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As Sharp as a Tack
There are also times when your image appears just slightly softer than you would like it to be. In these instances, you may want to try and apply the sharpen feature (if the software you are using has this feature). This process works almost the opposite of the blur feature. Instead of mixing pixels in the same proximity together, the sharpen function does the opposite (or the best it can). The sharpen feature tries to differentiate pixels that are within close proximity of each other. As it appears, lines and pixel edges become more defined and pronounced. Once separated, the contrast of the pixels seems to me to be slightly enhanced. I have not found any documentation to say whether that is the case or not, but the greater amount of the sharpen effect you apply to your clip, the more distinct the contract becomes. Again, just like the blur feature, use it sparingly. Play with this effect first to see what kind of results it can produce. And don't rely on this feature to correct a shot that was recorded out-of-focus. It can digitally create minor edging with the pixels, but nothing will give you clean, crisp images like starting off with clean, crisp (in focus) source footage.