityNormal-
MatteLayerAny layer in the compositionNone-
InvertCheckboxOn or offOff-
ChannelDropdownLuminance · Alpha · Red · Green · BlueLuminance-

In the Effect Controls panel:

  • Matte scales Amount per pixel: white adds the full Amount of detail back, black none. Invert reads that matte inverted.
  • Amount sets how strongly recovered detail is added back.
  • Radius is the size of detail that gets lifted.
  • Threshold is how different a pixel must be to be lifted.
  • Luminance only sharpens brightness while leaving colour alone.
  • Mix: how much of the result replaces the original.