We discuss the effects of image scanning microscopy using doughnut beam illumination on the properties of signal strength and integrated intensity. Doughnut beam illumination can give better optical sectioning and background rejection than Airy disk illumination. The outer pixels of a detector array give a signal from defocused regions, so digital processing of these (e.g., by simple subtraction) can further improve optical sectioning and background rejection from a single in-focus scan.& COPY; 2023 Optica Publishing Group