elli Posted May 8, 2009 Share Posted May 8, 2009 I have looked and looked and can not find instructions for bluring a background of the photo of a person. I know I had it at one time. Could anyone send me in the right direction or give me instructions. It has to be one of those really simple thing to do, right? LOL ellie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonjonsmom Posted May 8, 2009 Share Posted May 8, 2009 You could use adjustment layers to blur the background if you're using PS or PSE. Or if you want it to more blend into the background you can use your cutting tool and increase the feather around it to about 50 so the background blends away into the paper. HTH, also check out the university section they might have a tutorial Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarabethp Posted May 8, 2009 Share Posted May 8, 2009 This is what I do, I don't know if it is the best way, but it isn't very hard. These instructions are for PSE. First duplicate the photo layer so that you have two layers of the photo. Select the top layer and rename it blur for easy reference. Go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian blur. I set the radius to about 4px. (You can adjust this based on the amount of blur you want.) Hit ok. Then select the bottom photo layer, the non-blurred one. In the layers palette select new adjustment layer>levels (it is the little circle that is half black and half white.) This layer should be between your blurred layer and non-blurred layer. Now select your top, blurred layer and hit ctrl+G. This makes it a clipping mask. Now you just use the levels layer to hide the blurred subject. Select the little white box on the levels layer and choose a basic soft brush and, with black, paint in your subject. Hope that helps! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JenniferZ Posted May 8, 2009 Share Posted May 8, 2009 I usually select the parts of the picture that I don't want to be blurred, then choose select inverse, then I apply a gaussian blur to that part only. For a truly easy way to do this, get these actions -- they are on sale and they ROCK!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B&K Mom Posted May 8, 2009 Share Posted May 8, 2009 I usually select the parts of the picture that I don't want to be blurred, then choose select inverse, then I apply a gaussian blur to that part only. For a truly easy way to do this, get these actions -- they are on sale and they ROCK!!! Those look GREAT Jennifer, but they are only for PS thus far. Debbie <----anxiously awaiting the PSE version Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JenniferZ Posted May 8, 2009 Share Posted May 8, 2009 Oops -- sorry! I assume everyone uses PS! My bad... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinkerbell11 Posted May 8, 2009 Share Posted May 8, 2009 This is a tut from the university!! It is a faded background but if you applied a blur filter to the background I think you would get the effect you are looking for HTH.... Faded Background Tutorial Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elli Posted May 10, 2009 Author Share Posted May 10, 2009 This is what I do, I don't know if it is the best way, but it isn't very hard. These instructions are for PSE.First duplicate the photo layer so that you have two layers of the photo. Select the top layer and rename it blur for easy reference. Go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian blur. I set the radius to about 4px. (You can adjust this based on the amount of blur you want.) Hit ok. Then select the bottom photo layer, the non-blurred one. In the layers palette select new adjustment layer>levels (it is the little circle that is half black and half white.) This layer should be between your blurred layer and non-blurred layer. Now select your top, blurred layer and hit ctrl+G. This makes it a clipping mask. Now you just use the levels layer to hide the blurred subject. Select the little white box on the levels layer and choose a basic soft brush and, with black, paint in your subject. Hope that helps! Thank you to all who replied. Three Tadpoles Mom was the directions I used. Very concise and easy to understand. I was thrown at the end when I had to brush. It took me a bit to realize I needed the eraser but then it was clear sailing. This has opened a world of possiblities. Thank you very much. elli Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B&K Mom Posted May 10, 2009 Share Posted May 10, 2009 I was thrown at the end when I had to brush. It took me a bit to realize I needed the eraser but then it was clear sailing. This has opened a world of possiblities. Thank you very much. elli Glad you got it to work. Actually, Elli, you do use a soft round brush and black foreground to "paint" (or brush if you'd rather) on the Levels layer. Sara had it right. It's a little crazy to do the first time, as you don't actually see the black "paint" on your LO. Stay with me here for a minute... You are painting on the invisible (on your LO) Levels layer. You need to click on the large White square on Levels layer in the layer palette (read that sentence a few times). Now with your round brush (just regular, not selection or eraser...brush tool) and foreground color black, go to the area of your LO that you want to reveal your