It seems that no matter how hard you try to get each of your photos nice and sharp in-camera, there always seem to be a few that aren't quite there.
Fortunately for us, we live in an age in which we have ultra-powerful tools at our disposal - like Photoshop - that can help correct the problem (and tons of other problems, too).
In the video above, Craig Abbott gives us a quick rundown of how to use Photoshop to rescue blurry images.
Granted, you can't turn a bad photo into a good one no matter how much Photoshop magic you use.
But if the image is close, Photoshop can be your savior.
Have a look at the video to see what he has to say, and check out the summary for each step below!
Option 1: Use the High Pass Filter
In his video, Craig outlines two different methods for fixing a blurry image.
The first of the two methods, to use a the High Pass Filter, is the easiest of the two.
Begin by duplicating the layer, then going to Filter > Other > High Pass, as shown in the screenshot above.
Set the radius to a value of around 5, though this might change depending on the level of sharpness you want or need. Then press OK.
Next, choose a blend mode from the dropdown menu. Overlay tends to work quite well.
If Overlay isn't quite enough sharpness for your liking, try changing the blend mode to Hard Light. If that's too much sharpness, Soft Light is a good blend mode to try.
Learn More:
- How You Can Enhance Your Photos With Dynamic Color in Photoshop
- Five NEW Things in Photoshop CC 2018 That You MUST Know
Option 2: Smart Filters
As Craig points out, using Smart Filters in Photoshop is a more laborious process than using the High Pass Filter.
However, when comparing the two methods, Smart Filters often generate better results than the High Pass Filter does.
So, from the menu bar at the top of the screen, select Filters > Convert for Smart Filters.
In the resulting dialog box, click OK. This will allow you to apply filters to the image, which you can then modify.
Once you engage Smart Filters, you'll notice a small icon in the bottom-right corner of the thumbnail image in the Layers Panel.
Next, go to Filter > Sharpen > Unsharp Mask.
In the resulting dialog box, you'll see various options for fine-tuning the Unsharp Mask, including values for Amount, Radius, and Threshold.
Using the Amount slider, you can determine how much sharpness to add to the photo.
Combined with a Radius set to around 1, and an adjustment to the Threshold to dampen the sharpness as needed, you can get good results in most situations.
The nice thing about Smart Filter layers is that you can further manipulate them.
As Craig demonstrates, if you draw on the layer in black, it will delete the sharpening effect. If you draw with white, it will add the sharpening effect back in.
So, in just a few keystrokes and a few minutes of your time, you have a couple of great options for minimizing blurriness and getting your images as sharp as possible in Photoshop.