How to blur the background with Photoshop

The program Photoshop has huge capabilities that allow you to produce almost any changes with the image. The blurred background is widely used by many photographers. In real life, this effect is achieved through the functions of the camera. But when the picture is already taken, you can use the graphic editor Photoshop. This will be discussed in this article.

Preparation

The background blur in Photoshop takes place in two stages. Just say that you only need a minimum knowledge of this program. And even if you first encounter Photoshop, then a ten-minute digression on all the most necessary tools will allow you to achieve blurring of the background. You can use any version of the program. For this work it is best to choose a high-quality image.

Instructions

The main idea of this method is to separate the background from the main part of the image, and only then apply the filters to the necessary area of the photo.

1. Open the image in the Photoshop editor.
2. Any way that is convenient for you, stroke the part of the image that will not be blurred.
3. I recommend using the pen tool (P). With it, you can achieve a more accurate selection. All further actions will be associated with this tool.
4. After selecting the pen, start the selection. Try to follow the outline of the selected image area as precisely as possible. Once the stroke is complete, connect the last selection point to the first. So you have a contour formed.
5. Now you need to right-click on the path and select the option to "create a selection". In the dialog box, set the radius of the feathering to 2 pixels. And click "Ok".
6. Select any selection tool, such as Lasso (L). Right-click on the background area and find the "inverse selection" option. Thus, you have highlighted the entire background. For Photoshop there is no standard way to perform this operation, so you have to use not quite standard approaches.
7. In the top panel, find the "filters" tab, and there select the "blur" function. In the selected menu, find the "Gaussian blur". In this window, you specify the radius of the action in pixels. Basically this value assigns 3-5 pixels. But you can put your numbers. It all depends on the situation and your preferences.

additional information

You can additionally use the tool "blur" and slightly correct the mistakes made during the selection phase. If you used another method to create a selection, you can skip steps 4, 5, 6. The main thing is to understand that we need to separate the background from the main part of the photo. And how this will happen does not matter. Therefore, if you are better at owning another tool and mistreating the pen, then it's better to use a tool that is convenient for you.

Conclusion

In Photoshop, you can perform a variety of operations with the image and change the background at your own discretion. Combine the value and use the new features. Fortunately, this program allows us to endlessly experiment and achieve the best result.