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Image Machine

Clarity — Local Contrast & Midtone Punch

Upload an image to add clarity

Accepted formats: JPG, PNG, WEBP, BMP, GIF (non-animated)

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Paste (Ctrl/⌘+V) or drop an image — or import from a URL

Give your photos the crisp, three-dimensional punch that pro editors reach for with the Clarity slider in Lightroom and Capture One. Image Machine's clarity tool boosts local contrast — the contrast between neighbouring regions — using a large-radius unsharp mask on the image's brightness, so detail and texture pop without the bright halos that ordinary sharpening leaves around edges. The effect is weighted toward the midtones, which means pure shadows and highlights are protected and never blow out or block up. Because the adjustment is applied as a hue-preserving brightness scale, your colours stay true while the image gains depth. The Amount slider controls the strength and the Radius slider sets the scale of the contrast, from fine texture to broad, dramatic punch. Everything runs locally in your browser, so there is no quality loss and your photo never leaves your device.

How It Works

1

Choose a tool

Pick from 120+ tools to resize, convert, compress, or enhance your image.

2

Upload & edit

Drag and drop your image and adjust the settings. It stays on your device.

3

Download

Save your result instantly — no watermark, no sign-up required.

Why Image Machine?

Your files never leave your device

All processing runs locally in your browser. Your images are never uploaded to a server.

Completely free

Every tool is free, with no limits, no watermarks, and no hidden costs.

Lightning fast

No upload waiting — your images are processed instantly on your own device.

Professional quality

Pixel-perfect output with full control over format, size, and quality.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is clarity / local contrast?

Clarity increases the contrast between neighbouring areas of an image (local contrast) rather than stretching the overall tonal range (global contrast). It uses a large-radius unsharp mask on the midtones to add depth, structure and punch, making textures and edges read more clearly without changing the overall brightness.

How is clarity different from sharpening?

Sharpening works at a tiny radius to crisp up fine edges, which can create bright halos and emphasise noise. Clarity uses a much larger radius and targets the midtones, so it adds broad, natural-looking depth and structure instead of edge-level crispness. They are complementary — many editors use a little of both.

What do the Amount and Radius sliders do?

Amount sets how strongly local contrast is boosted, from 0 (no change) to 100 (strong punch). Radius sets the scale: a small radius enhances fine texture and looks more like sharpening, while a large radius produces broad, dramatic depth across bigger regions of the photo.

Is my photo uploaded anywhere?

No. Clarity is computed entirely in your browser with the Canvas API — your image is never uploaded, there is no sign-up, and the tool keeps working offline once the page has loaded.

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