Applying a filter in the Blur Gallery
The Field Blur, Iris Blur, Tilt-Shift, Path Blur,★ and Spin Blur ★ filters provide powerful and flexible on-canvas and panel controls for blurring parts of an image.
Note: To apply filters in the Blur Gallery, Use Graphics Processor must be checked in Edit/Photoshop > Preferences > Performance. You will see a more accurate preview while making on-canvas adjustments if your system has a graphics card with 1 GB or more of VRAM or an embedded HD graphics processing unit.
To apply a filter in the Blur Gallery: ★
- Open an image (preferably one that is all or mostly in focus). To keep the filter settings nondestructive and editable, convert a duplicate of an image layer or the Background to a Smart Object.
- Choose Filter > Blur Gallery > Field Blur to produce multiple blur areas, Iris Blur to blur areas around a focus ellipse, Tilt-Shift to apply blurring in straight bands across portions of the image, or Spin Blur to create an effect of radial motion within a circular area. To apply the Path Blur filter, see pages 330–331.
- A default pin with controls appears in the image, and panels with option settings appear in a dock on the right. On the Options bar, make sure Preview is checked (P).
- For a Field Blur, add another pin by clicking in the image. Set the Blur value for one pin to 0% (full focus), then click the other pin and give it a higher Blur value (blurring). To use the full potential of this filter, add more pins, some with a Blur value of 0 and some with a Blur value greater than 0 (A–C, next page).
- You can also do any of the following optional steps:
- To hide the on-canvas controls to judge the blurring effect, press and hold down H (then release).
- Optional: To brighten the blur highlights to the point that they become abstract, colored orbs, for a Field, Iris, or Tilt-Shift Blur, click a pin, check Bokeh in the Blur Effects panel, then adjust the settings (A–C, page 332).
- Optional: To save the blur mask that Photoshop created for the filter to an alpha channel, check Save Mask to Channels on the Options bar (A–D, page 333). To preview the mask, press and hold down M (then release).
- To accept your blur filter edits, press Enter/Return or click OK on the Options bar. To edit the blur settings or to mask the results, see pages 360–362.
- To remove all blur pins from an image, click the Remove All Pins button
on the Options bar.
- To switch to a different filter in the Blur Tools panel, uncheck the box for the current filter, then expand the category for the desired one.
- To the same Smart Object, you can also apply nonblur filters. We don’t recommend applying multiple Blur Gallery filters to an image (except possibly to add a small Field Blur ring to a sharp area), as doing so is likely to blur the whole photo.
Optional: To mask the filter effect partially, create a selection. The selection area will appear in the Smart Filters mask when you exit the gallery.
To control the degree of blurring for a Field, Iris, or Tilt-Shift blur, either adjust the Blurslider in the dock; or in the image, drag around the blur ring that surrounds the pin (add more black to the ring to reduce the blur, or reduce black to increase the blur).
For an Iris Blur, do any of the following: To adjust the shape of the focus ellipse, drag one of the small outer round handles; to scale the ellipse uniformly, drag its edge; to rotate the ellipse, drag outside one of the small handles (double-arrow pointer); to reposition where the blurring begins, drag one of the feather handles (or to move one feather handle separately, drag it while holding down Alt/Option); to change the ellipse to a rounded rectangle, drag the square Roundness knob outward (A–D, page 328).
For a Tilt-Shift Blur, do any of the following: To adjust where the blurring begins, drag either or both of the solid focus lines; to adjust the transition between the in-focus and blurred areas, drag either or both of the dashed feather lines; to rotate the focus area, drag a rotation handle slightly to the left or right (A–C, page 329).
For a Spin Blur,★ do any of the following: To reshape the focus ellipse, drag one of the outer round handles; to scale the ellipse uniformly, drag its edge; to adjust the angle, drag around the blur ring or change the Blur Angle value in the panel; to move the blur, drag anywhere inside the ellipse; or to reposition the rotation point (say, to make it look as if subject was shot at an angle), drag the point with Alt/Option held down). See C–D, page 331.
To add a pin, click in the image.
To reposition a pin, drag its center point. You can move a pin outside the canvas area.
To delete a pin, click its center point, then press Backspace/Delete.
To copy a pin, drag its center point with Alt-Ctrl/Option-Cmd held down.
To control the amount of focus within the currently selected ellipse for an Iris Blur, or between the two feather lines for a Tilt-Shift blur, adjust the Focus setting on the Options bar.
