A system and method for emphasizing and/or de-emphasizing features in a digital image. In an embodiment of the invention, the image is processed by a series of filters, which decompose the image into a series of sub-bands. Each sub-band is then processed by an emphasis circuit. In an embodiment of the invention, the emphasis circuit is connected to an input representing a particular sub-band. Each filter, therefore, is connected to its own respective emphasis circuit. The result is a series of emphasis circuit outputs, which are then combined. The result of the combination is the processed image, containing one or more emphasized or deemphasized features. In an alternative embodiment of the invention, the sub-bands are combined in a weighted fashion. The sum of the weighted sub-bands is then applied to a single emphasis circuit. The output of the emphasis circuit, in this embodiment, is a processed image having one or more emphasized or deemphasized features.