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Unblur Image

Make a slightly soft photo look crisper with a sharpening filter. Mild softness improves; heavy motion or focus blur cannot be reversed this way.

Upload a slightly soft image to sharpen

Drag and drop files here, or click to browse

Your images are processed in your browser and are not uploaded to Image York.
You retain full ownership of your images. Image York does not store or claim rights. View License

Be realistic about blur

"Unblur" promises more than any filter can deliver. This tool applies a sharpening filter, the same one used on the Sharpen Image page. Sharpening increases contrast at edges, which makes slightly soft pictures look crisper. It does not reconstruct detail that the camera never recorded.

Which result you can expect depends on why the photo is blurry:

Kind of blurWhat sharpening does
Slight softness from a phone lens, resizing or mild compressionUsually a clear improvement
Image enlarged from a small originalEdges look firmer; texture stays smooth
Strong motion blur (streaks from shaking or a moving subject)No real fix; edges of the streaks get harsher
Missed focus (subject soft, background sharp)Small improvement at best
Heavy compression blocks or noiseOften worse, because the blocks and grain get sharpened too

Using the intensity slider

The slider controls how strongly each pixel is pushed away from its neighbours. The default, 50, is a standard sharpening strength. Lower values are subtler; higher values exaggerate edges.

Signs you have gone too far: bright or dark outlines (halos) around edges, grain appearing in smooth areas like skin and sky, and a crunchy, over-processed look. Use the before and after slider to compare at the same place, and zoom in on a face or text to judge.

Better ways to get a sharp photo

  • Look for an earlier, larger copy. Images downloaded from messaging apps and social networks are often reduced; the original on your phone may be sharp.
  • If the picture will be shown small, shrink it with the Image Resizer. Softness that is obvious at full size often disappears at a smaller size.
  • For future photos: steady the phone, tap to focus, and use more light rather than night modes when the subject moves.

Output

Results are saved as WebP at quality 0.9 at the original dimensions. Large photos take a few seconds because every pixel is processed in JavaScript.

Where the processing happens

The filter runs in your browser and the photo is not uploaded. No AI model is used.

Questions about this tool

Can this fix a photo blurred by camera shake?

Not meaningfully. Motion blur spreads each point into a streak, and a sharpening filter cannot reverse that. Mild shake may look slightly better; strong shake will not.

Can this make my blurry photo clear?

It depends on the blur. Slight softness, for example from a phone lens or a resized picture, usually improves clearly. Strong motion blur or a badly missed focus cannot be undone by any sharpening filter.

My photo looks crunchy and has bright outlines after unblurring. What went wrong?

The intensity is too high. Those outlines are called halos. Move the slider back towards the default of 50 and compare with the before and after slider.

I downloaded this photo from a chat app and it is blurry. Is there a better fix?

Look for the original. Chat apps and social networks often send a reduced copy, and the original on the sender's phone may be sharp. Ask for it to be sent as a file.

The photo will only be shown small. Should I still sharpen it?

Often you do not need to. Shrinking a photo with the Image Resizer hides a lot of softness. If you do sharpen, do it after resizing.

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