Creating Focus on the Photo by Using Blur Map
On this tutorial i will share with how to create focus effect on photo with different levels of blur.
Final Image Preview
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Resources
- Grant Cavalry
Step 1
Start by opening photo on Photoshop. Now we are going to create a special blur map to focus attention on the object. To do that start by selecting foreground color as black (#000000).
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Step 2
Use the Pen Tool with Shape Layers selected to draw out the figure of a man. Reduce layer opacity to 50% after starting to select man to see the real shapes of the photo.
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In the end you should have man selected like on image below.
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Update layer opacity to 100% for this layer.
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Step 3
Use the Pen Tool to draw out the second shape (left horse) with foreground color #212121.
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Step 4
Now draw third shape (right horse) on the photo with color of #4c4c4c.
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Step 5
Draw another shape by using color #747474. Keep positioning layers like i have which means that this one should be above the layer with the photo.
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Step 6
Draw another shape by using color #9a9a9a.
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Move this layer with shape under all the layers but above the photo layer.
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Step 7
Draw back horse same way but using color #c0c0c0.
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Step 8
Create a new layer and fill with light grey color (#e7e7e7).
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Step 9
Merge all layers except photo layer. Select photo layer and open Channel panel by going to Window > Channels or by clicking on Channels next to Layers.
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Create a new channel. Adobe Photoshop will automatically name it Alpha 1.
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Go back to layers panel. Select all merged layer content by using Ctrl+click on layer thumbnail.
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Copy selected layer with Ctrl+C, select Alpha 1 channel and paste layer content with Ctrl+V. Move a little bit to left to place it correctly.
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Step 10
Hide merged layer visibility on layers panel and also hide Alpha 1 channel on channels panel.
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Select photo layer and apply Filter > Blur > Lens Blur. Don´t forget to change Source to Alpha 1, select Invert and update Shape to Triangle. Also update Blur Focal Distance and Radius like i have on image below.
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Final Image
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And we are done. We learned to create a nice focus effect on photo with different levels of blur. Hope you liked it.
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