how-to-blur-background-in-picture

A picture with a busy background may not so good, especially when you are looking forward to show the specific subject. It is obvious that a busy background will distract one’s attention from the subject you really want to focus on. In this case, you need to look for a way to get a blurred background instead of the original image. Usually, the blur effect is also called “Bokeh”. If you don’t know how to do bokeh photography effect with cameras, you can blur background in picture with powerful software, mobile apps and background photo editor online. There are several useful powerful software that can help you blur background in picture. You can select the best one you like and figure out how to blur background in picture effectively. In this article, you can find the solutions to blur background.

Part 1: How to Blur Background in Leawo Photo BG Remover?

When you are wondering how to blur background, the best solution is to resort to Leawo Photo BG Remover, a professional and one-stop photo background remover. With smart algorithm, Leawo Photo BG Remover can intelligently analyze the clipping edges, precisely enclose the region to delete undesired elements, and automatically remove background in picture. Additionally, it can also change photo background, make your subject stand out with solid color, customize backgrounds of product photos, blur the background, and more. Moreover, Leawo Photo BG Remover is able to easily cut out hair and fur from background. Thanks to intuitive interface, you can use this background remover to blur background quickly in steps. By the way, before blurring background, you can also enhance your photo quality with some AI photo enhancers.

Step 1. Download and install Leawo Photo BG Remover

Go to the official site and download the Leawo Photo BG Remover for free. Then install the lightweight program on your computer by following the simple guide.

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  • Leawo Photo BG Remover

    - Automatically remove background from image with smart algorithm.
    - Manually remove photo background for precise adjustment.
    - Isolate object to transparent background.
    - Change photo background to any solid color or photo.
    - Remove background around hair, fur, feather, and more.
    - Erase background from transparent objects.

Step 2. Add the picture you want to blur background

Launch the program and then enter Leawo Photo BG Remover module. Then, you can directly drag and drop your source pictures into the main interface. Or you can also click “File” button and choose “Open Image” option on the drop-down panel to browse and load source pictures from your computer to the program.

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Step 3. Blur background in picture

After loading the picture, you may find that the background of the picture will be automatically removed. You should choose Background in the right parameter editor panel, and open the Background dropdown panel to choose “Origin” option. The original background will be recovered. Then click Effect dropdown panel to select “Fuzzy” effect to blur the background.

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If you need to enhance the blurriness, you can increase the value of the Fuzzy Radius. Finally, you can save the picture with the blurred background.

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Part 2: How to Blur Background in Photoshop?

Except for Leawo Photo BG Remover, you can also blur background in Photoshop, a well-known raster graphics editor developed and published by Adobe Inc. for Windows and Mac. To accomplish a blurred background, there is an advanced but rewarding method to add realistic lens blur to make it with Photoshop. After you install the program on your computer, run it and follow the steps below to blur background in Photoshop.

Step 1. Import source picture to Photoshop

You can directly drag your picture and drop to the main interface of Photoshop. If the picture was imported as a smart object, you should right-click on the layer name and rasterize to rasterize it. Then you need to create a copy of your original layer.

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Step 2. Create a layer mask

Turn off the bottom layer, and select the subject with your selection tool of choice. Then you can create a layer mask and fill everything that’s not your selection with black to hide everything except your subject from the top layer. Now simply clone out your subject on a new layer above the to-be-blurred layer. Choose a low hardness for your cloned parts to blend well. After you’re satisfied with the cloning, merge those layers.

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Step 3. Close the mask view

When done, go to the properties panel and select the mask. Pull Feather up until the transitions in the mask looks gradual. Hold Alt/Option and click the mask to fully reveal it. Click on any layer to close the mask view.

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Step 4. Start to blur background in Photoshop

Select the bottom layer again, now go to “Filter” > “Blur” > “Lens Blur”. You can choose “Layer Mask” as depth map to determine where to blur and where not. Pull up “Blur Focal Distance” to around 20 to leave a sharp plane of focus to make sure the effect will be realistic. Press OK when you finished. Press Shift and left click the layer mask of the blurred layer to disable it. Finally, Turn the top layer back on and adjust its mask to blend perfectly with the bottom layer.

