Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
Use the selection tool(s) of your choice, and then press Backspace/Delete to remove
the selected area. By doing this, the original, sharp version of your subject will show
through the blurred layer in the final image.
At this point, you
could
go straight to the Lens Blur window (step 5), but if you want
a really polished effect, you've still got a little more work to do.
3.
Create a layer mask for the new layer
.
Make sure the new layer is active, and then click the Add Layer Mask icon in the
Layers panel (the circle within a square).
4.
Fill the mask with a gradient
.
Check to be sure the layer mask is active by clicking its icon in the Layers panel,
press G to activate the Gradient tool (
Applying Gradients
)
, and then choose a black-
and-white gradient. Next, drag in the image so that the area you want in focus is in the
black part of the gradient. (If you mess up, as long as the area you want is in a com-
pletely white area, you may be able to fix it with the Invert button as explained in the
list of settings below.) You can turn off your Background layer to see if you've got the
right area masked out. Once you've got the gradient set up to your liking, disable the
layer mask by right-clicking/Control-clicking its thumbnail in the Layers panel and
choosing Disable Layer Mask. Then click the left thumbnail for the layer you applied
the mask to (the duplicate layer you created in step 1) to make sure it's active.
5.
Call up the Lens Blur filter's window
.
Go to Filter→Blur→Lens Blur. Your whole image now looks blurry despite your
masking, but you'll fix that shortly.
6.
Adjust the filter's settings
.
There are a lot of them, and they're explained after this list. For now, the most import-
ant one is the Source setting in the window's Depth Map section. In the drop-down
menu there, choose Layer Mask to get your subject back in focus. Now you can adjust
the other settings.
7.
When you're happy with what you see, click OK
.
You can turn the Background layer back on now, if you like, especially if you want to
lower the opacity of the blur layer to reduce its effect.
Figure 13-9
gives you a sense
of what this filter can do.
