Clarity, Texture and Haze Removal in Paint by Zaweba

Four adjustments in Paint by Zaweba deal with the same broad complaint, a picture that looks flat, soft or washed out, but each one attacks a different cause. They all live under Image > Adjustments, and using the right one for the right problem gives a much more natural result than turning up contrast.

Contrast changes the whole tonal range at once. These four are more targeted: two work on local detail, one on atmospheric haze, and one on the particular damage that time does to printed photographs.

Clarity

Clarity is edge-aware local contrast. Instead of making every dark pixel darker and every light pixel lighter across the frame, it boosts the difference between neighbouring areas, and it does so without creating the bright and dark halos that crude local contrast tends to leave along strong edges.

The effect is that mid-sized shapes gain presence. Clouds get depth, rocks and bark look more solid, architecture gets crisper. On landscapes and street photography a moderate amount of Clarity is often the single biggest improvement you can make.

On faces, go carefully. Clarity brings out every crease and pore, which is rarely flattering. A small negative amount can soften skin a touch, but for real skin work frequency separation gives far more control.

Texture

Texture works on a finer band of detail than Clarity. It targets the smallest structures in the picture, such as fabric weave, grain in wood, foliage and hair, while leaving larger shapes alone.

That makes it a good partner for Clarity. You can add Clarity for shape and a little Texture for surface, or add Clarity to a portrait background while keeping Texture at zero. Lowering Texture is also a gentle way to smooth fine detail without blurring edges, which can suit skin or a busy background you want to calm down.

Haze Removal

Distant hills that fade into a pale wash, cityscapes under a grey layer of smog, shots through a dirty window: all suffer from haze. Haze Removal uses the dark-channel method, which estimates how much haze sits over each part of the image from the fact that clear outdoor scenes almost always contain some very dark pixels nearby. Where those dark pixels are lifted, the method assumes haze and takes it back out.

The result restores colour and contrast in the far distance while leaving the clear foreground much as it was, which a plain contrast boost cannot do. A negative amount does the opposite and adds haze. That is useful for creative work, such as giving a composite a sense of distance or softening a harsh midday scene into something more atmospheric.

Push it too far and skies can turn dark and heavy, so watch the top of the frame as you raise the amount.

Fade Correction

Old colour prints rarely just lose contrast. The dyes fade at different rates, so a family photo from decades ago turns pink, yellow or cyan, with milky shadows. Fade Correction is designed to restore faded prints, bringing back the colour balance and depth the print once had.

Scan the print first, then run Fade Correction on the scan before anything else. Once the colours are back in the right place, the other tools work better: Clarity to bring back some definition, the retouching brushes for dust and cracks, and Colourise with Hints if you have a black and white print you want to bring to life.

Using them together

A good order for a landscape is Haze Removal first, since it changes contrast and colour the most, then Clarity, then a touch of Texture. For an old print it is Fade Correction, then cleanup, then a little Clarity. For portraits, keep Clarity and Texture low or negative.

Make each change on a duplicate layer so you can compare and dial it back with opacity. If the picture started as a RAW file, the RAW Developer has its own texture, clarity and dehaze controls, and it often makes sense to do this work there, at the start, then use these adjustments for finishing touches on specific layers.

Small amounts nearly always look better than large ones. If a viewer notices the effect before they notice the picture, it has gone too far.