How to Fix Motion Blur in a Photo

What Causes Motion Blur

Motion blur happens when something moves during the exposure — either the camera (camera shake) or the subject (a running person, a moving car). The camera sensor records the movement as a directional streak instead of a sharp point. Longer exposures and dimmer lighting make it worse because the shutter stays open longer, giving more time for movement to register.

Camera Shake vs. Subject Motion

Camera shake affects the entire image uniformly — everything has the same directional blur because the camera itself moved. Subject motion blur is localized — the moving person or object is streaked while the background stays sharp. The AI handles both differently. For camera shake, it applies a global deblur based on the detected motion direction. For subject blur, it targets only the blurred regions and leaves the sharp background untouched.

Common Motion Blur Situations

• Handheld shots in low light (slow shutter speed)
• Kids or pets running during the photo
• Sports and action photography without fast enough shutter
• Photos taken from a moving car or train
• Camera shake from pressing the shutter button too hard
• Concert and event photos in dim venues

How AI Reverses Motion Blur

AI deblurring works by estimating the blur kernel — the mathematical pattern that describes exactly how each pixel smeared during the exposure. For horizontal camera shake, the kernel is a horizontal line. For diagonal movement, it's an angled streak. The AI estimates this kernel from the image itself, then applies an inverse operation that effectively 'un-smears' the pixels back into sharp positions. Modern AI does this far better than older deconvolution algorithms because it can also fill in detail that pure math would miss.

When Motion Blur Is Too Severe

Mild to moderate motion blur usually recovers well — you can expect a significant improvement in sharpness. Extreme blur, where the subject is a long streak with no recognizable detail, is much harder because the original information is spread too thin. The AI can reduce the blur but may not achieve tack-sharp results. Photos where both camera shake and subject motion overlap are the most challenging because two different blur patterns need to be separated and corrected.

Tips for the Best Deblur Results

Describe the blur type if you know it: 'fix the camera shake' or 'the dog is motion-blurred, sharpen it.' For photos where only part is blurry, be specific: 'sharpen just the runner, keep the background as is.' If the first result still shows some blur, try 'sharpen more aggressively' or 'apply stronger deblur.' For photos with both blur and noise (common in low-light shots), fix the blur first — denoising after deblurring produces cleaner results.