One of the tedious task for image experts were, restoring blurred or out of focus images. Most people usually think that its impossible to fix blurred photos and wouldn’t bother fixing them. Infact there are tools and methods you could use to fix out of focus photos / blurry images.

How to fix blurred photos using free software. Every photographer knows the disappointment of taking a great photograph only to find the picture was ruined by camera shake or the subject moving. Such photographs cannot be brought back to crisp focus but they can be improved using software that employs an advanced mathematical technique called. In order to fix blurry photographs, you’re going to have to apply a filter. You can do this by clicking on the “Filter” tab on the top menu. If you look through the drop down menu you can find both Sharpen Shake Reduction (as shown in the image below). Wait for a few seconds.

We’ve listed out some of the software’s that’ll help you restore your blurred photos easily. Remember you cant get a true life recovery from a blurred photo, but these tools will definitely help you revive a good amount of detail from the blurred images.

These image de-blurring softwares make use of deconvolution algorithms to fix the defocussed or blurred photos and there are many algorithms to process the images based on the nature of blur it has been affected with.

1) SmartDeblur

SmartDebluris a free software that can deblur photos / images based on various deconvolution algorithms. The image could be blurred either due to incorrect focusing by the camera, camera shake or due to the subject in motion.

SmartDeblur can fix the images based on the type of blur it has been affected with.

The interface is simple and minimal with options to select the defect type which includes ‘Out of Focus Blur’ , ‘Motion blur’ and ‘Gaussian Blur’. After choosing the right blur type of the image, proceed to the sliders and with a little play around with it (Radius, Smooth, Correction Strength and Edge Feather) you’ll get around a satisfactory image. The realtime preview is shown below the settings.

Large sized images take longer to process and it depends on the system speed and performance too.

Moving on, the Settings tab will show you the constraint you could set for the image size manually and will be a value of 3000 by default and to its right will be shown the Deconvolution method to be used. Wiener and Tikhonov are the two methods which are based on different algorithms.

Below is the Test image we’ve captured from our monitor, using an iPhone 4S. The purpose was to deblur the text in the image which was shown on a LED display. While capturing the image we purposefully brought the phone too close to the screen so as to get a blurred and unreadable image.

After some tweaking and moving around with the sliders we’ve been able to deblur the photo to some extend and decrypt the letters. We use the default Wiener deconvolution algorithm to process the image which seemed better than the Tikhonov algorithm. The final image was passable though it got a bit of noise.

When the image gets affected by both Motion Blur and Out of focus blur, its gets tougher to get back the deblurred image.

2) Blurity (49$ Std & 99$ Pro )

Unlike SmartDeblur, blurity is not a free software and is costly. Blurity helps in removing simple motion blur and could unblur some of the out of focus photos too.

The above test image was put into blurity for a test and the results were not satisfactory as the above. But blurity did a better job with the images that had a motion blur which was one of the minuses of SmartBlur.

The Interface is simple and it provides you a basic mode and an advanced mode for debluring photos. After opening an image you need to select a portion of the image by clicking inside the image and then move on to the slider (basic or advanced) and then press Process to see the preview in the right pane next to the original opened image.

As seen above, the free version of blurity watermarks your processed images with an UNREGISTERED text.

[Image Credits]

How To Fix Blurry Pictures App Free

Blurity did a better job with the above image and the final results were pretty impressive. The above image was blurred using a synthetic camera motion.

3) Unshake (Free)

Unshake is free and doesn’t require an installation. Being a java based program, its runs on Windows, Linux and Mac OS X and requires the Java Run time environment preinstalled on your pc.

The interface is simple and like the above mentions softwares, it does require some experimentation to achieve better results.

You may adjust the slider to suit the amplification you need for the photo. Too much amplification might ruin the image and more noise would be added. Unshake could also work on lines found on pictures in magazines and also for rasters and dithering.

Below is a blurred photo that has been processed using unshake.

Unlike the above two softwares, unshake takes a lot of time to process a photo with increase in size of the images. So, its better to experiment with cut down sizes of the photo before loading it with a large Megabyte sized file.

It won’t give you unbelievable results on fixing blurred photos especially when the subject is a fast moving one (too much blurred). But its always good to give Unshake a try, in improving a photo that couldn’t be replaced. It might turn useful in some cases where you might need to restore that awesome moment back to life!

Isn’t it a pity when a great shot gets ruined because it’s too blurry? You can’t go back in time and retake the photo, so there’s no way to bring back that perfect moment. Sometimes it’s a special occasion, like a wedding or a trip, and that makes the blurry photo especially disappointing. In this article, you’ll find out how to make a blurry picture clear with some easy tips and tricks. It’s never been easier than with our new Luminar photo editing software.

Why is your photo blurry?

To make a photo clear, you first have to find out the reasons behind the blur.

1. Camera moved

One of the most common causes of blurry photos is camera movement. Professional photographers use tripods to hold the camera in place, but that isn’t always convenient. Keep your camera steady and try to be aware of any shaking of your hands. You can stabilize the camera by putting it on a hard surface. Another trick is to lean against a wall. It’s especially important to keep the camera steady when using a slow shutter speed, a long lens such as a telephoto or zoom, or any kind of other tool that prolongs the exposure.

2. Subject moved

If you’re taking a picture of a moving subject in dim light and with a slow shutter speed, blur is inevitable. It’s especially tricky to capture great pictures of animals or small children, who tend to move a lot.

