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How Can I Make My Blurry Pictures Look Professional?

Professional and amateur photographers alike end up with a blurry picture on occasion. When that little bit of blur prevents a picture from looking like a masterpiece, you can sharpen the image using digital retouching software. While the software cannot transform a complete blur into a crystal clear picture, it can sharpen edges and add clarity in just a few steps.

Things You'll Need

Adobe Photoshop (CS2 to CS5)

Instructions

- 1
  Open the photo editing program on the computer and open or import the picture. Select the ̶0;Save As̶1; option and save the picture as another document. This leaves the original photo untouched in case you need to revert to it later.
- 2
  Close both copies and open the second version of the picture in Camera Raw. This program provides two important controls to help diminish the blur in the picture.
- 3
  Mouse over the ̶0;Contrast̶1; control and move the indicator a little toward the right to increase contrast. Mouse over the ̶0;Clarity̶1; control and move the indicator a little toward the right to increase the clarity. Alternate between the two controls until you have eliminated as much of the blur as possible.
- 4
  Click on the ̶0;Open Image̶1; button near the bottom-right side of the page.
- 5
  Duplicate the layer and then click on the ̶0;Filter̶1; tab at the top of the page. Scroll down to the ̶0;Other̶1; filter and select ̶0;High Pass Filter̶1; from the list of options. This will scan the image for sharp color changes for clearer delineation. Adjust the threshold indicator to sharpen the color changes and reduce blur. Click ̶0;Okay̶1; to apply the filter.
- 6
  Click on the ̶0;Layers̶1; tab and choose ̶0;Overlay̶1; or ̶0;Hard Light̶1; from the list of options and adjust the Opacity indicator until the image appears clear with more defined edges.

Photography