Blur in Photoshop: a tool, an instruction. Photoshop lessons"

How much effort sometimes you have to apply to photographers and what tricks they are not allowed to pull out from an unsuccessful shot, using the appropriate tools in the Photoshop program. But it turns out that very many users, on the contrary, are interested in blurring the "Photoshop", though not in order to spoil the picture, but for artistic purposes (for example, in group photography, you can isolate yourself by shielding from washing, and all the others around "Smear").

Of course, the main impact forces of the editor are focused on increasing the sharpness of photos, but the arsenal of means of washing is also solid, and we must also figure out which tools are more - whether eroding, or clarifying. But in any case, washouts are one of the most used filters, and the number of blurring agents is growing almost from version to version. So, for example, in Photoshop CS5 there were 10 blur filters, and in CS6 there are already 14 blur filters.

All the power of the means of erosion in the program "Photoshop" is concentrated in the submenu "Blur", in the menu "Filter" (Blur). The goals and reasons for blurring would have to be listed for a long time, but in the overwhelming majority of cases, the main task of such processing is to allocate the main object due to defocusing the background space and giving the volume to the image as a whole.

Filters "Blur" and "Blur +"

The simplest means of sharpening is the "Blur" tool in "Photoshop". It does not have any settings, so you do not need to enter parameters. Blur "with a plus", it means, blur even more, and if it is not enough, the combination of keys Ctrl + F will start the re-processing.

Gaussian blur

This is probably the most popular (from blurring tools) tool that uses the Gaussian curve eroding algorithm. Here the "Radius" slider can be used to select the appropriate degree of erosion. Too simple, as in the previous case, but much more effective.

Blur on the frame

This filter is also configured only by the radius engine, but the algorithm of its operation differs from the previous filter. Here, the blurring occurs by averaging the colors of neighboring pixels, and the engine just changes this averaged area.

"Intelligent" washing

The most clever blur in Photoshop is called "Smart ...", and this filter really corresponds to its name, although in Russian "Photoshop" the word "clever" is taken in quotes, but in the English version there is no (Smart Blur). Here, in addition to the radius of erosion, you can set the threshold and quality of processing, as well as select one of the additional modes of blending, in addition to the default setting ("Manual", the same mode "Normal").

Radial Blur

Depending on the selected blur method, the filter allows you to simulate the smearing of the picture caused by camera rotation, when the image remains sharp in the center, and the periphery blurs (the ring method), or get the effect that occurs when the camera zooms (Zoom). The amount of blurring is adjusted by the slider "Quantity", but you can also select the center of the effect (mouse) and the image quality at the output.

Simulate blur when shooting dynamic objects

Using the "Blur in Motion" filter, "Photoshop" creates in the photo a characteristic smearing effect, which is obtained when shooting a fast moving object. Therefore, in addition to the intensity of the effect controlled by the engine "Offset / Shift", naturally, the direction of motion (angle) is specified.

Blur on the surface

Despite the fact that the name of the Surface Blur filter is translated as "surface blur", in some versions of "Photoshop" it is for some reason called "Blur on the surface."

This legible filter blurs the image, keeping as much of its forces and your line and border settings, so 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 / Average), whose activity is not even easy to call a blur, because this filter simply floods the entire image or selected area with the averaged 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 tonalize the image, but for such purposes this is not the wisest decision. But if you blur-average some fragment and, having lowered the opacity, make an inscription on it, it can turn out interesting.

Lens Blurring

So literally translated the English name of the filter Lens Blur, which in the Russian version of the program "Photoshop" is called "Blur with shallow depth of field." This blurring in "Photoshop" is used in those cases when the ideal sharpness on 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. We only need to specify a filter, which should be closer in the picture, and what's next, creating a so-called depth map, for example, a linear or circular gradient from black to white, constructed in an alpha channel.

A smart filter, calculating the washout algorithm, will immediately understand that the black areas are those closest to the camera. After them, all shades of gray follow. Well, the white areas are as far from the camera as possible, and here you need to perform intensive blurring of the background. The rest of the filter will be executed in the best possible way, obeying the parameters of the settings that we will point out to it.

The alpha channel (empty) creates a corresponding button in the channel palette and, opening the eye in the RGB row, to see the photo itself, fill it with a black and white gradient, from the nearest point to the furthest 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 enable the Lens Blur filter. Next, in the "Source" list, select our alpha channel and click in the area of the image that should be in focus (or set the distance to the focus point by the "Focal distance blur" engine). Well, with the "Radius" slider we select the blur force (the degree of defocusing). The rest of the settings are very subtle effects, which are rarely used for conventional photos, so click OK and note with satisfaction how realistic the blur is in Photoshop. It can simulate the depth of field of the image.

Manual blurring "Photoshop tools." How to use your finger to smear photos

Along with filters (plug-ins) for washing, which do all the "black work" for us, in "Photoshop" for the same purposes there are tools for manual work by which almost everything that filters can do, and even a little more, and Can and it is better (all the same manual work). This is about two of the three tools of the group, deprived by hot keys and headed by the tool "Blur" (Blur Tool).

By design it is a brush, in which the "Intensity" parameter is used in the settings. Depending on the size and rigidity of the selected brush, the Blur Tool can blur the entire image or parts at once in a certain area. Replacing sharp borders with smooth transitions, the tool skillfully softens the outlines, and if the mouse button is held down, it will work as a brush in the sprayer mode, enhancing the effect. This tool can do almost anything in good hands, at least with such a task as to make a blurry background, the Blur Tool can do it easily.

The "Finger" tool, which is the Smudge Tool (smeared, smudges), really smears the drawing, as if you ran a finger over a freshly painted picture. The effect of the effect is also regulated by the parameter "Intensity", but unlike the neighboring tool, there is still a function called "Drawing with a finger", selecting it (with a tick in the box), we will smear the first color. Practical application of the "Finger" finds, for example, in the subtle details of detail when distinguishing such complex objects as hair, wool, fur, etc., and also in a kind of imitation of painting.

Blurred edges

Possessing such a powerful arsenal of tools, techniques and methods of washing, capable of turning an ordinary photo into a wonderful art canvas, blurring the edges for "Photoshop" is easy. To do this, select an area that should not be affected, and blur peripherals by selecting one of the above filters. But most often for this purpose use "Gaussian Blur".

If standard tools are used for selection, to achieve a smooth border for them, you set the feathering (on the toolbar at the top or in the menu "Selection> Modification"). And if you use the "Quick Mask" (Q) for this purpose, the transition smoothness is controlled by the opacity of the brush.

In all cases, the selection should be inverted (Shift + Ctrl + I), or the image itself will be blurred, not the edges. By the way, you do not need to use the selection, because you can blur the edges manually and using the tool "Blur" (Blur Tool).

New filters

In the version of Photoshop CS6 "in the shelf" the filters of the washing have arrived. In the submenu "Blur" newcomers are located separately in the very top, defiantly being protected from old filters by a line. These "upstarts" are called Field Blur, Iris Blur and Tilt-Shift / Tilt-shift, and they, having a special interface, are able to create a realistic depth of field on the photo.

Unlike older "colleagues" of previous versions (including Photoshop CS5), the algorithms of the new filters are designed in such a way to allow the user to perform selective focusing while working with the controls directly on the image.