Photoshop Elements >

Haze Reduction >

This method uses weak sharpening to increase the contrast of the haze.

1) Make sure the selection you made above is visible.

Go to Select > Reselect if the selection has disappeared.

2) Make sure the Background copy layer is active (highlighted).

3) Go to Enhance > Unsharp Mask.

The Unsharp Mask window will open.

4) Enter the following values.

Amount	Radius	Threshold
60%	40 pixels	1 level

5) Click OK.

The contrast of the photograph is now increased in the selected area.

If needed, you can reduce the increase in contrast by lowering the opacity of the Background copy layer.

Do the following.

a) Make sure the Background copy layer is active (highlighted).

b) Reduce the opacity of the Background copy layer.

The Opacity box is at the top of the layers stack, to the right of the Blending Mode box.

It probably has 100% inside.

If the contrast needs to be increased, press Ctrl + f.

The above operation doubles the effect of the Unsharp Mask filter.

You can also experiment by entering different values in the Unsharp Mask window.

1) Click Ctrl + z to undo the sharpening.

2) Reopen the Unsharp Mask window, and enter new values.

Amount	Radius	Threshold
5 - 60%	30 - 100 pixels	0 - 1 level

If you increase the Amount or the Radius, the sharpening is increased.

If you increase the Threshold, the sharpening is decreased.

Sharpening can create unwanted color changes.

If this occurs, change the blending mode for the Background copy layer from Normal to Luminosity.

Blending Mode?

At the top of the layers stack, look for the unlabeled Blending Mode box.

It's to the left of the Opacity box.

If you're new to blending modes, go to Blending Modes.

By switching from the Normal to Luminosity, you're "turning off" the color of the layer, thereby avoiding the unwanted color change.

You can fine tune the contrast increase.

You can reduce the blue color caste of the haze.

If you haven't already done so, go to Saving Files.