How much effort sometimes photographers have to make and what tricks they donât allow to get sharpness out of a not-so-good shot, wielding appropriate tools in the Photoshop program. But it turns out that many users, on the contrary, are interested in blurring a Photoshop photo, however, not at all in order to spoil the picture, but for artistic purposes (for example, in a group photo you can distinguish yourself by protecting yourself from blurring, and everyone else around smudge).
Of course, the editorâs main striking forces are focused on sharpening photographs, but the arsenal of erosion aids is also solid, and we still need to figure out which tools are more erosion-proofing or clarifying. But in any case, erosion is one of the most used filters, and the number of erosion agents is growing almost from version to version. For example, in Photoshop CS5 there were 10 blur filters, and in CS6 there are already 14.
All the power of the washout tools in Photoshop is concentrated in the Blur submenu, in the Filter menu (Blur). It would take a long time to list the goals and reasons for the blur, but in the vast majority of cases, the main task of such processing is to select the main object by defocusing the background space and adding volume to the image as a whole.
Blur and Blur + Filters
The simplest remedy for sharpening is the Blur tool in Photoshop. It has no settings, so no parameters are required. To blur âwith a plusâ means to blur even more, and if not enough, the key combination Ctrl + F will start the reprocessing.
Gaussian blur
This is perhaps the most popular (of the erosion means) tool that uses the Gaussian curve erosion algorithm. Here, with the "Radius" slider, you can choose the appropriate degree of washing. It is also simple, as in the previous case, but much more effective.
Frame Blur
This filter is also configured only by the radius engine, but the algorithm of its operation differs from the previous filter. Here, the washing occurs by averaging the colors of neighboring pixels, and the engine just changes this averaged area.
Intelligent Wash
The smartest blur in Photoshop is called Smart ... and this filter really matches its name, although in the Russian Photoshop, the word smart is in quotation marks, but it isnât in the English version (Smart Blur). Here, in addition to the wash radius, you can set the threshold and quality of processing, as well as select one of the additional blending modes, in addition to the default setting ("Manual", it is also the "Normal" mode).
Radial blur
Depending on the selected blurring method, the filter allows you to simulate the smearing of the image caused by the rotation of the camera, when the image remains sharp in the center and blurred on the periphery (ring method), or you can get the effect that occurs when the camera is sharply hit (Linear / Zoom). The strength of the wash is regulated by the "Quantity" slider, but you can also select the center of the effect (with the mouse) and the image quality at the output.
Simulation of image blur when shooting dynamic objects
Using the Blur in Motion filter, Photoshop creates a characteristic blurring effect on a photograph that is obtained when shooting a fast-moving subject. Therefore, in addition to the intensity of the effect, regulated by the "Displacement / Shift" engine, of course, the direction of movement (angle) is set.
Surface blur
Despite the fact that the name of the Surface Blur filter translates as âsurface blurâ, in some versions of âPhotoshopâ it is for some reason called âSurface Blurâ.
This legible filter blurs the image, preserving the line and border to the best of your ability and your settings, therefore it is often used to combat grain and digital noise by manipulating the Radius and Isogelia parameters.
Mysterious Averaged Blur
There is one such blur in Photoshop (Average), the activity of which can hardly be called blur, because this filter simply fills the whole image or selected area with the average color of this image or fragment.
If you apply this filter to the entire image on its duplicate, and then reduce the opacity of the copy, you can tone the image in a toned way, but for such purposes this is not the wisest decision. But if you blur-average some fragment and, lowering the opacity, make an inscription on it, it may turn out interesting.
Lens wash
This is the literal translation of the English name for the Lens Blur filter, which in the Russian-language versions of the Photoshop program is called "Blur at a shallow depth of field." This blur in Photoshop is used in cases where the ideal sharpness in the whole photo does not suit for compositional or any other reasons, that is, when only a certain area or object should remain in focus. All that is required of us is to tell the filter what should be closer in the image and whatâs next, creating a so-called depth map, which can serve, for example, as a linear or circular gradient from black to white built in the alpha channel.
The smart filter, calculating the blur algorithm, will immediately realize that the black areas are those that are closest to the camera. They are followed by all shades of gray as they are removed. Well, the white areas are as far from the camera as possible, and here you need to perform intensive blurring of the background. The filter will do the rest in the best possible way, obeying the settings that we specify.
An alpha channel (empty) is created in the channel palette with the corresponding button and, opening the eye in the RGB line, to see the photo itself, fill it with a black and white gradient, drawing from the nearest point to the farthest line, which should correspond to the desired angle of view.
Then you need to close the visibility of the alpha channel, return to the RGB channel and turn on the Lens Blur filter. Next, in the "Source" list, select our alpha channel and click in the area of ââthe image that should be in focus (or set the distance to the focal point with the "Focal Length Blur" engine). Well, with the "Radius" slider we select the blur strength (degree of defocus). The rest of the settings are very subtle effects that are rarely used for regular photos, so click OK and note with satisfaction how realistic the blur in Photoshop is. It can simulate the depth of field of the image.
Manual erosion "Photoshop tools." How to use your finger to smear photos
Along with filters (plug-ins) for washing, which I do all the âblack workâ for us, Photoshop also has tools for manual work that can do almost anything that filters can do, and even a little more, and maybe better (still handmade). We are talking about two of the three tools of the group, deprived of hot keys and headed by the Blur Tool.
By design, this is a brush in which the "Intensity" parameter performs the pressure function in the settings. Depending on the size and hardness of the selected brush, the Blur Tool can blur all the image or details in a certain area at once. Replacing sharp boundaries with smooth transitions, the tool skillfully softens the contours, and if you hold down the mouse button, it will work like a brush in spray mode, enhancing the effect. This tool in good hands can do almost everything, in any case with the task of making a blurry background, the Blur Tool can do it easily.
The Finger tool, also known as the Smudge Tool (smear, smudge), really smears the drawing, as if you had swiped your finger across a freshly painted picture. The strength of the effect is also regulated by the âIntensityâ parameter, but unlike the neighboring tool, there is still the âFinger-drawingâ function , by selecting which (with a tick in the box), we will smear it with the first color. âFingerâ finds practical application, for example, in the painting of the finest details when highlighting such complex objects as hair, wool, fur, and so on, as well as in a peculiar imitation of painting.
Blurry edges
Possessing such a powerful arsenal of tools, techniques and washing methods that can turn an ordinary photo into a wonderful art canvas, blurring the edges for Photoshop is simple. To do this, select the area that should not be affected, and blur the periphery by selecting one of the above filters. But most often, Gaussian Blur is used for this purpose.
If standard tools are used for selection, then to obtain a smooth border, they are set to feathering (on the toolbar above or in the menu "Selection> Modification"). And if you use the Quick Mask (Q) for this purpose, the smoothness of the transition is governed by the opacity of the brush.
In all cases, the selection needs to be inverted (Shift + Ctrl + I), or the image itself will not blur, not the edges. By the way, itâs not necessary to use the selection, since you can also blur the edges manually using the Blur Tool.
New filters
In Photoshop CS6, the âshelfâ of erosion filters has arrived. In the âBlurâ submenu, newcomers are located separately at the very top, defiantly guarding themselves from the old filters with a dash. These âupstartsâ are called Field Blur, Iris Blur / Aperture Blur and Tilt-Shift / Tilt-Shift, and they have a special interface, they can create realistic depth of field in the photo.
Unlike older "colleagues" of previous versions (including Photoshop CS5), the algorithms of the new filters are designed in such a way as to allow the user to perform selective focusing, working with controls directly on the image.