Deblur text in any image, free
A slightly out-of-focus photo of a sign, a shaky shot of a receipt or a soft screenshot. Upload it and PhotoPolisher sharpens the letters and cleans up the background so the text reads again.
Before
After
How to unblur text in an image
Blur spreads every letter into its neighbours. Deblurring reverses that spread step by step, as long as you know roughly how far it went.
Upload the image
A photo or a screenshot. Crop it to the text first if the image is very large, it makes the result sharper and faster.
Set the blur amount
Start in the middle. If letters look doubled or have halos, lower it. If they still look soft, raise it.
Pick Text or Photo
Text mode also turns the background white and the letters dark, like a scan. Photo mode only sharpens and keeps the colors.
How this text unblurer works
Most blur in phone photos and screenshots is close to a known shape: each point of light is spread into a small soft disc. PhotoPolisher uses a well-established method called Richardson–Lucy deconvolution to undo that spreading over several passes. Each pass makes the image a little sharper while checking that, if you blurred it again, you would get the photo you uploaded.
That’s also why it has limits. If the text is so blurred that letters have merged into grey bars, the information isn’t in the file anymore and no tool can recover it reliably. Mild to moderate blur, where you can almost read the words, gives the best results.
Easy photo unblur for everyday text
- Screenshots that were scaled down and went soft.
- Photos of signs and menus taken from a distance.
- Receipts and documents shot quickly before they curled.
- Whiteboards and slides photographed from the back of the room.
To deblur a general image online, such as a slightly soft portrait or landscape, choose Photo mode and keep the blur amount low.
Questions
Something else on your mind? Get in touch.
Can you unblur text that has been pixelated on purpose?
No. Pixelation and redaction remove information on purpose. This tool is for accidental blur from focus or movement.
How do I unblur text in an image on my phone?
Open this page on your phone, upload the image and adjust Blur amount until the letters look clean. Then tap Download.
Why do some letters get a white halo?
The blur amount is set higher than the real blur. Move the slider down a little.
Does it work on handwriting?
Yes, as long as the strokes are still visible. Text mode makes the paper white, which helps handwriting stand out.
Is it free?
Yes, with no watermark and no account.
Make blurry text readable
Free, in your browser, no sign-up.