You are definitely certain that you've used all the proper settings before taking stills but they still didn't come out right. As such, you seem to have a requirement to do some image sharpening all of the time. What could actually be the reason behind this?

One of the most typical reasons that can contribute to the loss of image-quality is unrestrained image compression that results from employing the JPEG format. On the other hand, shooting in the RAW format wouldn't give you this much of an issue because photographs saved using this format will not go through any image degradation.

If you do not know the most significant difference between the standard of pictures produced by the JPEG format as compared to RAW format before studying this article, and all of your pictures require some sharpening, these are some cool sharpening tools that will help you do the trick:

– Unsharp Mask. With the Unsharp Mask, you can control the amount or force of sharpening you want to apply to your photographs, the radius or the width of sharpening along the edges, and the threshold or the intensity of tonal difference between 2 diagonally opposite pixels.
– Smart Sharpen. If you're using Adobe Photoshop Elements, you can see this tool by opening the Reinforce Menu. It's also got its own built-in sharpening routine that will automatically adjust the settings for you. That’s so cool, isn’t it?
– Some more advanced sharpening tools. If you'd like to have larger control, then you might want to try some more advanced sharpening tools as those found in Photoshop Lightroom. Or, you can use a dedicated sharpening tool as an alternative.

Keep in mind that more is not necessarily better when it comes to image sharpening. Just keep your settings to produce the optimal image-quality and you'll surely get better quality pictures each time!

Roy Barker provides a bunch of additional tips and info here on sharpening an image. You may also register here to get a free photography report and tips on starting a photography business from home.