Blurring the background is a common technique that allows you to control attention, highlight the main and hide the secondary. Often there are objects in the background that take away too much attention, introduce disharmony, or are simply not photogenic. In such cases, blurring the background can save the day. You can also use this technique to make your photo more artistic.
It is necessary
computer, photoshop
Instructions
Step 1
Switch to quick mask mode by clicking on the icon marked with a red circle. In this mode, you can mask out the areas of the photo that you want to keep sharp. Later, when blur filters are applied, they will not affect these areas.
Select the brush tool from the tool palette (key B). Take a medium sized brush and paint over the areas you want to keep the same. You don't need to be too careful at this stage.
By default, the area to be painted will be covered with a red veil. It will not affect the image.
Step 2
After the mask is ready in a draft, take a thinner brush and work on the details. The more complex and small details you need to work out, the smaller the brush should be. At this stage, it makes sense to zoom in on the image.
This process takes a little dexterity. If you accidentally paint over the excess area, then you must select the eraser (key E) to erase the excess.
Step 3
After the mask is ready, press the Q key to return to normal mode. The red veil will disappear and the entire unmasked area will be selected. All subsequent steps will only affect this selection.
Step 4
Choose from the menu Filter: "Blur / Gaussian Blur" (in the English version Filter / Blur / Gaussian Blur) to blur the background. In the dialog box, select a suitable blur radius, and click "ok". In most cases, the blur radius will be 1 to 3 pixels. But, of course, each photo needs to be dealt with separately. Try to play around with the settings, trying to find the best option.
There are only a few general recommendations on this score. For wide-angle photography (that is, if the image contains a large area of space), you should not try on too much blur. If you set the blur too much, the result will look unnatural.
After applying the blur effect, press Ctrl + D to deselect and finally save your image.
