Downloadable software for Windows and Mac
Focus Magic is photo and image sharpening software for Windows and Mac. It uses advanced blur-reversal methods, including pattern matching and deconvolution, rather than merely increasing contrast around edges. It can repair out-of-focus blur and motion blur (camera shake), recovering detail that conventional sharpening filters can leave hidden.
Not sure which repair your image needs? Follow our guide to unblur photos by identifying the cause.
Sample
Most photo sharpening software uses an unsharp-mask technique to improve edge contrast but does not reverse the process that caused the blur. Focus Magic works as photo deblur software by matching the repair method to the problem: Focus Magic 6 for Windows uses pattern matching for out-of-focus blur, while Fix Motion Blur uses the direction and distance of the movement. These blur-specific methods can recover recorded detail that ordinary edge sharpening may leave hidden.
Built to reverse blur
Ordinary sharpening can make an image look crisper by increasing contrast at its edges. Focus Magic goes further when the source contains a measurable blur pattern: it uses a repair designed for the cause of that blur.
| Decision Factor | Focus Magic | Typical Edge Sharpening |
|---|---|---|
| Primary goal | Recover useful recorded detail by modelling or matching the blur that spread it through the image. | Increase contrast around edges so the image appears sharper. |
| Out-of-focus photos | Auto-Focus in Focus Magic 6 for Windows uses pattern matching and can handle different blur amounts across the same image. Manual Blur Width control is also available. | Usually applies a general sharpening strength or radius without identifying where the camera focused. |
| Motion-blurred photos | Fix Motion Blur matches the movement's direction and Blur Distance so directional streaking can be reversed where possible. | General sharpening does not normally model the direction and length of camera or subject movement. |
| Control | Preview important areas and adjust Blur Amount, Blur Width, direction, distance, noise handling, or the selected region as appropriate. | Typically offers general edge-strength controls intended for overall crispness. |
| Best fit | Valuable photos with identifiable focus or motion blur, including restoration, professional, and forensic work. | Mild softness or final presentation sharpening when no specific blur needs to be reversed. |
"Your software is absolutely 'Magic'. I scanned several old family pictures, and am astounded by the improvement in them by putting them through Focus Magic. An excellent product. Will there be upgrades? If so, will you notify me? Great product - if you require commendations for advertising purposes, please contact me. I will most certainly recommend your product to anyone who uses computers for digital pictures."
Real restoration examples
Focus Magic can recover details such as the number plate shown, which was unreadable in the original image. In Focus Magic 6 for Windows, Auto-Focus uses pattern matching to reverse out-of-focus blur. See how to fix an out-of-focus photo with Auto-Focus.
Here Focus Magic is used to recover the number plate of a moving car affected by motion blur. This level of detail cannot be recovered with an ordinary sharpening filter. Learn how to remove motion blur from a photo by matching its direction and distance.
Use Focus Magic to enhance old historic photos which have high sentimental value. In the comparison above, Focus Magic recovered more usable detail from the blurred photograph.
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This is my nephew Grant. I isolated him from the background and applied a Blur Width of 7 pixels at 100%, then repeated with a Blur Width of 4 pixels at 100%. I also softened some of the pixelation in the face afterwards, but the main impact is caused by Focus Magic.
A few years back I was shooting skateboarders at a local park. I had the idea of shooting from below the skater so I could better see his face. So I lay on my back in the bottom of the basin and had the skater come flying over me. The trouble with this was that I completely forgot about how the autofocus would work.
The skater was only above me for a fraction of a second and the camera was set up to ignore such brief changes in focus, so even with an ultra-wide angle lens the shot ended up being focused on the distant sky rather than the guy. A quick chimp at the rear screen afterwards didn't show the focus problem so I thought I was cool and moved on to the next shot.
Back at home I saw the problem and had to leave the shot as unsavable. About 6 months later I came across Focus Magic and remembered this blurry image as the perfect test. For me the improvement is remarkable. So much better than any of the usual sharpening techniques and tools, and so I bought it and use it every now and then when I stuff up a shot that can't be taken again.
The original raw file was converted in Lightroom. The sharper version was put into Photoshop CC and first thing I did was run Focus Magic as a layer. The correction factor was 19, so it's at the upper end of the corrections that can be done. The other settings were left at default. I then cleaned up a few fringes using the clone tool and ran it through Nik Color Efex to correct the colour balance and give the contrast some help.
Then I downsized to 2000 pixels tall and ran Nik Output Sharpener at a fairly high setting, with the Focus slider pulled up to 30%. These are more aggressive settings than I normally use but actually made much less impact on the final image than Focus Magic. Final step was to downsize to 1000px tall using the bicubic sharpener setting and save as jpeg.
The result is greatly improved. I can't say it's perfect but it's gone from an image that never saw the light of day to one that I keep on my Flickr photostream. Thanks for Focus Magic and I hope there are further improvements to come!
This was taken at the London Museum in 2005. It was impressive but in the rush to get the picture there was an obvious handshake. The photo wasn't tossed thankfully and Focus Magic came to the rescue using Motion Blur correction at a Distance of 11 pixels and a Direction of 90 degrees.
Join the tens of thousands of people who use Focus Magic as a plug-in for Photoshop and other supported image-editing programs.
On Windows, Auto-Focus detects the Blur Amount for out-of-focus photos. For Motion Blur, select the direction and then the distance. Manual controls remain available when needed.
Focus Magic models how blur spreads recorded detail, then uses deconvolution to recover number plates and other evidence where the source image contains enough usable information. See the forensic image-recovery examples and limitations.
Restore an unlimited number of your special photos for only $95 USD.
When there's a new upgrade, download it for free. There are no upgrade fees.
Try all the features on up to ten images before deciding whether to register.
You only ever need to purchase Focus Magic once, even when we make upgrades or you change your computer. It's yours to keep for life.
We offer free email support subject to our Fair Use Policy.
"I've been a working professional photographer for well over 45 years. Your software has taken my work to new heights in clarity that I thought could never be achieved without shooting very large format."