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It is obviously much more complicated to blur background in Photoshop. But if you have enough time and be an expert in Photoshop, you can have a try.

Part 3: How to Blur Background in Lightroom?

Except for Photoshop, Adobe Inc also developed a creative image organization and image manipulation software—Adobe Lightroom. Lightroom is offering a lot of editing functions include white balance, tone, lens corrections, and calibration manipulation, graduated filters, and many other functions. It’s quite an easy process to blur background in Lightroom. If you were wondering how to blur the background in Lightroom, follow the guide below.

Step 1. Import your picture to Lightroom

To import your picture, click “Import” button on the bottom left. Alternatively, you can directly drag and drop the source photo to the main interface of Lightroom.

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Step 2. Create a Radial Filter

Move to the Develop module to select the Radial Filter from the adjustment tools. Then you can simply choose the Radial Filters shape, circle. Now click on the center of your subject and drag the mouse outwards to create a circle around it and make some adjustment to fine tune the selection. You can slide the Feather slider left or right to increase or decrease the transition area.

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Step 3. Start to blur background in Lightroom

After your filter is in place, it’s time to start blurring the background by adjusting the sharpness and clarity of that filter. Finally, you can simply press “Done” at the bottom of your screen when all editing is done and get the blurred picture you want.

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Part 4: How to Blur Background in Mobile App?

If you would like to get wonderful pictures with blurred backgrounds on your smartphone, there are convenient mobile apps to help you blur background. When you want to figure out how to blur the background of a picture on iPhone, the free mobile app Snapseed will help you create a blur effect. As a photo-editing application for iOS and Android, it enables you to enhance photos and blur background as well. After you install Snapseed and run it on your iPhone, you can follow the guide below to blur background in a photo.

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Steps:

  1. Tap the screen and then click on “Allow” when a message prompts to ask you to allow Snapseed to access your photos, media and other files in your device. And then open your Photo library and choose a photo that you want to blur background.
  2. Tap Tools option at the bottom of the screen and scroll through the options to find “Lens Blur”. Select the Lens Blur and determine the shape of the blur, your photo will appear on the screen with a circle framing the area to keep in focus.
  3. Press and hold the blue dot, and then drag it to the subject. In this way, this blur mask will be moved to the center of the subject. You can pinch your fingers together to adjust the circle around your subject. Besides, you can tap the edit slider at the bottom of the screen to make further adjustments. Tap the checkmark in the lower right to apply the adjustments and finish the process.

Part 5: How to Blur Background in Blur Background Photo Editor Online?

If you don’t want to download or install any app, you can resort to a web Photo editor for blurring background conveniently. In this case, Fotor is recommended to you to make it. With powerful image processing technology, it produces a beautiful blur effect for everyone to highlight the photo’s subjects or hide the unwanted parts. It is so easy to blur background photo editor online by following the guide below.

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Steps:

  1. Enter Fotor background photo editor, now you can click “Import” button to upload the picture you want to add blur effect.
  2. In the left tool bar, click the Adjust option and scroll down to find “Advanced Edits”. Here, you can select Tilt-Shift and choose the proper blur modes before blurring your picture. You can choose Circular or Linear mode according your subject. And then make some adjustments by dragging the slider of Size and Blur intensity.
  3. When you are satisfied with the blurry background, click “Apply” to apply the blur effects. Then you can just click the Download button in the top menu and download the blurred picture in JPG or PNG with custom quality.

After reading this tutorial, you will find that the easiest way is to blur background using Leawo Photo BG Remover. If you are experts in Adobe, you can blur background in Photoshop and in Lightroom. If you want to blur background photo editor online, there is also a way. As iPhone and Android users, you can also use mobile apps to add blur effect to your background.