How to Fix Blurry Pictures?

How to Sharpen a Blurry Image in a Minute

The aim of every photographer is making a high quality shot. But what if something goes wrong and otherwise eye-catching photos come out hazy? In photography, it’s a well-known defect. So, how can you fix a blurry photo? Keep reading to learn how to make your images clear with PhotoWorks or what other techniques to use.

Blurry picture: before and after editing

5 Tricks to Make a Picture Less Blurry on Mac and Windows

There are plenty of options for picture sharpening in PhotoWorks software. Choose the tool depending on what you need to correct and what result you expect to get – sharpen the whole image or its specific areas. Let’s see what tools you can use to fix blurry photos and how they work:

• Way 1. The Sharpness tool sharpens out of focus photos
• Way 2. The Clarity tool makes the entire image clearer
• Way 3. The Adjustment Brush highlights a certain object in a photo
• Way 4. The Radial Filter accentuates a specific area in a photo
• Way 5. The Graduated Filter sharpens hazy areas in landscapes or urban photos

Put those tools into practice right away - you can install PhotoWorks on Windows and Mac for free and instantly try out the tricks.

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For Windows 11, 10, 8, 7

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For macOS 12 and higher

Now that you've got the program on your computer, it's time to find out step by step which way works best for your blurry picture.

1. Sharpen Out-of-Focus Photos with the Sharpness Tool

The Sharpness tool in PhotoWorks will help you fix most blurry pictures. In this photo editor you can work with JPG, PNG and RAW files. Here are the steps for you to follow:

1. Set the Sharpness amount. In the Enhancement tab, set the sharpness effect amount to focus a blurry photo. Moving the Amount slider to the right will make your pic sharper.
2. Change the Radius degree. To make the objects’ edges crisp and well visible, increase the Radius. This way, you will determine the size of the editing area and the amount of pixels to sharpen around the edges.
3. Adjust the Threshold setting. The optimal degree of Threshold varies from 3 to 10. If you set it at 0, every single pixel will be affected by sharpening and as a result your photo will look harsh and unpleasant for the eyes.

Keep an eye on the preview box to control the sharpness amount

2. Improve the Image Quality with the Clarity Tool

Whereas the Sharpness tool accentuates the borders between the areas next to each other, Clarity is used to increase the midtone contrast of the entire photo. Let’s see how to edit blurry pictures with the Clarity tool step-by-step:

1. Open the Enhancement tab. Since Clarity is a tool for global photo improving, you’ll find it in the main settings of the Enhancement tab.
2. Adjust the Clarity degree to make the photo sharper. Drag the Clarity slider out. It will help you repair a blurry photo and counter undesired flatness by bringing out its texture. However, avoid increasing Clarity in portraits unless you intend to emphasize spots, wrinkles and other skin flaws.

Increase clarity to bring out texture

3. Accentuate an Object with the Adjustment Brush

For local sharpening, consider using the Adjustment Brush. With it, you can draw attention to a certain object in your photograph. It’s a perfect tool to make the subject’s eyes sparkling and bright.

1. Select the Adjustment Brush. Open the Retouch tab and pick the Adjustment Brush from the toolkit on the right.
2. Customize the brush settings. In the Sharpness tab, set the amount of the sharpening effect. Then, adjust the Radius to control the size of the area to sharpen around the edges. And finally, change the Threshold degree - at 0 each and every pixel will be affected, at the maximum degree nothing will be sharpened.
3. Make the selection less blurry. Now, just ‘paint’ the adjustment on where you want to remove blurring. All the brush settings will be applied automatically.

Use the Adjustment Brush for sharpening the eyes

4. Make a Certain Area Stand Out with the Radial Filter

While the Adjustment Brush is suitable to work on small details, the Radial Filter helps sharpen and highlight a larger area. Let’s learn how to enhance a blurry photo with this sharpening instrument:

1. Choose the Radial Filter. After you’ve launched PhotoWorks, switch to the Retouch tab. In the set of tools on the right, pick the Radial Filter.
2. Select the editing area. Create an elliptical selection with your mouse. To do it, click and hold its left button. It’s possible to resize and reshape your selection by dragging control handles in or out.
3. Edit the selection with the sharpener. To begin with, adjust the filter settings inside the oval mask. Increase sharpness and contrast, make the region less blurred but more bright and saturated.
4. Adjust the background sharpness. Now, make the same selection in order to edit the area outside of it. Desaturate it and add some blurriness. This way, you’ll make the central part sharper and more noticeable.

Accentuate the rings in the center of the picture

5. Increase Sharpness with the Graduated Filter

Use the Graduated Filter to make particular regions in your photo more detailed by sharpening them. This tool is suitable for correcting landscapes or city views.

1. Choose the Graduated Filter. First of all, run the photo sharpener and open the Retouch tab. You’ll see the Graduated Filter in the editing toolkit - click on it.
2. Select the area to unblur. Press and hold the left button of your mouse to make a selection for enhancing. You can select the upper half of the picture (the sky) or the lower one (the ground or the water), or edit them both in turn.
3. Change the Graduated Filter settings. In the Sharpness tab, adjust the Amount, Radius and Threshold degree just the same way as you did while trying the Radial Filter and the Adjustment Brush. By moving the sliders, determine how strong the effect will be, how many pixels will be affected and how crisp the edges will become.

