Problems such as blurred edges and poor contrast in infrared images acquired by an infrared imager lead to poor visual effects and low image quality. Based on the multi-scale Retinex (MSR) algorithm, a MSR infrared image enhancement method based using guided filter edge preserving and gradient preserving is proposed. Firstly, a guided filter is used in place of the Gaussian filter in the MSR algorithm to estimate the illuminance component. Secondly, the illumination component is processed via logarithmic transformation, expanding the low end of the gray scale and compressing the high end. Finally, the detail layer image obtained using guided filtering is linearly amplified and superimposed with the MSR processed image to obtain an enhanced infrared image. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm can effectively improve the quality of infrared image compared with the conventional MSR algorithm and guided filter.