Making a bokeh effect

I want to talk with you about how to make a bokeh effect on a photo. In this article, I'll tell you how to create a blur in the background, as it can be applied to photos. So, open the initial image in Photoshop. Now you have to duplicate the background layer twice. When this is done, turn off the visibility of the second duplicate layer. Let's go to the layer with the first instance.

To make a bokeh effect in Photoshop, you must activate the Quick Mask mode and select a radial gradient. The color for it must be set black and white, and in the dithering and transparency windows, check the box. After all these settings, we exit the mode of this quick mask.

We continue to comprehend the effect of bokeh. Apply a blur filter. To do this, click on the filter tab, we select the blur option and from there set the parameter for it at a shallow depth of our sharpness. After this, it is necessary to remove the active selection and apply a Gaussian blur filter. The radius for it is set to two pixels. After that, go to the second duplicate layer. There we include the visibility of this layer, after which it is necessary to apply a filter of so-called clever sharpness. He needs to set the following parameters: the effect is 100%, then the radius is 0.5% and the angle is 0. We put a check mark in the refinement window. Select the Gaussian blur option.

Next, our task is to separate the image in the foreground from the background in order to make the effect bokeh. This is done using the extraction filter. Run it and press Alt with Contral and X. Set the brush of the twelfth size and put a tick in the texture window with parameter 5. Next, we paint the background with it, then fill the main image with the fill color. After that, reduce the opacity of our layer to 42%.

Now we need to duplicate the current layer, so turn off the visibility of the previous one. Remove the mask layer and add it again. Soften the edges of the image with a soft brush with a set low transparency. After that, the effect of the bokeh must be moved to the working document.

Duplicate the layer that has the bokeh texture. To do this, to the first layer with this texture, you need to add a mask layer on which to apply the radial gradient. Its color should be black and white. Now we change the blending mode of the first layer, which has a bokeh texture, to the overlap. We set the opacity to 58%.

Next, you need to change the blend mode of the second layer with the same bokeh texture to the lightening mode. The opacity should be 25%. Once again, duplicate the layer that has the bokeh texture, and then place this duplicate below the layers in which the main image is selected. Now we change the mode of its superposition for clarification. Its opacity should be 45%.

After all, merge these layers with each other. Go to the image menu, select the correction, then the color background and set the saturation of its +8. After that apply the distortion filter. If you did everything correctly, the effect of the bokeh will be clearly visible. If something goes wrong, carefully repeat my recommendations.