Repair Blurry Photos Step by Step

Find the best original file

The single biggest improvement happens before any AI runs: starting from the right file. Every time a photo is sent through a messaging app, posted to social media or screenshotted, it loses resolution and gains compression blocks. Those blocks look like blur but carry less real detail.

• Use the photo from your camera roll or memory card, not the copy someone sent you in a chat
• Ask the person who took it for the original file if you only have a forwarded copy
• For a video moment, pause on the sharpest frame and export it as a still rather than taking a screenshot
• For a paper print, scan it at 600 dpi or photograph it flat in daylight without flash
• Keep the file under 10 MB for the preview, 25 MB on Personal and 50 MB on Pro and Studio

Prepare the photo

A little cleanup helps the AI focus on what matters. Crop away large empty areas so more of the processing goes to your subject, but do not crop so tight that you lose context around a face. Rotate a sideways photo before you upload. Leave color and brightness alone for now, because heavy edits made in a phone app first can bake in artifacts that are harder to remove later.

If a photo is very small, for example 600 px wide, do not enlarge it yourself in another app. Upload it as it is and let the upscale step do the enlarging, since it rebuilds edges instead of stretching pixels.

Choose a preset and strength

Presets tell the restoration what to expect, so it can tune the deblur and the contrast for that kind of picture.

• Phone photo, for everyday shots with motion, missed focus or low light grain
• Old print, for scans of paper photos with fading, grain and soft lenses
• Video still, for frames taken from videos, which often have motion and compression
• Product photo, for items on a plain background that need crisp edges
• Real estate interior, for rooms where straight lines and window light matter

Then choose strength. Gentle keeps the result very close to the original and suits photos that are only slightly soft. Balanced is the right start for most. Strong is for photos that are clearly smeared. Turn on the 2x upscale if you plan to print or crop.

Check the result at 100 percent zoom

A blurry photo can look sharp on a small phone screen and still disappoint on paper. Always judge the result zoomed to 100 percent, where one pixel of the image fills one pixel of the screen. Use the zoom loupe on the result page, or download and open the file on a computer.

• Look at the eyes first. They should be crisp, with natural catchlights.
• Check edges against bright backgrounds for halos, a sign the strength is too high.
• Look at skin, hair and fabric. They should keep texture, not turn smooth or crunchy.
• Compare with the slider. If the result looks like a different photo, step the strength down.

If something looks off, run the same photo again with a different preset or a gentler strength. Small adjustments often matter more than going to the strongest setting.

Download in the right format

On Personal you can download JPG or PNG up to 4,000 px on the long edge. Choose JPG for sharing and online albums, and PNG when you plan further editing, since it keeps every pixel. Pro adds TIFF export and output up to 8,000 px, which print labs and photo book services handle well. Your results stay in your history for 30 days, so you can download a second format later without using another photo from your allowance.

Print the repaired photo

For sharp prints, aim for about 300 pixels per inch. A 4x6 print needs 1,800 px on the long edge, an 8x10 needs 3,000 px, and an 11x14 needs about 4,200 px. Order a small test print before an expensive canvas, especially for old family photos, because paper shows faint grain that a screen hides. If a print size is just over what your file supports, the Pro 4x upscale usually closes the gap. Our page on how to increase resolution of image files covers sizes in more detail.