Skip to main content
Participant
April 30, 2025
Open for Voting

Sharpen text in a photo image

  • April 30, 2025
  • 2 replies
  • 456 views

I have a lot of images consisting primarily of light text, on a dark background, for  example:

I write programs in Linux.  Linux has lots of commands, and most commands have LOTS of options (parameters) -- too much for my old brain to retain, so I copy and print articles from the web, which typically contain images like that shown above. I have tried various filters to clarify the text, plus selection tools on enlarged images then painting the selections and inverses with the paintbrush, but with only limited improvements in the readability of the text.  It would be great if an AI tool could recognize and sharpen the text.

2 replies

Stephen Marsh
Community Expert
Community Expert
May 1, 2025

You could look into enlarging with Preserve Details/Preserve Details 2.0 and deconvolution sharpening with Smart Sharpen.

 

OCR conversions to editable text in other software could be workable, however, you would need to double check the code as it's common for certain characters to be mistaken.

Per Berntsen
Community Expert
Community Expert
April 30, 2025

I opened your screenshot in PS, and went to Filter > Sharpen > Unsharp mask.

Maybe this will improve readability when printed.