If the original photograph was a little
blurred (out of focus or affected by camera movement) then
the GIMP can be used to make the image appear sharper. This
is a very useful trick, but of course it has its limits for
it cannot add detail that the original image simply does not
contain. The photo below (Monte Carlo) was taken with a long
focal length lens, the kind most vulnerable to camera shake.
Choose Filter>Enhance>Sharpen and then
move the slider to get the best effect. Save your work.
The sharpen filter works so well that there
is little point in exploring the other option:
Filter>Enhance>Unsharp Mask. If you do choose to explore
this filter then I suggest you start with these settings:
You may have noticed that the Filter menu
also includes filters for adding blur to your pictures. This
is, of course, less useful than the sharpening filter but
can be successfully applied to selected background areas to
concentrate attention on the main subject. We will try this
in a later project.
