Sometimes you’re just out having a good time, not thinking about every little artistic aspect of the photos you’re taking. You’re simply living in the moment. Then, later on, when you look back at your shots, you notice that the backdrops could use some work. Perhaps, you were taking photos on a busy street or in a crowded restaurant, and strangers were in the background. Or, even worse, those strangers are in focus, as is your subject, which makes it hard to tell who is actually at the heart of the image or where the viewer’s eye should focus. Fear not. It’s the perfect occasion for applying a blur after effect. 

When you apply a blur effect, you can essentially change the focus of your photo. It’s like going back to the moment when you took the photo and intentionally pulling the background out of focus to highlight your subject better. To apply this effect selectively, you’ll need to learn how to blur part of a picture without making the whole image look out of focus. This tutorial will show you how to blur specific elements of a photo without making a streaky mess of the rest. 

First, though, we’d like to add that not all effects need to be for the sake of “improving” a photo. Some can be just for fun. So, if you came to this article looking for a way to blur your images to make subjects look like they are moving at lightning speed or in a vortex, you’re still in the right place. In the second half of the tutorial below, we’ll also show you how to apply a quirky effect that will get a laugh or perhaps even fool your viewers into thinking your subject was really moving that fast. 

A Professional Touch: How to Blur the Background of a Photo

  1. If you want to selectively unfocus parts of a photo to help your subjects stand out, you’ll need to apply a wholesale effect to your image and then remove it from specific areas. After learning these steps, you’ll know how to blur the edges of a photo or the entire background. You can even use this technique to blur out specific objects or sections, even if they are small.

2. Open the Picsart mobile application and click on the purple plus sign at the bottom of the screen to start a new project. Your photo library will appear. Choose the photo to which you wish to apply the blur effect.

3. On the editing screen, choose “FX” from the menu below your canvas.

4. You’ll notice that the subject of the photo – often the person in the center – is surrounded by passersby. Because the photo’s background is only slightly out of focus, the subject doesn’t stand out as much as they could if the background were blurrier. At the same time, we don’t want to blur the background away entirely. So, in this step, we’ll be applying a blur effect to the photo but not one that is so intense that it obliterates the background. Highlight “Blur” at the bottom of the screen to find our category of blur filters. Then, locate the standard “Blur” effect and click to apply it to the photo.

5. Now, we can tweak the intensity of the effect. Click on the filter again to bring up the adjustment sliders. You can move the “Blur” filter to change the density of the effect and the “Fade” filter to determine how intensely it’s applied to the photo. If your goal is to blur the background of your photo, look at those areas of your image. It doesn’t matter right now how the foreground looks. You’ll be able to change this in the following steps. If the background seems correctly out of focus, you can move on by tapping on the eraser icon at the top of the screen.

6. Now it’s time to undo the blur effect selectively. We recommend using our easy-select options when possible. This function lets the app do the work of outlining the areas of your photo from which you want to remove the effect. In this example, we only want to remove the filter on our subject, who is the person in the center of the photo. So, this is an ideal case for using one of the easy-selection tools: “Person.” When we tap on this tool, the app automatically selects just the person or people in the image.

7. Now that we’ve selected only the people in the photo, there is a minor but easy-to-fix issue. Instead of undoing the effect on those people, the app removed the filter from the background. Click “Invert” at the bottom of the screen to reverse the effect, and you’ll see that the selected objects – in this case, people – are now crystal clear while the background is blurred.

8. Now, there is another tiny issue. Since this photo has multiple people in it, all of them are in focus. Worry not, as it’s also an easy fix. All you have to do is click on “Restore” and brush your finger around the screen to re-apply the blur effect to the places that should not be in focus, taking care to not swipe over the edges of your subject by accident. Take your time and if you make a mistake, simply hit erase to go back over the area where you made the error.

9. You’ve successfully finished blurring the background of your photo. Click on the check mark in the upper right-hand corner of the screen and jump down to the next step to learn how to export or share your photo.

10. You can apply this effect to varying degrees. Take the example below. In this portrait, we only blurred the background a bit. We followed the same steps as above but lowered the intensity of the effect using the adjustment sliders (step 4). The overall effect is more subtle. Whatever you choose, when you are ready to export your photo, you can save the image to your phone or share it by tapping on the downward arrow at the top of the screen.

A Bit of Fun: How to Add Unconventional Blur Effects to a Photo

We don’t always need to take ourselves seriously, and sometimes we want to create an effect just for fun. In the following tutorial, we’ll show other blur effects, ones that don’t mirror reality but instead give your photo a cinematic look. 

Follow steps 1-3 from the previous tutorial, but opt for a different blur filter this time. If you aren’t sure which to choose, check out the ones we’ve applied to other photos. 

Motion Blur

Much as the name suggests, this effect looks great on photos of people and vehicles in motion. Apply the filter and then use the adjustment sliders as shown in the previous tutorial to increase or decrease the intensity of the effect.

Smart Blur

This filter gives your photo a luxurious sheen, blurring out details to make subjects look a little less real and a little more unnaturally perfect. Think of it as a magazine finish.

Focal Blur

This radial effect warps the dimensions of your photo a bit for an in-motion look and is ideal for images with subjects in high-speed settings. 

Radial Blur

Turn your photo into a spinning vortex with this filter. Try applying it to planes, trains, and automobiles to intensify the effect of their velocity.

Create at the Speed of Culture

Picsart is a full ecosystem of free-to-use content, powerful tools, and creator inspiration. With a billion downloads and more than 150 million monthly active creators, Picsart is the world’s largest creative platform. Picsart has collaborated with major artists and brands like BLACKPINK, the Jonas Brothers, Lizzo, Sanrio: Hello Kitty, I am a Voter, Bebe Rexha, Maroon 5, One Direction, Warner Bros. Entertainment, iHeartMedia, Condé Nast, and more. Download the app or start editing on web today to enhance your photos and videos with thousands of quick and easy editing tools, trendy filters, fun stickers, and brilliant backgrounds. Unleash your creativity and upgrade to Gold for premium perks!