How to Blur Your Photo Background
The smartphone has taken the world by storm and we’ve all been using one for years. The first generation iPhones had some great features but they were pretty basic. As technology advanced and smartphones became smarter and better looking, we started to take better pictures than we used to.
But when you snap a photo on your smartphone, you’re still taking a photo and a picture is meant to show something. That means that if there are any objects or people that you don’t want to appear in the image, you need to remove them.
There are several apps available to help you. Here are our top 7 favorites for iPhone and Android.
1) Vignette – there are various ways of applying the effect. A simple way is to slide your finger across the screen to highlight the part of the image you wish to darken. If you want to change the overall color of the image, you can tap on the icon and adjust the color until you get the look you want.
2) Snapseed – This app was made by Google and includes a range of editing tools including one to help you blur the background of your photos. The app can also help you retouch skin, fix red eye, adjust the brightness and contrast, add shadows and vignettes, change colors and much more.
3) Fotor – This is another popular app for iOS users and it allows you to quickly and easily crop, rotate, enhance, brighten and soften your pictures. It has a host of other functions, including adding text and effects to your images.
4) Instagram – This is one of the most popular photo sharing apps in the world and it allows you to blur the background of your photos. To do this, open the app and go to your profile page. Scroll down to where it says “Photo Filters” and tap on the icon. It will take a few seconds and you will then see a selection of filters to apply.
Blurring the background of a photo is a fairly easy task and we’ve outlined the steps below.
1) Open your photo editing app
2) Select the tool you would like to use:
“Blur”
3) Adjust the settings
a) Select the amount of blur you want to apply
b) Change the opacity
c) Increase or decrease the size of the brush
4) Preview the result
5) Save your image
In the above process, we have applied the “Blur” tool to our image. The settings can be adjusted to make it look the way you like. For instance, if you want a slightly soft blur, you can adjust the opacity to let less of the background through. It’s important to preview the result as this will allow you to get the look you are after.
If you want a more defined blur, you can reduce the opacity and increase the size of the brush. Alternatively, if you are looking for something different, you can try out the other tools available.
We’ve listed a number of ways of enhancing mobile photography but there are many more out there. Do you use any of the apps listed above?