Greetings! Today we're going to learn how to fix a slight to moderate blur on a photograph using Photoshop.

We'll be using the image at right in the examples, brought to you by Deviant Art.

First things first. As a general rule, I duplicate the source image of any work before I actually do anything to it. That way, no matter what, I'm all set for recreating the original. When I'm experimenting with Photoshop, I tend to destroy some images.

For this work though, we will also need a duplicate layer, so duplicate the layer again.

Next, go to Filters in the menu bar and select Blur.../Gaussian Blur...

Apply a Gaussian Blur to the top duplicate layer. I used a radius of 3.1...now obviously, this will vary from image to image. Use your judgement. Just remember, there's really no reason to apply a huge Gaussian Blur here. It should just blur the image about as much as the one at right is.

Set the layer transition for this layer to "Multiply." The effect should be something like what we have to the far right.

Things are looking better about the image already! But we're not done yet.

Now, go to the menu bar and select Layer/Merge Visible.

This should condense the work down into one layer. Don't panic! That's what it's supposed to do!

Duplicate this bottom layer.

Go to the Filters selection list again. Select Brush Strokes/Accented Edges. You can see my settings at right.

Again, use your judgement on your own image here. Just try to get an effect like the one I have on yours as well.

OK, I know I've been telling you to use your own judgement a lot on this tutorial, but here's where you really need to be doing that. On the top layer of the image, create a mask (that's the second icon at the bottom of the Layers palette, in case you were wondering).

With a black paintbrush with ghosted (faded) edges, go over the parts of the image that look like they've obviously had an effect applied to them. In the case of this image and, it is safe to assume, most images of faces, the features often come off looking too sharp with just the filter and a mask must be applied to remove them from the effect.

Next, reopen the original image you started with. Add this image to your composite. You can do this by clicking-and-dragging the layer representation of the original image into the composite.

Once it's in, make sure the original image is properly centered in the image, then reorganize the layers so that they are like the layers organized at the far right, with the original image between the two copies of the background image.

Set the top layer's transition to Overlay. Set the opacity of the original image to 68%, or roughly a bit more than half if that doesn't look right. It should look something like the image below.

Go back to Layer / Merge Visible to flatten the image again.

Now, here's the tricky part. Go to Image / Adjustments / Levels... in the top menu. Select the eyedropper tool filled with the darkest ink. This eyedropper is meant to pick the darkest color or "dark point" in the image. Click on the darkest point in the image with the dark eyedropper tool. The darkest point will most likely be black if there's black in the image, but be careful. You can see the results of the image adjustments immediately. When you pick your dark point, this becomes the darkest allowable color in the image and it adjusts accordingly.

Repeat this for the grey-ink eyedropper. This is for the neutral point in the image. That will most likely be a beige or a grey color if there is one in the image. Pick the dominant color if neither of these is present. The neutral point will also set the general hue of the image overall.

Finally, the light point is the lightest point in the image. You can probably guess now how to pick it. It's usually white or extremely light grey if these are in the image, if not simply pick the lightest color.

You can see from my example what points I chose from the example image for the dark, neutral, and white points.

And you're done. Yay!

This image came from Deviant Art.com. Do not use it without the stock photographer's permission. Do not use this tutorial in any part or in whole without my express written permission. If you are interested in using this tutorial on your own website, contact me.