| Photography Forum: Digital Darkroom Forum: |
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Q. Gaussian blur in Photoshop
Asked by Dave Holland
(K=13074) on 9/2/2006
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Sometimes in Photoshop CS I want a hard edge on an area that I want to blur with the Gaussian blur filter. For example with a background I want to blur into obsurity, but leave the subject's edge sharp. I have been a little frustrated that the edge seems to bleed over after applying the filter, so that the edge becomes feathered and partially transparent rather than hard-edged. This happens even if I have defined the area that I want to blur with a selection first. If I try to blur the whole layer and apply a hard mask afterward, the edge of the object that I am masking bleeds over into the area that I am trying to blur and I get a fuzzy edge. Any solution? Or should I just use the manual blur/smudge tool for more accuracy?
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Hugo de Wolf
(K=185110) - Comment Date 9/3/2006
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Hi Dave,
The solution is pretty simple. If you mask the area you want to blur, and keep it selected when you apply the blur, you'll keep the hard edge. You might want to apply a slight feather (say 2px to 5 px on a high res photo) to make the trasition look more natural.
Hope this helps,
Cheers,
Hugo
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Dave Holland
(K=13074) - Comment Date 9/4/2006
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Thanks, Hugo. I went back at it as you suggested, and it works fine as you predicted. I was trying to do it with a mask in a separate layer and the mask edge ended up being blurred as well. Your solution is more simple and effective.
Cheers,
Dave
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Hugo de Wolf
(K=185110) - Comment Date 9/4/2006
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Hi Dave,
Your method works too, but you have to keep the the selection mask active. I tend to prefer working with layers, as they provide just a bit more flexibility.
Cheers,
Hugo
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