3. Slow shutter speed for moving subjects

Whenever you need to take a picture of something moving at high speed, make sure to use a fast shutter speed, as it will allow you to capture the moment clearly. If you have a blurry photo of an athlete or a race car, you can always use our software to rescue it. Just click the button below to get Luminar.

Luminar 3 - Time Does Matter
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4. Out of focus

Experimenting with focus might be the key to learning how to make your photos clearer. Your photos might be blurry because of a problem with the focus of your camera. Check to see if the automatic focus fell on the wrong object or if the camera failed to focus altogether. Taking pictures of objects in front of landscapes is difficult for exactly this reason.

5. Shallow depth of field

If you want to achieve a pleasant bokeh effect, you can open the lens aperture to a low f-stop. This helps you separate a sharp subject from a soft background. However, this also means a shallow depth of field. That’s why shooting at f/11 will make your scene much sharper than shooting at f/2.

6. Problems with lenses

Sometimes, the reason behind blurry photos is just a dirty lens. Buy a special kit to keep your lens clean. Sometimes it just takes a clean lens to make a clear photo.

Never blurry again

Learn to prevent the blur effect with these tips.

1. Use a tripod

The best way to achieve clarity is by investing in a tripod. Even though a tripod isn’t always handy, there are a variety of tripods to choose from, including lightweight and budget-friendly options. A tripod stabilizes your camera and is indispensable when taking professional landscape and portrait shots.

2. Use a wide-angle lens

Instead of using a long lens, which tends to be heavier and more prone to shaking, use a wide-angle lens that will help you focus on your subject with more precision and avoid taking a blurry picture.

3. Use a larger aperture setting

As a rule, the higher the f-stop number, the greater the depth of field. And this means the scene will be much sharper. So instead of using f/2 or f/6, try using f/11 for clearer photos.

4. Focus correctly

Photographers should learn the differences between focus modes. Knowing which type suits which scenes, from landscapes to portraits, will save you a lot of time during editing.

5. Turn on image stabilization

Some cameras have an image stabilization option. This feature is extremely useful when the camera is handheld. Turn it on to prevent image blur.

6. Hold your camera properly

It might seem odd, but some photographers hold their cameras incorrectly. Check your manual and see if you’re holding your camera correctly. Also, remember to press the button gently, as pressing it too heavily may also shake the camera, resulting in a ruined image.

Advantages of blurry pictures

Sometimes, photographers want a photo to be blurry for a reason. Learn how to blur a picture in our editing software. When is it better to keep the blur? You might want to consider these cases before trying to fix blurry pictures.

1. Close-up portraits

A little blur in a portrait can help get rid of skin imperfections, pores, or blemishes. Consider blurring these problem areas in your photo editing software with blur filters and tools. This will create a pleasant effect.

2. Artistic photos

Blur might add a dream-like romantic effect to your photos. You can use macro lenses that help add a selective layer of blur to your photos.

3. Tilt-shift photos

If you want to achieve a miniature effect, try the tilt-shift technique. You’ll see how the foreground and background blur, rendering the subject of the picture quite small, even if in reality it’s a big object like a boat or a building. This is achieved thanks to the clever use of blur.

4. Let the subject stand out

One of the advantages of a blurry background is that it lets the subject stand out. If you want to pull the attention to your main subject, whether it’s a person or an object, blurring the background might be the key.

5. Motion effect

The blur behind a racing car, a horse, or an athlete can help to create the effect of motion.

Free Program To Unblur Pictures

6. Vignettes

A vignette lets you focus on the center of your picture. When the edges are darkened and blurred, you can’t help but look at the center. Vignettes can easily be achieved with Luminar.

Unblur Photos Online

How to make a picture clearer

The Luminar photo editing software, a new product from Skylum, can help you fix blurry pictures. Learn how to make a picture clearer automatically and manually.

Method One: Automatically

1. Open your photo in Luminar.
2. Open Click the Preset Panel icon in the upper-right window to make sure your Presets are visible.
3. Open Find the Sharp & Crisp preset and select it. This will make Luminar automatically apply sharpening.
4. Open The image is ready. If you like the result, save it.

Method Two: Manually

If you want to find out how to make blurry pictures clear like a professional and fine-tune your photos, there are two sections in Luminar at your disposal.

In the Sharpening section, there are three sliders that you can use.

Amount slider

The Amount slider tunes the amount of definition. Over-sharpening will cause a harsh look with outlines around the edges of objects. Slide Amount to reach the desired effect.

Radius slider

The Radius slider is used to select the number of pixels that you want to sharpen around the edges. Use a smaller radius for a detailed photo, like a landscape, and a larger radius for portraits.

How To Fix Blurry Photos For Free

Masking slider

Use the Masking slider to constrain the sharpening only to selected parts of your photo. Control the amount of sharpening you need on the edges and leave smooth areas untouched. This is a great tool for achieving a well-defined subject in front and a soft background.

Furthermore, In the Detail Enhancer section you’ll find sliders to control small, medium, and large details. You can experiment with these sliders to see the amount of detail that you want to show.

We wish you the best of luck in taking clear and sharp pictures or editing out the blur with our easy-to-use software. Rescue your landscape and portrait photos and make them shine. If you’re still hesitant whether to buy the full version of Luminar, you can always try the free trial version.

Fix Blurry Photos Free Online

All the best from the Skylum Team. Happy shooting!