The Graduated Filter is the best tool to enhance landscape or architectural views

Want to see what the editing process is like before trying yourself? Then be sure to watch this video tutorial.

Now you know how to make pictures clearer in PhotoWorks, so why don’t you give it a shot today? Download and install this software for free!

Download

For Windows 11, 10, 8, 7

Download

For macOS 12 and higher

Whatever issue plagues your picture, PhotoWorks has a solution for it. Turn your ruined picture into a masterpiece within minutes!

If you have blurry photos, you will surely find a suitable tool in this software. But with PhotoWorks, you can not only fix out of focus photos. This easy picture enhancer allows you to make other local and global enhancements to improve your spoiled shots. Here’s what you can do with the help of PhotoWorks tools:

• add a white background to a photo;
• hide the skin imperfections;
• remove unwanted objects;
• improve the photo composition;
• correct lens distortions;
• apply stylish artistic effects;
• add captions to your photos.



How to Make a Photo Less Blurry - Other Ways

To make the right choice, it’s always a good idea to experiment with several options and compare them. So here are a couple of more ways to fix blurry pictures - using mobile applications, and computer or web-based programs.

There are lots of photo editors in Google Play and App Store. But which app is better? If you’re an Android user, we recommend you try Pixlr. To remove blur, select a picture, go to the Tools tab, and tap Sharpen. Then all you need to do is drag the slider. Not only does it let you sharpen blurry images, but it also offers such key features as adding captions, applying double exposure, skin retouching, writing text on photos, etc. However, Pixlr comes with a big number of distracting pop-up ads, so keep it in mind before installing it on your device.

Another app to try is Snapseed - you can download it from both Google Play and App Store. It offers a wide range of photo editing tools: selective adjustments, resizing, perspective correction, filters, double exposure, and even curves. Here’s how to make a photo less blurry in Snapseed. Open a photo from your gallery, tap Tools, and choose Details. Then adjust the Structure and Sharpening by swiping left or right, and your unblurred image is ready.



Use Snapseed to make your photos sharper




If you’re more into computer photo editors, then check out the following programs. We’ll begin with a well-known photo editor that we simply can’t go by - Adobe Photoshop. It remains one of the most popular programs despite the costly subscription and challenging learning curve. With Photoshop you can adjust your photo using curves, add a picture to another picture, save presets, and more. This is how to clear a blurry picture with this photo editing software: pick the Sharpen tool, adjust the brush, and paint over the blurry area. But if you already have Adobe Lightroom, you won’t need to download Photoshop. To reduce blur in this program, you only need to set the amount of Sharpening - so simple.

There’s one more computer program you can use for this job - GIMP. Unlike the Adobe products, it’s free, but offers fewer features. Although the functionality is limited, you can still use it for sharpening a photo - pick the Blur/Sharpen tool, select Sharpen, adjust the brush size and finally drag over the blurry areas.

However, such photo editors tend to take up lots of space. But it’s no big deal because you can effortlessly tweak your pictures with an Internet-based tool. Here’s how to enhance a blurry photo online. First, upload the image you’d like to sharpen. Then adjust the Strength and click Sharpen. Unfortunately, you can't preview the result, so you’ll have to repeat the action over and over until you’re satisfied with it. When the edited photo is ready, download it as PNG, JPG, or WebP.

Alternatively, you can trust experienced photo retouchers and let FixThePhoto help you enhance your pictures.

How to Clear Up a Blurry Picture: Key Takeaway

In this guide, we’ve shown you how to make photos not blurry with a number of handy photo editors. All you have to do is choose the right software for this task - make sure the program meets your budget and satisfies all your needs. The system requirements are also important to check out before installing a photo editor on your computer or smartphone. Believe us, sharpening a photo is not a big deal - you can do it with no hassle. Now it’s your turn to tweak your images. Go and get it done today.




Frequently Asked Questions

1. Why is my image so blurry?

Blurriness can be caused by a number of factors, including camera shake, improper focus, or poor lighting. Understanding the cause can help you avoid this problem in the future and fix it in no time.

2. Can I unblur a blurry photo?

Sure, there are several ways to do that - from adjusting the overall image sharpness and clarity to using special tools to unblur specific areas. Follow the link to learn how to make a blurry picture clear step by step.

3. Can sharpening a photo make it look unnatural?

Yes, over-sharpening a photo can lead to unnatural-looking results with artifacts and halos. It's important to find a balance between sharpness and natural appearance.

4. Should I always sharpen my photos?

It's not necessary to sharpen every photo. Some images may benefit from a subtle increase in sharpness, while others may look better with a softer, more natural look.

5. What is the best software for a PC to fix blurry photos?

Above, we introduced you to several handy image editors that allow you to sharpen blurry pictures. Just click the Download button below to try one of them now.

PhotoWorks team, a dedicated group of authors and artists with a passion for photography and graphic design. We are happy to bring you first-class content to make your exploration of our software easy and enjoyable.