Increase Image Resolution and Sharpen in Photoshop
If your photo looks low-res or pixelated, you can improve it by upscaling with the right resampling method and then sharpening. This guide walks you through setting image dimensions, choosing Preserve Details (enlargement), and applying Unsharp Mask and High Pass with Overlay blending for a clearer result.
Step-by-step instructions
Set image size and resampling
Go to Image → Image Size.
Ensure Dimensions are set to Pixels.
Increase Resolution (e.g., try 300 first; if the longest edge is still under ~3000 px, try 500).
Set Resample to Preserve Details (enlargement) and set Reduce Noise to 100%.
Click OK.
Duplicate the layer for non-destructive sharpening
Select the image layer.
Press Ctrl+J (Windows) / Command+J (Mac) to duplicate the layer.
Apply Unsharp Mask
With the duplicate layer selected, go to Filter → Sharpen → Unsharp Mask.
Adjust Amount and Threshold to taste based on your image.
Click OK.
Enhance detail with High Pass and blend mode
Go to Filter → Other → High Pass.
Increase Radius until you see clear edge details in the preview; click OK.
In the Layers panel, change the layer’s blending mode from Normal to Overlay to keep sharpening while removing the gray.
