A slightly soft photo is not always a lost photo. Before adding sharpness, I usually check what caused the softness, because motion blur, missed focus, heavy compression, and simple downscaling need different treatment.
First, inspect the image at 100% rather than judging it from a small preview. Look at high-contrast edges such as eyelashes, lettering, window frames, or the outline of an object. If those edges are doubled, the problem is probably motion. If they are simply smooth, focus or resizing is more likely.
Second, keep an untouched copy. Strong sharpening can make halos and JPEG blocks more visible, so I prefer several mild passes and compare them at the final display size. For a quick before-and-after check, I sometimes run a duplicate through unblur image online and then compare the restored edge detail with the original instead of accepting the result automatically.
Finally, judge the whole image, not only the sharpest area. Skin texture, small text, and fine patterns are useful warning signs: if they start looking brittle or artificial, the correction has gone too far. A modest improvement that still looks natural is usually more useful than a technically sharper image with obvious artifacts.
Posted by Waivio guest: @waivio_content-true