Best Software to Fix Blurry Out of Focus Portraits and Photos
TLDRIn this video, the speaker recounts a mishap during a portrait photography assignment where a crucial photo was found to be out of focus, particularly around the eyes. To rectify this, the speaker turns to software solutions to sharpen the image. Initially, they use Luminar Neo's Super Sharp AI with varying intensity settings, but find the results lacking. The face enhancer option also distorts facial geometry, which is unsatisfactory. They then switch to Topaz Sharpen AI, which uses AI to correct the blurriness more effectively. By combining the sharpened layer with the original in Photoshop and using layer masks, they refine the image further. The speaker also experiments with Topaz Gigapixel AI for additional sharpening and detail enhancement, noting a slight color variation issue. To maintain color accuracy while sharpening, they blend the Gigapixel layer using 'Luminosity' mode in Photoshop. The video concludes with a recommendation of the Topaz Suite for improving image quality, including sharpening, noise reduction, and image scaling.
Takeaways
- 📸 The photographer made a mistake by not checking the sharpness of each photo, leading to a blurry portrait where the focus was on the hair instead of the eyes.
- 💡 Luminar Neo's Super Sharp AI extension was used to attempt to fix the blurry photo, with varying levels of success depending on the sharpening setting chosen.
- 🔍 The middle sharpening option in Luminar Neo produced the sharpest result without introducing too many digital artifacts, but it still wasn't perfect.
- 🖼️ The Face Enhancer option in Luminar AI altered the geometry of the face, which was not desired for an accurate portrait.
- 🌟 Topaz Sharpen AI proved to be a more effective solution for sharpening the blurry portrait, with the motion blur correction algorithm unexpectedly outperforming the out-of-focus correction.
- 🎨 A combination of Topaz Sharpen AI and Photoshop layer masking techniques allowed for selective sharpening of the portrait, enhancing the eyes and mouth while preserving the original sharpness around the hairline.
- 🔄 Topaz Gigapixel AI was also used to further enhance the photo, with a face recovery feature that increased sharpness but introduced slight color variations.
- 🖌️ Switching the blending mode to Luminosity in Photoshop helped to combine the sharpening from Gigapixel AI with the original colors from the unsharpened layer.
- ✨ The final result was a significantly improved portrait that corrected the initial technical flaw without compromising the integrity of the original image.
- 🔗 The Topaz Suite of software is recommended for fixing technical flaws in photos, including blurry, noisy, or small images that need rescaling.
- 📚 The photographer shared personal experience and a link in the description for those interested in exploring the Topaz software for image quality improvement.
Q & A
What was the photographer's mistake during the portrait photography assignment?
-The photographer did not zoom in to check the sharpness of every single photo and missed the focus on the eyes, resulting in a blurry portrait.
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 to fix 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 issue with the high setting in Luminar Neo's Super Sharp AI?
-The high setting in Luminar Neo's Super Sharp AI resulted in a step backward in terms of sharpness and introduced a lot of digital artifacts when zoomed in.
What additional tool did Luminar Neo's Sharp AI have to improve the portrait?
-Luminar Neo's Sharp AI has a Face Enhancer option that can be used to improve the portrait.
Why did the photographer turn to Topaz Sharp AI after using Luminar Neo?
-The photographer turned to Topaz Sharp AI because it is considered the 'daddy Mac' of AI sharpening and offered better results in fixing the blurry portrait.
How does the photographer combine the sharpened layer with the original photo?
-The photographer uses a layer mask in a photo editing app like Photoshop to combine the sharpened layer with the original, revealing the sharpened effect only where desired.
What is the main advantage of using Topaz Gigapixel AI in addition to Sharpen AI?
-Topaz Gigapixel AI has a face recovery feature that can further enhance the sharpness of the photo without altering the original colors, providing additional control over the final image quality.
What blending mode does the photographer recommend to maintain the correct color from the layer below?
-The photographer recommends using the Luminosity blending mode to maintain the correct color from the layer below while still benefiting from the sharpening effects.
What is the final outcome of using Topaz Sharpen AI and Gigapixel AI together?
-The final outcome is a significantly improved, sharp, and high-quality portrait that effectively covers up the initial mistake of the photographer, resulting in a professional and focused image.
