The Best Way to Sharpen Portraits in Affinity Photo!

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In this tutorial, I'll show you the best way to sharpen portraits in Affinity Photo. We will learn how to use the High Pass Filter, and how to mask it onto key areas.

[@LouisTekhnologia]

I like these simple short tips

[@AffinityRevolution]

Thank you! Glad you like them. 😊

[@robsmith5912]

Thanks Ally, clear and concise.

[@AffinityRevolution]

Thank you Rob! Glad you liked it. 😊

[@selenitafm]

The high pass filter is also my favorite for outlines or edges. I remember a photography professor who told me "all digital photos are soft". The video is very clear as always, thank you. Depending on the radius, color noise may be added unintentionally, which is why I usually check the "Monochrome" box. On the other hand, I remember another video about this filter, where the author recommended not exceeding 0.9 and if other layers are added, for some reason he said that they work better in increments of 0.3. I don't know why I remember this but I also put it into practice.

[@AffinityRevolution]

Thanks for the tips! 😊

[@nerrelloader4226]

Colour noise! Check the Monochrome box! Thanks for that tip. I had that problem in a high key bird photo this morning and was frustrated that Defringe was not removing it.

[@selenitafm]

Allí hi, one suggestion: i Wish to know more about how to create contrast only with colours. I've read that professional editors work in that way. I think you are the clearest teacher in affinity (may be some videos of James Ritson too).In addition you are one of the best teachers in affinity and your english pronounciation is beautiful and clear ( i dont need activate subtitles).

[@AffinityRevolution]

@@selenitafm That's a good idea for a future video. Thank you!

[@allanwallace4065]

5 Star's for making things quick and easy for us, thanks Ally!

[@AffinityRevolution]

Thank you Allan! :)

[@peterlawson8563]

❤ ah. Soft highlight vs overlay. A change from your 10 step course! And the tip of doubling and removing some of the filter is sneaky! Thank you 😊

[@AffinityRevolution]

Thank you Peter! 😊

[@FrankWaltersLovestoteach]

Just another EXCELLENT instructional video. Great job!!!

[@AffinityRevolution]

Thank you Frank! 😊

[@artysanmobile]

Great tip! Thank you.

[@RidvanDuzey]

Perfect, just the video I needed. Thanks Ally!

[@AffinityRevolution]

You're welcome! Glad you liked the video. 😊

[@onegreenev]

Always love the quick tip videos

[@AffinityRevolution]

Thank you Pete! Glad you like them. 😊

[@haroldlippold4226]

You're going to make a photo editor out of me yet Ally. Thanks so much for your efforts.

[@AffinityRevolution]

Keep up the good work! Learning photo editing is a journey. 😊

[@lewchaney2138]

Thank you for this easy to follow tutorial… ❤

[@AffinityRevolution]

Thank you Lew! Glad you liked it. 😊

[@IdahoSAM.]

sharpening is always hard because it introduces so much noise. I think Ezra did a tutorial several years ago on using the Live High Pass filter such as you have shown. This has also been my favorite way of sharpening just the areas I want and avoid the noise. Thanks for taking the time to make these tutorials.

[@AffinityRevolution]

Good memory! He did make a video like this years ago. But because it was pretty old, so I decided to do it again in the most recent version of Affinity.

[@charlesxix]

Thanks, really informative as always.

[@AffinityRevolution]

Thank you! 🤗

[@extremelydave]

To my old eyes, even on a 60" TV that effect looked very subtle indeed. I will play with your tip on my computer and see what it looks like.

[@AffinityRevolution]

Haha it's not just you! Sharpening is important, but subtle.

[@ChrisB257]

Another good one Ally -- main problem is trying to remember your moves! Definitely must try this approach, thank you. :)

[@AffinityRevolution]

Haha yes, that IS the trick! :)

[@Greg-fg1rd]

There's rumor that I love Ally's videos....I just want to say without reservation...it's not a rumor, it's true! Thank you!🐶🥰

[@AffinityRevolution]

Haha aww, thank you!

[@3rdrailtracks]

Just watched your Free Course, great work!! Although I'm not a photographer this may be my 999th hobby😀.

[@AffinityRevolution]

Haha that's awesome! Glad you're enjoying Affinity. 😊

[@eddiekdavidk1969]

Amazing Ally. Thank you for an excellent tip.

[@AffinityRevolution]

Thank you Eddie! 😊

[@keithwjones]

Quick and simple. Thank you.

[@AffinityRevolution]

You're welcome! Glad you liked it. 😊

[@mikesrandomchannel]

Wow, never thought of this before, I mean no-one complains their skin isn’t sharp enough on a photo, right? It’s always things like eyes, hair, lips, maybe teeth in a big smile. Super video! 👍

[@AffinityRevolution]

Thank you Ed! 😊

[@mikesrandomchannel]

@@AffinityRevolution Just as another point, which I'm sure you've covered in some other video, I've started thinking about the filter layer+mask+paint approach to other problems. It's so powerful! I had a photo for online publication the other day with an edge detail I didn't want visible. So, re-crop the photo and start again? Nope, I simply added a Gaussian Blur filter and blurred out *just* that tiny detail. 5 minute fix!

