Gimp: Sharpen pixelized images - so it'll work

In the Gimp image editing program you have some functions to sharpen pixelated images. In this practical tip we will show you how.

Sharpen pixelated images in Gimp: Mask out of focus

Blurred images contain unclear contours, areas of color, edges or lines. GIMP offers you tools to sharpen pixelated images and make contours and colored areas clearly visible.

1. Open the image you want to edit in Gimp and duplicate its original layer. To do this, click on the respective icon at the bottom of the layer window.
2. Navigate to Filters -> Enhance -> Unsharp Mask to sharpen the copied layer. You can use a sharpness radius of 15 pixels for the rough edges. Click OK".
3. Copy the sharpened layer and use a sharpness radius of 3 pixels for the small details. Choose "OK". Then set the mode of the sharpened layers to "Value", so the colors are better preserved.

Gimp: layer masks

If over-sharpened, you can add a layer mask for the sharpened layers.

1. Click on Layer -> Mask -> Add Layer Mask to create a layer mask for the selected layer.
2. A new window is opening up. Select the options "Grayscale copy of the layer" and "Mask invert". Click "OK" to create the layer mask.
3. At the end choose Image -> Merge Image to unite all image layers. If you are not satisfied with the sharpness of the image, you can also sharpen the sharpened image. To do this, repeat the process described.

Gimp: Sharpen contours

If you want to sharpen the contours of an image, Gimp also offers other methods.

1. Duplicate the layer and use Filters -> Improve -> Sharpen.
2. A window opens with which you can adjust the sharpness. Play with the values ​​here until you have the best effect. Click OK".
3. You can also sharpen the image gradually to avoid over-sharpening the image. Start with a small sharpness value and increase it one after the other until you achieve the desired effect.

In the next practical tip, learn how to sharpen images in Photoshop.