Cannot Sharpen

[IAN JULIAN]

Just installed 2025 PSE on my new laptop.

Cannot sharpen pictures.  The unsharp tool does not work, nor does sharpen on quick edit.  Any suggestions?  I am a wildlife photographer, so important to me. Thanks

[Greg_S.]

What do you mean when you say it does not work?  Are you saying that there is no change whatsoever in the sharpen effect?  Or is the preview not working?

If you really want a suggestion for sharpening, there are a number of plug-ins that will do a better job.  Sharpening and noise reduction are not strengths of Adobe, even for the full Photoshop.

[IAN JULIAN]

It does not work at all  It has always worked for 20 years that I have used PSE.  I think there might be a problem with 'Adjustments' as well.  Normally all of the functions will opewn up, but now I can only open one at a time.  The Quick Fix was always handy for me and quick.  So the Sharpen does not sharpen and the unsharp tolls also does not work at all.  Thanks.

[hatstead · Accepted solution]

Consider uninstalling and reinstalling the software. Be sure to sign out via the help menu prior to uninstalling

There are other way to sharpen within PSE. Try this:

1. Open your picture file and duplicate the Background layer

2. Set the Blending mode of the Background copy layer to Overlay

3. Access the Filter menu>Other>High Pass and work the slider to sharpen.

[IAN JULIAN]

Thank you.  This is a new laptop, and I have installed PSE 2025 on the free trial basis, fully intending to buy.  I restored my old Organize and 160,000 pictures with albums and tags.

If I unstall, would I lose my present catalogue and have to restore it all again?

I tried your suggestion as above, but it still did not work, but what does actually work is the 'Sharpen' tool.  Funnily enough, never used this before, I was always told to use the ''Unsharpen' tool.

The adjustments in Quick Fix seems to be malfunctioning in several strange ways.

[Greg_S.]

What version of Elements were you using before installing Elements 2025?

How did you restore the backup?

Did you uninstall the prior version of Elements?  If not, your catalog should be in place and still operating.  Uninstalling Elements 2025 will have no effect on your prior catalog.

[IAN JULIAN]

I have a laptop with PSE 2023 installed, and 160,000 pictures.  I bought a new laptop with 2tb to accommodate Organizer, as I am a semi-pro photographer.

I tried all over to find somewhere where I could find a site where I could install PSE 2023, but there was nowhere.

I then purchased “)”% from Amazon – but it would not install on my new laptop.

So I then installed Free Trial 2025 from Adobe Premiere and Elements.

Full back-up of my Organizer, then Restore on new laptop.  All went well. 

The only problem I can see is in Adjustments on quick fix.  I use this frequently as I may take hundreds of pictures at the same time.  Also the unsharp tool does not work. 

I still have the code from Amazon which I have not yet used.

Hope that explains things!  Have used Elementsfor 20 years and love it, and it rarely goes wrong.

With thanks,

Ian

www.natureandpictures.com

[Greg_S.]

I am not exactly sure what your questions are.  I don't know what you purchased from Amazon, but I assume it is Elements 2025.

If you want to install Elements 2023 on your new computer, you can find a download link on the Products page of your Adobe Account.  You will also find your serial number for that version there.

Since you have successfully restored your old computer Elements catalog to your new computer, that catalog is now an Elements 2025 catalog.  Any changes to the catalog that you make with Elements 2025 on your new computer will not be reflected in the EO 2023 catalog on your old computer.  If you uninstall Elements 2025 from either computer, it will have no effect on your Elements 2023 catalog on either machine.

I hope this answers your questions about the catalog.

[IAN JULIAN]

Thank you for that.

well I never. Hard to beieve, but what we hope will happen, seldom does, but seems to have happened in this case.

For no apparent reason, the sharpen and unsharpen tools are suddenly working.   Fingers crossed they stay like that.  That overlay business is worth persuing, as it can improve a picture.

Thanks.