Best Software to Fix Blurry Out of Focus Portraits and Photos
TLDRIn this video, the photographer shares a personal story of a recent portrait assignment where they made a significant error by not checking the sharpness of their photos. They explain how they used Luminar Neo's Super Sharp AI to try and fix a blurry photo, but found the results to be unsatisfactory. They then turned to Topaz Sharpen AI, which offered better results, and combined it with Gigapixel AI for further enhancement. The video demonstrates the process of using these tools to correct out-of-focus areas and sharpen the eyes and mouth, while avoiding over-sharpening the hairline. The final result is a significantly improved portrait, showcasing the capabilities of Topaz Suite software in fixing technical flaws in photos.
Takeaways
- 📸 **Software for Blurry Photos**: The video discusses using software to fix blurry and out-of-focus portraits and photos.
- 🤔 **Mistake in Focus**: The photographer realized they missed focus on a crucial photo, with the sharpness on the hair instead of the eyes.
- 🚀 **Luminar Neo's Super Sharp AI**: The first software used was Luminar Neo with its Super Sharp AI extension to address the blurriness.
- 🔍 **Sharpening Options**: The photographer experimented with different sharpening levels (low, middle, high) within the software.
- 🔎 **Digital Artifacts**: At higher sharpening levels, digital artifacts became visible upon close inspection.
- 🖼️ **Face Enhancer Limitations**: Luminar's face enhancer altered facial geometry, which was not desired for an accurate portrait.
- 🌟 **Topaz Sharpen AI**: The video then introduces Topaz Sharpen AI as a superior tool for AI-powered sharpening.
- 📈 **Layered Editing in Photoshop**: The photographer combined the sharpened image with the original using layer masks in Photoshop for selective sharpening.
- 🎨 **Color Consistency**: Gigapixel AI was used for further sharpening but introduced slight color shifts which were corrected using blending modes.
- 🔗 **Topaz Software Suite**: The video recommends the Topaz Suite for fixing technical flaws in photos, including blurry, noisy, or small images.
- ✅ **Final Result**: A combination of Topaz Sharpen AI and Gigapixel AI was used to achieve the best quality recovery of the blurry portrait.
Q & A
What was the issue with the photographer's portrait shot?
-The photographer missed the focus on the portrait shot, causing the subject's eyes to be blurry while the focus was on the hair behind.
What software did the photographer initially use to fix the blurry photo?
-The photographer initially used Luminar Neo, which has a dedicated extension called Super Sharp AI designed for fixing out-of-focus photos.
How many sharpening methods does Luminar Neo's Super Sharp AI offer?
-Luminar Neo's Super Sharp AI offers two sharpening methods: Universal and motion blur.
What was the result of using Luminar Neo's Super Sharp AI with the middle setting?
-Using Luminar Neo's Super Sharp AI with the middle setting resulted in a sharper and clearer image, which seemed like a usable solution at first glance.
Why did the photographer decide against using the face enhancer option in Luminar Neo?
-The face enhancer option in Luminar Neo altered the geometry of the photographer's face, which was not desired for an accurate portrait.
Which software did the photographer use after Luminar Neo to further improve the sharpness of the portrait?
-The photographer used Topaz Sharpen AI after Luminar Neo to further improve the sharpness of the portrait.
How does Topaz Sharpen AI handle the sharpening process?
-Topaz Sharpen AI allows users to select the best-looking version from a 4-up image comparison view and then saves a new version based on the selected settings.
What technique was used to combine the sharpened layer with the original image in Photoshop?
-The photographer used layer masks in Photoshop to combine the sharpened layer with the original image, revealing the sharpened effect only where desired.
What additional software from Topaz Labs did the photographer try to enhance the portrait further?
-The photographer tried Gigapixel AI from Topaz Labs, which has a face enhancement feature and is designed for scaling and enhancing photos.
How did the photographer address the color shift issue introduced by Gigapixel AI?
-The photographer addressed the color shift issue by changing the blending mode of the Gigapixel AI layer to Luminosity and then using a mask to reveal the sharpening effect only where needed.
