blur the background in photoshop

A cleverly applied blur can give images a special quality that enhances focus, movement, or fosters a dreamlike, ethereal mood.

Let's look at three easy techniques for enhancing your images with blurring in Adobe Photoshop, as well as tips for how to achieve a similar look using free software.

Whether you want to direct the viewer's focus onto the subject of an image, create an ethereal bokeh effect, or give a portrait image dreamy, vintage appeal, you'll find a simple tutorial here to achieve your desired look.

Before and After Effect — Whether you want to create an ethereal vintage portrait or simply bring elements into sharper focus, blurring is a super useful technique that can be applied quickly and effectively. Image by contributor K-Angle.

Three Easy Techniques for How to Blur Photos in Photoshop

An image that's partially or entirely blurred instantly appears more ad-hoc and effortless than its sharpened counterparts. Blurring techniques are perfect for giving your images a street-style effect, injecting the image with movement and dynamism.

Blurring also replicates the effect of vintage photography styles, which were often the result of slower shutter speeds or a purposefully applied soft focus effect (the latter was often achieved by smearing petroleum jelly onto the camera lens).

Here, you'll find three mini-tutorials for creating beautiful blur styles in your images, each of which gives an image a particular effect:

How to Apply a Field Blur Effect: A good suits-all technique for improving focus and balance in your images.
How to Apply a Bokeh Blur Effect: This technique blurs any light source(s) in your image, creating an ethereal effect perfect for after-dark scenes.
How to Apply a Vintage Blur Effect: Inspired by the dreamlike style of images from the 1970s, this technique is particularly effective for giving portrait shots an Instagram-friendly soft focus effect.

What You'll Need to Create a Blur Effect in Your Images

We'll be using Photoshop to create each of these three effects, which allows optimum control over the type and scale of the blur effect. However, you can also achieve similar effects using free online software such as Shutterstock Editor. Skip to the end of the article to discover how to apply instant and effective blur techniques to images using Editor.

How to Blur Your Images Instantly using Shutterstock Editor: A Quick-Start Guide

1. How to Apply a Field Blur Effect in Photoshop

Field blur applies a general blur effect across the entirety of an image. It can soften overly-sharp photos or, as we'll do here, to bring focus to the foreground or main subject. It's the easiest technique you can do and incredibly effective.

Step 1

Select an image that will allow you to create contrast between a blurred and focused area. The simplest type of photo is one that features a background with depth and a subject in the foreground, such as this image of a hiker (below) overlooking a landscape.

Duplicate the Background layer to preserve a copy of your original image.

On the top menu, go to Filter > Blur Gallery > Field Blur.

Step 2

Field Blur allows you to click-and-drop pins onto areas of your image, allowing you to control the amount of blur on each area.

Begin by dropping a point onto the area (or areas) you want to remain in sharp focus. In this case, the man sitting on the cliff in the foreground.

Under the Field Blur section, move the Blur slider down to 0 px. I also want the cliff in the foreground to remain in focus, so I drop pins across this area, setting this to 0 px, as well.

Step 3

Drop more pins across the areas you want to blur. In this example, the forested landscape in the background. Adjust the level of Blur until you're happy. Between around 15 and 25 px will create a subtle blur on any areas of detail, without distorting the image too much.

Positioning Pins — *Continue dropping pins across the areas you want to blur.*

A higher level of blur can be applied to areas with less detail, such as the sky. Here, I increase the level of Blur to 137 px to create a diffused, glowing effect.

Diffused Effect — *Increase the level of **Blur** to **137 px** to create a diffused, glowing effect.*

Step 4

When you've finished applying the Field Blur, check the High Quality box at the top of the workspace, then click OK.

Your quick and easy Field Blur effect has helped to bring the foreground into greater focus, making the subject the focal point of the image.

2. How to Apply a Bokeh Blur Effect in Photoshop

This is a wonderful technique for softening images, making them feel ethereal and slow-moving. Bokeh is an effect that selectively applies blur to parts of your image, leaving others in focus. It's best in photos that feature light sources in the background or surrounds the subject, such as lamps or candle flames. It can also be used to soften the vibrancy of light that would otherwise distract from the main subject, such as neon store signs or phone lights.