Pick the sharpest photo in four steps
- Choose the burst or the video. Several photos of the same moment, or one short clip. They are read in this tab.
- Wait for the scores. Each frame is measured the same way. A video is sampled at four frames a second by default.
- Look at the strip. Sharpest first, with the figures behind each rank. Tap any frame to choose it.
- Save or deblur. Save the winner untouched, save the top three, or open the winner in the deblur workspace.
Choose, before you repair
The best deblur is the one you do not need. A burst or a short video of the same moment almost always holds a frame where the camera was still. Measuring every frame the same way finds it in seconds, and only then, if even the winner is soft, is it worth running a pass.
| A burst from a phone | Every photo measured; the winner saved exactly as it arrived. |
|---|---|
| A short video | Frames sampled across the clip; the winner saved as a full-size PNG frame. |
| Top three | Saved together in a ZIP. |
| Still soft | Open the winner in the deblur workspace. |
When this will not help
- Frames of different scenes: the score measures blur, not which photo is better.
- Videos the browser cannot decode — MP4 (H.264) opens almost everywhere; some phone formats do not.
- Scores are measured on the whole frame. A sharp background behind a blurred face can outrank a frame where the face is sharp.
Got one photo only? Check whether it is blurry or open it in the deblur workspace.
Questions
How is “sharpest” measured?
By the median edge width: how many pixels the strongest edges take to rise from 10% to 90% of their contrast, read per orientation, on a copy reduced to 640 px. Lower is sharper. When two frames tie, the one with the higher Laplacian variance ranks first.
Can I use a video?
Yes, one clip at a time. The first 60 seconds are sampled at 1, 2, 4 or 8 frames per second. Frames are released once scored; when you save, the chosen frame is decoded again at full size and written as PNG.
Does it change my photos?
No. Saving the winner of a photo burst writes the original file byte for byte. Only a deblur, if you choose one, makes a new image.
Why might the top frame not look the best to me?
Because the score measures edge sharpness across the whole frame, not expression or composition. It is a technical figure to help you choose, and the strip lets you pick any frame.
When won't this work?
On photos of different scenes, on videos your browser cannot decode, and when the part you care about is small compared with the rest of the frame.
Is anything uploaded?
No. Photos and video are read in this browser tab.
Related
- Check if a photo is blurryMeasure blur before you upload: edge width, a heat map and a form checklist.
- Unblur images in bulkMeasure a whole folder first; only treatable photos get a pass.
- Unblur an imageDiagnose the blur, then reconstruct it, with the kernel on a dial.
- Motion deblurOpen straight into the motion kernel, and read the dial before trusting what it rebuilds.