What is the photographer's overall recommendation for fixing technical flaws in photos?
-The photographer recommends the Topaz Suite of software for fixing technical flaws in photos, including blurry, noisy, or small images that need rescaling.
What is the primary reason the photographer prefers Topaz Suite for image quality improvement?
-The photographer prefers Topaz Suite because it offers the best results after trying multiple software and applications designed to improve image quality.
Outlines
📸 Fixing Blurry Portraits with AI Software
The photographer discusses a recent portrait assignment where they made a mistake by not checking the sharpness of every photo. They used AI software to fix a blurry photo that was out of focus. They first tried Luminar Neo's Super Sharp AI extension, which uses AI to sharpen out-of-focus photos. After testing different settings, they found the middle option provided the best balance of sharpness without introducing digital artifacts. However, the face enhancer feature distorted the face geometry. So they turned to Topaz Sharpen AI, which offers a motion blur and out-of-focus correction. They found the motion blur setting worked best for their photo. They then combined the sharpened layer with the original in Photoshop to get the best result.
🎨 Selective Sharpening with Layer Masks
To selectively sharpen the blurry areas like the eyes without over-sharpening the already sharp hairline, the photographer creates a layer mask in Photoshop. They invert the mask to hide the sharpening effect, then paint over the key areas like the eyes and mouth with a 50% opacity brush to intensify the effect. If the effect is too strong in certain areas, they can paint with a black brush to hide it. They also shows how to refine the mask for a precise selection. The result is a significant improvement over the original blurry photo, with the sharpening applied only where needed.
🔍 Further Enhancements with Gigapixel AI
The photographer also tries Gigapixel AI from the Topaz Labs suite to further enhance the photo. Gigapixel is designed for scaling photos but also offers powerful AI technology for sharpening. They enable the face recovery feature and export the result to work on in Photoshop. While Gigapixel significantly sharpens the photo, it also introduces a slight color variation. To fix this, they switch the blending mode of the Gigapixel layer to Luminosity, which preserves the original colors while applying the sharpening. This gives a great final result, combining the best of both Topaz Sharpen AI and Gigapixel AI. The photographer highly recommends the Topaz suite for fixing technical flaws in photos and improving image quality.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Blurry Out of Focus Portraits
💡Luminar Neo
💡Super Sharp AI
💡Digital Artifacts
💡Face Enhancer
💡Topaz Sharp AI
💡Photoshop
💡Layer Mask
💡Gigapixel AI
💡Blending Modes
💡Topaz Labs Suite
Highlights
The photographer made a significant mistake by not checking the sharpness of every photo taken during a portrait assignment.
The client selected the one blurry photo where the focus was on the hair instead of the eyes.
Luminar Neo's Super Sharp AI was used to try and fix the blurry photo, with varying levels of success.
The Universal sharpening method in Super Sharp AI showed improvement but didn't meet expectations.
The middle setting of Super Sharp AI provided the sharpest result without digital artifacts at a closer zoom.
The Face Enhancer option in Luminar AI altered the geometry of the face, which was not desirable for an accurate portrait.
Topaz Sharpen AI was identified as a more effective tool for AI sharpening compared to Luminar Neo.
Topaz Sharpen AI can be used as a plugin or standalone app, offering different correction algorithms.
The motion blur correction in Topaz Sharpen AI unexpectedly worked better for the out-of-focus portrait.
A combination of Topaz Sharpen AI and Photoshop layering techniques produced a significantly improved result.
Masking techniques in Photoshop were used to selectively apply sharpening to certain areas of the photo.
Gigapixel AI was also used for further sharpening and had a face enhancement feature.
Gigapixel AI introduced a color variation issue which was resolved by blending modes in Photoshop.
The final result was a combination of Topaz Sharpen AI and Gigapixel AI for the best quality recovery of the blurry portrait.
Topaz Suite software is highly recommended for fixing technical flaws in photos such as blurriness, noise, or rescaling.
The photographer emphasizes that the recommendation of Topaz Suite is personal and not sponsored.
A link to Topaz Suite software is provided in the description for those interested in improving overall image quality.
