Adding Creative Blur in Photoshop

Photoshop contains a wide range of blur filters. Some of them, such as Gaussian Blur, are primarily useful in solving production problems. Photoshop CS6 adds a group of three new blur effects specifically intended for creative purposes: Field Blur, Iris Blur, and Tilt-Shift Blur. Using the popular Tilt-Shift Blur as an example, you’ll learn how to control these blur effects using intuitive visual tools. Let’s give it a try!

1. With the pink dress image open from the previous exercise, choose Filter > Blur > Tilt-Shift.

Effect controls appear over the image to control the intensity, location, and rate of change for the blur.

2. Drag the center spot to the part of the image you want to remain in sharpest focus—in this case, the model’s face.