I know that I've mentioned this in the past, but I've a lot of old slides that my grandpa took way back in the 1950s that are totally out of focus. I would just toss them, but they are of a trip he made back home to Sweden after being gone for decades. I'm going to scrap them no matter what, but I was wondering if ya'll have any tricks, etc., on how to fix blurry photos? I scrap with Artisan until I can figure out PSE, and it really doesn't do much to help. I do have PSE 22, so if there's anything on there that could help, that would be great. Any thoughts? If there's nothing out there, then at least I'll stop looking! Thanks in advance.
I have played around with trying to fix photos like that in the past. But most of the time it really didn't help so I just scrapped them as they were. I figure something is better than nothing since photos in those days were not something many people spent their money on.
I've been eyeing a couple Topaz products -- Gigapixel AI and Sharpen AI -- but I haven't used them. This video shows some pretty amazing image improvement on a slide scan from Gigapixel AI. I think they have trial periods so you could try it out before you buy.
Yeah, that's what I'm thinking. It was a borrowed camera and my grandpa didn't know how to use it! The only photos that were in focus were of his Greyhound bus trip across the country from California to New York to get the boat. So, I got an accident(!), the bus drivers and a few NYC pics before everything went out of focus. Oh, wow! I'll have to check them out. Thanks so much!
I have Topaz Sharpen AI and Gigapixel AI. Both are pretty awesome. If you'd like to send me a photo to play with and try to correct, shoot me a conversation!
First of all: yay for Sweden! Where were you? If I want to use a blurry photo, I sometimes blend it into the background. The blurriness sort of becomes a part of the photo editing that way.
I just took advantage of the blurriness to be honest. Given how dark the photo was to start with, any changes probably wouldn't have looked as good and I actually loved the layout I did with that photo anyway.
One method would be to duplicate the photo. Clip the first one to a mask. With the duplicate photo, create an inverted mask and brush some of the photo overtop of the first, changing the blend mode to see what is most effective.
Thank you! I'll definitely give that a try. Oh, I will take you up on this!! I'll find a photo and send it to you. Thank you!!! The problem is EVERY photo is blurry. Or double-exposed! So I'd just like to see if I can fix them somewhat, if possible. My grandfather (and almost all of my relatives on both sides of the family) are in Sweden. It's only my grandfather's (morfar) family that we have been in touch with. The family homestead was in Dala-Järna and that is where he traveled to, as well as Stockholm. My cousins have sold it and now everyone is scattered around Dalarna and Stockholm. I know I've family (or had family) in Visby and Småland, but we've lost touch. My grandpa immigrated to the US when he was 16 (could you believe a kid doing that now?) and he had one brother follow him out a few years later. I just love Sweden and can't wait to go back! My husband wants to spend a night at the Ice Hotel. I said NO until he reminded me it would get me back to Sweden. He sure knows how to sweet-talk me. lol!
@QuiltyMom I live in Dalarna. In Orsa, if you know where that is. I have some roots in Dala-Järna on my grandmother's (mormors) side, but it's a couple of generations back. And my husband has roots in Småland.
Jennifer, that’s a great layout! And I do agree with you that sometimes you just have to scrap with what you’ve got. I remember there was a past MOC challenge about this and I scrapped a whole page with out of focus or blurry shots, and I loved how it turned out.
Yes! I know were that is. I’ve not been there, but close. One cousin lives in Mora, so I have had the privilege of attending two Midsummer celebrations in Vattnäs (2016 & 2018). 2016 was picture perfect, and 2018 they couldn’t put up the pole because of the wind. We also had our lunch at Tallberg that day. What an amazing place that was. And the food!! I have two cousins in Falun, so that’s where I’ve been the most, although that’s not saying much since I can count the time spent there in days. And, of course, I’ve been to Carl Larsson-Gården. All I can say is Wow! If we do return to Sweden I’ll be sure to let you know!
We took a Baltic cruise that left from and returned to Stockholm and I absolutely LOVED Sweden. It seemed like such a lovely place to live and work and honestly, I think it is overlooked as a city to visit. Of course, I was there in the summer -- not sure how I'd feel about it in the winter!! I would love to see more of the country. My husband has a good percentage of Swedish and we have relatives there so I hope to get back there to focus just on Sweden some day.
Stockholm is lovely! It is my favorite city. And Sweden is so beautiful. I loved the midnight sun in the summer, but seeing I’ve never been in the wintertime I’m sure I wouldn’t like all the darkness. One cousin says she counts the days until the sun comes out again, and I think I would, too.
That's amazing. I live like a 10 minute drive from Vattnäs. We work in Mora. I don't like Stockholm. Too crowded and stressful for my taste. I wish I could enjoy it more, cuz there's lot of interesting historic monuments and stuff to see.
I need to show ya'll something! Thanks to Julie @mrs2a50, who graciously offered to run some photos through her programs, it's show and tell time! Here is a "before" photo: And an "after"! It does change the dynamic of the photo a bit, but holy cow - look at how much better it is! It looks very painterly. She said she ran it through Sharpen AI, so I will definitely be getting that program. Thank you again!! You don't know how happy this makes me!
