Unblurring an intentional blur using Photoshop

[reginashwartz]

Hey guys, I'm sort of a newbie here, I came by this site through Google a few minutes ago when I was searching for methods to unblur photographs.

I've tried the following but with no success:
- Sharpen tool
- Unsharp mask
- High Pass filter

I would really appreciate it if you guys out there could teach me how to make it come back to the way it was.

The photo I'm referring to is over here:
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b1...air/unblur.png

Thanks!

[Moejoe]

Thats a good challenge, but my personal opinion is that the pixels have already been changed by the blur so the details have gone and there is nothing to enhance or bring back.

[reginashwartz]

Hmm my thoughts were that Photoshop and most other photo editing software should share similar algorithms when creating the blur effect.

Any chance that these software come with tools that do the reverse of the blur algorithm?

[ktg222]

Regina,

It sounds like you worked on the Background layer. It usually is good workflow practice to make a copy of the Background, (Ctrl/Cmd+J) and then make your corrections. That way you will always have an original image to go back to if you wish.

[Swampy]

Once blurred that drastically there is no going back. You may be able to restore the face by taking detail elements from another photo and placing them in the blurred version, but I'm afraid this is beyond repair.

Like KTG222 says, ALWAYS work on a copy of the background layer.

[0lBaldy]

It is all way beyond me! Algorithms and such is a foreign language to me!

There must be a reason why she does not want you to know what she looks like if she blurred the photo..

This is the best I could do.. I will leave it up to you to try and reverse-engineer the processes because I used the hit and miss method and did not keep track of what worked and what did not.. (click the image and it should change)

[TommyO]

Originally Posted by reginashwartz

Hmm my thoughts were that Photoshop and most other photo editing software should share similar algorithms when creating the blur effect.

Any chance that these software come with tools that do the reverse of the blur algorithm?

Nope.

The exception is when software is used to twist or otherwise distort an image. It can then be restored close enough to see who it is. But, with basic blurring, there is no magical algorithm. If you ever create one, you'll be a millionaire !