focused subject. Begin painting and you will see your subject come through clearly. Just remember to be on the Levels layer with the large white square clicked (it gets a white outline/highlight around the square when you've clicked it). Otherwise, you may get black paint where you didn't intend (I've done that a few times...time for ctrl+z!) HTH. It's a great technique that can be used for tons of things and is changeable if need be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leen Posted May 10, 2009 Share Posted May 10, 2009 Debbie, Thanks for those great direction! I didn't realize you could do a clipping mask in Elements, but now that I know how to do I'm off and running! lol Thanks again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elli Posted May 10, 2009 Author Share Posted May 10, 2009 Debbie, Thanks for those great direction! I didn't realize you could do a clipping mask in Elements, but now that I know how to do I'm off and running! lol Thanks again! Dear B&K: Thanks for further instructions. The eraser worked great but I will try again the other way. No matter how many times I tried per her instructions I could not get it to work so I was missing something because her instructions were so great. So this is what I was doing. I was choosing the levels layer and double clicking on the white box that has the "mtn's" on it. That would bring up the screen that has the eyedroppers. I was choosing the black and hitting ok. Then I seemed to be lost from there. I will try your instructions and let you know. Thanks, elli Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PBarnes Posted May 11, 2009 Share Posted May 11, 2009 I do it without using the adjustment layer. I duplicate the photo, do the Guassian blur on the top one, then using a soft, round brush, erase the person and the sharp image of the person will show from below. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B&K Mom Posted May 11, 2009 Share Posted May 11, 2009 So this is what I was doing. I was choosing the levels layer and double clicking on the white box that has the "mtn's" on it. That would bring up the screen that has the eyedroppers. I was choosing the black and hitting ok. Then I seemed to be lost from there. I will try your instructions and let you know. Thanks, elli Click on empty white box, not the one with the mountains on it (in PSE 4 it's to the right of the mountain box). Nothing will change except a white frame will show up around the box. Grab your brush and go as described above. What you did was erase a portion of the layer (it's called a "destructive" technique...the layer is actually destroyed, no longer fully intact). What this adjustment layer technique allows you to do is keep your photo intact and use the brushing on the adjustment layer to block out what you don't want to see (this is called a "non-destructive" technique). Don't know if that helped, but thought I'd let you know. Anna Mansfield has a GREAT class on this. Watch for it in the Newsletter. It's called "Layer Masks in PSE". I learned a ton from it. Keep up the great work. And as we all know, there's more than one way to skin a cat in digital scrapping! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarabethp Posted May 11, 2009 Share Posted May 11, 2009 I do it without using the adjustment layer. I duplicate the photo, do the Guassian blur on the top one, then using a soft, round brush, erase the person and the sharp image of the person will show from below. I used to do it this way, but kept having to restart because I tend to be meticulous and picky. With the clipping mask I can hide with black and reveal with white over and over. I tend to be a perfectionist Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elli Posted May 11, 2009 Author Share Posted May 11, 2009 I do it without using the adjustment layer. I duplicate the photo, do the Guassian blur on the top one, then using a soft, round brush, erase the person and the sharp image of the person will show from below. I used to do it this way, but kept having to restart because I tend to be meticulous and picky. With the clipping mask I can hide with black and reveal with white over and over. I tend to be a perfectionist Thanks again. I can see that there are several ways to "skin the cat" so to speak. It is good to know them all. I feel like I got a really good lesson for this technique. The thing I like about Scrapgirls, one does not have to wait long for an answer in order to keep the project rolling. I finished my project today. So you will know why the process was important. When my husband and I were dating we went to a swim resort. I have a picture of him on a lounge chair and he looks so strong and handsome. The only problem there was this fat belly guy in the background. Well the fat man is gone forever! LOL I treasure the picture because my hubby is also gone. Thanks again, elli Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daisies803 Posted May 11, 2009 Share Posted May 11, 2009 Great information here. I used to do it the same way Pat does and as creature of habit don't wander too far off from that crowd. But...I'm feeling a bit brave and my take a go at these other methods. Wish me luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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