Blurry and out-of-focus photos are part and parcel of wildlife photography. Yet the frustration seems the same every time it happens. I enhanced one of my photos with AI and was blown away by the result.
The Problem: Soft Focus and Small Resolution
Recently, I was on a hike when I stumbled upon a gorgeous marsh with colorful flowers everywhere. I was looking for birds, but something else caught my attention: swarms of dragonflies and butterflies. I couldn’t help but take photos of them even though I was far away from the insects. Thankfully, I had a long telephoto lens.
I took a couple of images of a monarch butterfly from various angles. As the wetland was full of plants, my camera kept focusing on the leaves instead of the butterfly. The depth of field was also relatively shallow, so the butterfly was not as sharp as it should have been. In addition, I had to crop the butterfly from a larger scene.
In short, the image I had out of my camera was beautiful but unusable. As a wildlife photographer, I tend to stay away from AI tools. Still, I delete so many of my blurry photos that I finally bit the bullet and tried various AI upscale options.
Pixelcut: The Solution I’d Been Looking For
I checked out many AI upscale tools, but Pixelcut is the only one that lived up to my expectations. I started with popular tools, like Topaz Labs and Canva.
Canva wouldn’t let me open the photo directly. You have to open a design, add your image, and then upscale. That was too much hassle for me, so I swiftly moved on. I was counting on Topaz Labs to magically transform my image. I’ve heard people rave about its AI noise removal. For all the hype, the free upscale option from Topaz Labs didn’t work consistently. It was sharpening all the wrong places in the image. The result was mostly disappointing.
The YouCam app’s upscaler looked promising, but the free version only allows you to download photos with a watermark. I considered subscribing, but fortunately discovered Pixelcut first.
Pixelcut is a cross-device AI photo-editing tool that can be downloaded as an app on your phone or used via your laptop’s browser. I used the web version and loved the interface and ease of use. If you’re on the lookout for an AI photo editor, then this app should be on your radar.
The free version lets you try the 2x upscaler. You can also download up to three images without watermarks. To access the 4x upscaler, you need a subscription that costs about USD 10 per month.
High-Quality Usable Photo in Seconds
Photo upscalers work by enlarging the image by adding more pixels filled with color information based on the nearby pixels. The quality of the resulting image largely depends on how the tool fills the empty data. The latest AI tools use sophisticated interpolation algorithms to create new pixels. But not all tools are created equal, as I found in my experience.
In Pixelcut, this is as straightforward as it can be. Open the website, click the Upscale option, and add your image. I used the 2x Pixelcut Fast Upscale option. The resulting image was excellent for my needs. To try the 4x version or use Pixelcut Creative Upscale, you need a subscription.
As you can see, the app has sharpened the image in all the right places. The details on the butterfly’s eyes and wings stand out. Overall, the image is now clean enough to be used in designs and social media posts.
The Final Result Depends on Your Photo
I tried different images, and Pixelcut gave me good results every time. Take the example of my Gray Plover photo, which I shot from quite a distance. My camera had a tough time identifying the right focal point between the bird and the gray rocks. I was so excited to have taken this shot, but the plover was entirely out of focus.
Although Pixelcut couldn’t get all the details, the resulting photo is much better with crisp details on the beak and feathers.
The whale photo is another blurry example I tried. The upscaled image is not perfect, but acceptable. I don’t know if the pro version would give me superior results. But so far, I’m happy with the outcome without spending any money. I feel that the tool works well with pictures that have a lot of contrast.
Missed shots no longer have to be a lost cause. You can add life to your blurry photos by using an AI upscaler like Pixelcut. Go ahead and look into your photo stash; you’ll be surprised to find many images that can be saved.