Why does the photographer recommend the Topaz Suite of software for fixing technical flaws in photos?
-The photographer recommends the Topaz Suite because, after trying multiple software and applications, they found Topaz to be the most effective in improving image quality, particularly for fixing blurry, noisy, or small images that need rescaling.
What is the link provided in the description for those interested in the Topaz Suite?
-The link in the description leads to more information about the Topaz Suite software, including Sharpen AI and Gigapixel AI, for those interested in improving their image quality.
Outlines
📸 Photo Restoration with Luminar Neo's Super Sharp AI
The speaker recounts a portrait photography mishap where they failed to check the sharpness of their photos, leading to a blurry image being selected by the client. To rectify the situation, they used Luminar Neo's Super Sharp AI extension, which is designed to fix out-of-focus photos. They experimented with different sharpening levels (low, middle, high) and found the middle setting to be the sharpest without introducing too many digital artifacts. However, they also used the Face Enhancer option but found it altered the facial geometry, which was not desirable. The speaker concludes that while Super Sharp AI improved the image, it wasn't the ideal solution they were seeking.
🖼️ Refining the Sharpness with Topaz Sharpen AI and Gigapixel AI
Dissatisfied with the results from Luminar Neo, the speaker turned to Topaz Sharpen AI, an AI-powered sharpening tool, to further enhance the clarity of the blurry portrait. They used it as a standalone app and compared different correction versions, ultimately deciding that the motion blur correction worked best for their out-of-focus image. The speaker then layered this corrected image in Photoshop with the original to selectively sharpen certain areas like the eyes and mouth, avoiding over-sharpening the already sharp hairline. They also experimented with Gigapixel AI for further enhancement, utilizing its face recovery feature. Although Gigapixel AI introduced a slight color variation, the speaker resolved this by blending the layers using the luminosity mode in Photoshop for a balanced result.
🌟 Topaz Software Suite Recommendation for Image Quality Improvement
The speaker highly recommends the Topaz Software Suite for fixing technical flaws in photos, such as blurriness, noise, or the need for image upscaling. They share their personal experience with multiple software solutions and assert that Topaz offers the best results. The speaker provides a link in the description for those interested in checking out the software, specifically mentioning Sharpen AI, Gigapixel AI, and Denoise AI as fantastic tools that are available as part of a bundle for overall image quality improvement. The speaker thanks the viewers for watching and teases the next video.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Blurry Photos
💡Portrait Photography
💡Luminar Neo
💡Super Sharp AI
💡Topaz Sharp AI
💡Masking Technique
💡Digital Artifacts
💡Gigapixel AI
💡Layered Photo Editing
💡Face Enhancer
💡Topaz Labs Suite
Highlights
The photographer made a mistake by not checking the sharpness of every photo, resulting in a blurry portrait.
Luminar Neo's Super Sharp AI was used to attempt to fix the blurry photo.
Three levels of sharpening (low, middle, high) were tested with the middle setting appearing to be the sharpest.
Digital artifacts appeared when using the high setting in Super Sharp AI.
The Face Enhancer option in Luminar AI altered the geometry of the face, which was not desired for an accurate portrait.
Topaz Sharp AI was identified as a superior tool for AI sharpening.
A four-up image comparison view was used in Topaz Sharp AI to select the best correction version.
The motion blur algorithm in Topaz Sharp AI was found to be more effective than the out-of-focus algorithm for this portrait.
Photoshop was used to combine the sharpened layer with the original to selectively sharpen certain areas.
A layer mask was created to control the sharpening effect and avoid over-sharpening.
Gigapixel AI was used in conjunction with Topaz Sharp AI for further photo enhancement.
Gigapixel AI introduced a face recovery feature and the ability to adjust color variation.
Blending modes in Photoshop were utilized to combine the sharpening effect with the original color.
The final result was a significantly improved portrait quality by using Topaz Suite software.
Topaz Suite includes Denoise AI and Gigapixel AI as part of a bundle for overall image quality improvement.
The photographer recommends Topaz Suite for fixing technical flaws in photos such as blurriness, noise, or rescaling.
A link to Topaz Suite software is provided in the description for viewers interested in improving their image quality.