  When inverting solar spectra, image degradation effects that are present in
the data are usually approximated or not considered. We develop a data
reduction method that takes these issues into account and minimizes the
resulting errors. By accounting for the diffraction PSF of the telescope during
the inversions, we can produce a self-consistent solution that best fits the
observed data, while simultaneously requiring fewer free parameters than
conventional approaches. Simulations using realistic MHD data indicate that the
method is stable for all resolutions, including those with pixel scales well
beyond those that can be resolved with a 0.5m telescope, such as the Hinode
SOT. Application of the presented method to reduce full Stokes data from the
Hinode spectro-polarimeter results in dramatically increased image contrast and
an increase in the resolution of the data to the diffraction limit of the
telescope in almost all Stokes and fit parameters. The resulting data allow for
detecting and interpreting solar features that have so far only been observed
with 1m class ground-based telescopes. The new inversion method allows for
accurate fitting of solar spectro-polarimetric imaging data over a large field
of view, while simultaneously improving the noise statistics and spatial
resolution of the results significantly.
