Sharpen images as the last process via filter > sharpen > unsharp mask. Set your amount slider to 200% and adjust the radius slider for the effect you want, but probably around 1 or 2 maximum with 0.07 being a good average. Carry out this process with your image enlarged so that you can see clearly the downsides of too much sharpening.

Outline an image

We can stroke (add pixels of colour) to any selection with a line thickness up to 16 pixels via edit > stroke from the menu bar. To create a thin white line around the picture, hit Ctrl+A and apply a few pixels of white to the selection line. Better still record this process as an action and apply it to a function key, say F8. Every time the F8 key is pressed Photoshop will apply a line around the image to the pixel width you decide.

Creative use of Noise

To create the effect of a fast grainy film we can go to filter > noise > add noise. Tick the Monochrome box as this usually gives the better results.

Fade those filters

To decrease the effect of a filter we can go to edit > fade after applying it. This gives us the opportunity to reduce the extremes of the effect.

Quick border

To add a border to any image, select the colour you require as your background colour on the colour picker and go to image > canvas size from the menu bar. Add an inch or two to the width and height and hit OK. Apply a black border in this way to a bold colour image, but apply a thin white stroked line first.

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