Haven't seen ipiccy ... On GIMP there is a sharpening tool, and as you have noted most screencaps need a basic sharpen ... that is usually my first job!
The Willow image was used by adding a frame ... I had a lot of help when I had to use them for a StarTrek 20in20, and that was one of the frames I had to use! It is plain white, so I added colour to the outer 3/4, to give a different image. So I worked on the 2 images, then copied the frame to use as a 2nd layer over the basic. The icon I'm using here of Spike was with the same frame, but kept in white.
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The Willow image was used by adding a frame ... I had a lot of help when I had to use them for a StarTrek 20in20, and that was one of the frames I had to use! It is plain white, so I added colour to the outer 3/4, to give a different image. So I worked on the 2 images, then copied the frame to use as a 2nd layer over the basic. The icon I'm using here of Spike was with the same frame, but kept in white.