Edit like a pro: What does Clarity do to your Photo?

The Clarity feature: with one unique slide of a button, you can bring a huge amount of details to your photo.

But after all, what exactly does clarity do to your photo?

Clarity is basically a part of contrast. Both of them will increase the sharpness to your photo, but the main difference between contrast and clarity is that in contrast, you will enhance the whole image, while when you use Clarity, the adjustments will be done exclusively to the mid-tones of the image and with that, when you increase it, you will see your photo gaining sharpness and texture.

I’m not sure if you can find this feature in any editor, but I know that it is available both in Lightroom and Camera Raw. If you’re using Photoshop, you can add clarity either editing it straight in camera raw and then taking your photo to Photoshop or, if you want to use it directly in Photoshop, you can create a Camera Raw filter and then use the clarity feature. (watch video for details). Other editors might or might not have this feature, but most of them usually have a similar adjustment button that you can use to achieve similar results, such as the Structure feature on Instagram, which in my opinion is a mix of clarity with other things, but mainly a mix of clarity and texture.

It is definitely a feature I use in higher or smaller amounts to all of the photos I edit. If you bring it higher, you will have contrasty, strong, detailed photos. While if you don’t use it or bring it down, you will have a soft, dreamy kind of look to your images.

Gotta use it! Just be careful not to over-do it, after all, as everything or pretty much everything in life, the best results are achieved when we find the perfect balance.

Please watch the videos to see how I use Clarity feature in Lightroom, Camera Raw and Photoshop.