How do you sharpen a blurred picture in Photoshop?

Answer 1

There is a limit to how much you can fix a blurry image using simple techniques. The following technique will vary depending on the image size, and is not intended to be used on severely blurred photographs.

Load the image into Photoshop as you would normally, and duplicate your first layer twice. This can be done by clicking on the layer in the layer's menu, and pressing Control+J ( Command+J on a Mac ) twice. You will now have three identical layers. Select the third layer, ( the one on top ) and go to Filter > Other > High Pass. In the dialog box that opens, you want to select a low radius, but high enough so that you can still see detailed edges, and see some slight highlights in the image. For an image with a resolution of 1000 X 750 pixels, I find that a radius of 3-4 pixels works nicely. You would want to select a lower radius for a smaller image, and a higher radius for a larger one. When you're satisfied, click OK to apply the changes.

Change the blending mode of this layer to "Overlay". You can do this by clicking the blending mode dialog box above the layer, which at this point should say "Normal", or by right clicking on the layer, and selecting "Blending options", and then in the box that says "Blend Mode", choose "Overlay." You can turn the layer on and off to compare your changes with the original image.

Now select the second layer that you duplicated before, and go to Filter > Sharpen > Unsharp Mask. In the dialog box that opens, adjust the settings until you bring a good amount of detail back to the image. On a photograph with the size of 1000 x 750 pixels, I find the following settings to produce a good result: Amount 40%, Radius 6 Pixels, Threshold 0Levels. Once again, with a smaller image, you may want to go with a lower setting, or a higher setting with a larger one. Press OK to apply your changes.

To merge all of your changes into one layer, right-click on the third layer, and select Merge Down. You can now toggle the layer on and off, to compare it with the original image, which should still be unaltered on the first layer. The image should appear sharper, and less blurry than before. If the image is not as sharp as you would like it, you can delete the second layer, and repeat the steps above with higher settings, or if you find the image is too sharp, you can try again with lower settings. You can also try lowering the opacity of the second layer. The lower the opacity, the more transparent the layer is, so by lowering the opacity, you can allow the original layer to show through more and more.

When you are completely happy with all of your changes, you can merge all of the layers together into a single one by going to Layer > Merge Visible. At this point you can save the image in whatever file format you want, by going to File > Save As, then hitting Save when you have chosen your desired settings.