[@AffinityRevolution]

@@mikesrandomchannel That's a great way to do it! I don't think I have a video on that, but I like your technique. 🙂

[@nerrelloader4226]

High Pass Filter is my 'go to' way of sharpening also. I generally use 2 with soft light and duplicate. I normally shoot birds, insects & landscape. Thanks for this video Ally. Hope you & Ezra are both well. Your channel has been a little quiet of late.

[@AffinityRevolution]

Thanks Nerrel, Ezra and I are doing well. We've had a lot of stuff going on in our personal lives lately, but we haven't forgotten about Affinity! In a month or two, we'll be coming out with a lot more videos. 😊

[@lukewest2510]

That was very easy! Thank you for the video.

[@AffinityRevolution]

You're welcome! Glad you liked it. 😊

[@glbshooter]

fantastic, thanks

[@EdwardKilner]

Excellent tip. Thanks.

[@AffinityRevolution]

Thank you Edward! Glad you liked the video. 😊

[@users9896]

Thanks for the tip!

[@AffinityRevolution]

You're welcome! Glad you liked the video. 😊

[@georgetorres8980]

Love it! Great tutorial! :)

[@AffinityRevolution]

Thank you George! 😊

[@tjphoto8943]

I’m trying to get back into editing. Just wondering was there any videos on making your own brushes? Looking to get some smoke brushes.

[@AffinityRevolution]

In this video, I show how to make a custom brush for hair. 🙂 kzbin.info/www/bejne/jXWQh2V5rKpmiNE

[@robertnicholls4277]

fantasy as always thank you so much

[@AffinityRevolution]

Thank you Robert! :)

[@itowmyhome797]

Thank you

[@AffinityRevolution]

You're welcome! 😊

[@pc-bh2in]

I never thought about using high pass before. Thanks for this tip. One question at 04:44 where you're showing the area with strands of hair, I suddenly had a thought and was wondering if you know of a way to remove unwanted hair strands yet not destroying the hair behind them too much? I'm only a mediocre Affinity Photo user, and the way I can think of is erase them microscopically and inpaint them after. However I'm wonder if you know of a more efficient way. That's fine if you don't. Thanks in advance for creating this.

[@AffinityRevolution]

Personally, I inpaint unwanted hair strands. I wish I knew a faster way!

[@pc-bh2in]

@@AffinityRevolution I see, thanks for your reply.

[@richardvankesteren7013]

I prefer New Live Filter Layer > Sharpen > Unsharp Mask. But everybody has its fav. methode, right?

[@AffinityRevolution]

Unsharp mask is great too! 😊

[@FrankWaltersLovestoteach]

Hi you two. Do we need to purchase a whole new Affinity Photo for the 2.0 version, or will we just have to update our current versions? I think I found my answer on Serif.Affinity's FAQ's. But, I have to say I'm disappointed bc when I bought Affinity Photo I was promised it was a one-time purchase. Now, that's no longer true. I wonder who else feels frustrated by this?

[@AffinityRevolution]

This is Affinity's first paid upgrade. You can get the new Affinity Photo for $40, or all the programs for $100. Then you will get 2.0 updates for free. 😊

[@kend4128]

Hi Ally- thanks very much for another informative and easy-to-follow tutorial. When you select the High Pass filter, it appears above your background layer. When I make the selection, the filter appears below (and indented) the background layer. Just wondering if there is a setting I have wrong or a step that I'm missing. I can drag and drop to put the filter layer above the background layer. Appreciate all your help.

[@AffinityRevolution]

Hi Ken, that's a setting you can change from the "Assistant" (the butler icon at the top of the program). There you will find an option for how Filters will be added. 🙂

[@kend4128]

@@AffinityRevolution Thanks, Ally. I never would have stumbled onto that! :)😁

[@Enrique-the-photographer]

I have a question (problem) with focus stacking in Affinity Photo. I combined 5 images and in the final “result” I get very fine horizontal white lines on the image (zooming in over 100%), it’s not the computer (it’s brand new) or the camera or the lenses, the lines don’t appear on the individual photos, it’s only after the process is completed in Affinity Photo. It’s really very frustrating, any ideas?

[@AffinityRevolution]

Sorry, I'm not sure. I recommend you ask on the official Affinity forums: forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/forum/5-affinity-on-desktop-questions-mac-and-windows/

[@cheungirisful]

Thanks

[@AffinityRevolution]

My pleasure! Glad you liked the video. :)

[@georgehadjipavlis7141]

works gj

[@AffinityRevolution]

Glad to hear! 😊

[@imzaazmi]

Can this be done using brush on affinity 2

[@AffinityRevolution]

Yes 🙂

[@wojtech3]

Make more videos

[@AffinityRevolution]

I will! 😊

[@theandersonfamily6094]

[@AffinityRevolution]

🥳

[@Inpreesme]

Thank you

[@AffinityRevolution]

Thank you Kevin! 😊