Soft focus photoshop trick

[R055]

take a look at my little photoshop trick and tell me what you think !!

(well not my trick but a trick i use, i did make the example tho :)

http://www.pbase.com/image/10974291/original

[slejhamer]

Ross,
You might enjoy some free soft-focus Photoshop actions; your technique works well, but you may find these a little more sophisticated:

Soft Focus action 1:
http://members.aol.com/_ht_a/coolato/Softfocuslook.atn

Soft Focus action 3 (with adjustable sliders):
http://members.aol.com/_ht_a/coolato/softfocus_03.atn

(from the site http://members.aol.com/_ht_a/coolato/digitaltechniques.html; these were originally posted on dpreview)

Happy shooting,

[Conk]

Do these go into a directory in photoshop? which one?

[slejhamer]

On my computer I save them directly to the actions directory:
C:\Program Files\Adobe\Photoshop 6.0\Presets\Photoshop Actions

Then, in the PS actions palette, click on the arrowhead button (a circular button in the upper right corner of the palette just below the "x" ) and choose "Load Actions." Then find the same directory, highlight the one you want, and it will be there in the list.

P.S. Try #1 first; #3 takes some getting used to. Not sure if I will keep it, as #1 really gets the job done nicely.

[Conk]

Thanx Mitch.

[R055]

VERY GOOD !!! they work really well, Thanks !

[feivel]

I do the same thing on paintshoppro. Then I go over the blurred layer with the eraser tool, large size, low opacity, in order to gently lessen the blur where I don't want it as pronounced, like around the face. I'm sure there is a parallel technique you can use in ps

[feivel]

You can also duplicate a third layer, blur it more heavily, erase the whole layer, then right clicking with the eraser tool (which un-erases in psp, i don't know how you un-erase in ps) allowing you to add additional blurring where you want it, like in the periphery of the image.

With these two layers you have much more control in varying the blur intensity in different areas of the picture than by using filters.

[slejhamer]

feivel wrote:
I'm sure there is a parallel technique you can use in ps


In PS, simply add a layer mask to the blur layer and paint black over the areas you dont blurred. However, the edge selection technique used by the above actions is quite good, making the mask less of a necessity. You can also control the amount of sharpening used by the actions if you click on the "unsharp mask" component so that it pauses and lets you make adjustments.

Regarding Feivel's third layer technique, you can do that in combination with these PS actions, too. A circular gradient mask before you apply the additional blur creates a nice gradual effect, and you can fine tune the mask with the eraser (in quick mask mode.)

You can also add highlight diffusion (create a duplicate layer, set opacity to screen and apply blur, with or without a mask; then do the same with opacity set to luminosity; finally, adjust the opacity sliders to control the amount of effect.)


Or, you can just smear some vaseline on an old UV filter before you shoot! :D

[Rusty]

Try this little trick. I've found it to work very well. Wish I could take credit but I can't. Thanks to the fine folks at Digital Creativity UK for this one.

http://www.digital-creativity.co.uk/index.html

The first thing to do is make a duplicate of the background image. Click and drag the background layer onto the Create New Layer icon (middle icon on the Layers palette).

From the Filter Menu, select Blur and then Gaussian Blur. In the radius value box enter a high number (I used ten in my example).

Now to adjust the blurred layer. This now depends on what sort of finished effect you want:

To reduce the haze effect but still apply it to all the tonal values in the selected area, choose Normal for the blend mode and adjust the Opacity of the layer until you are happy with the result.

To refine the haze effect to soften the highlights only, choose Lighten for the blend mode and adjust the Opacity of the layer to control the strength of the haze effect.

To get a painted look, reduce the number of colours and soften them, choose Darken for the blend mode and change the Opacity of the layer of the layer.

[ryno4youth]

The links are not working. Does anynone have this actions and can send them to me? I lost them when I moved to a new PC, and I would love to get them back. Thanks.