Can Photoshop Be Used to Uncensor?

A censored image cannot be recovered by Adobe Photoshop.

When an image is censored by being blurred or pixelated, it's common to want to see what has been blocked from view. Unfortunately, this task cannot be accomplished with Adobe Photoshop.

Explanation

The reason why you cannot uncensor a photo file in Photoshop is that the image you are opening has been finalized and saved after being censored. The history of an image is not saved when it is altered.

Find the Original Image

The only way to see the information censored from an image is to find an original copy that has not been digitally censored. However, this may not be possible, depending on the circumstances.

Fake It

If you really want to show the image uncensored, you could also compromise by finding a similar image and trying to patch them together in Photoshop. However, this would only be a simulation and not a practical solution.

References

• Adobe Photoshop: Help and Support