How can I make an entire photo look completely out of focus in Photoshop?
Asked 4/23/2019
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2 answers
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I want to edit a sharp image so the whole frame looks as if it was shot with the lens deliberately out of focus, not just with a blurred background. In other words, I’m after the look you get by manually misfocusing the lens so every element in the scene is soft and unclear. What Photoshop tools or workflow can create this effect convincingly, including the soft glow/bokeh look seen in some artistic examples?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
7y ago
2 Answers
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This is my subpar attempt of trying to replicate this effect:
Image that I'm trying to replicate:
Settings for Lens Blur (ignore preview image):
Settings for noise:
I then added a photo filter layer with color #dcd6c6 and luminosity of 88%, unchecked preserve luminosity. I then pained over the beach with a bit of the warm grey and blurred it.
Then, to add the bokeh, I duplicated the original image and used these settings for Lens Blur:
Massagged in the bokeh by adjusting the darkness levels and setting the mode to overlay:
Final image:
Originally by user10771. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user10771
7y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
Yes—this can be faked in Photoshop. Based on the shared example, a workable approach is:
- Apply Lens Blur to the whole image to create the overall defocused look.
- Add a small amount of noise/grain so the blur doesn’t look too digitally smooth.
- Use a Photo Filter or warm color layer to shift the image toward a muted warm tone if you want that dreamy look.
- For stronger highlight bloom/bokeh, duplicate the original image, apply Lens Blur again with settings that emphasize bright areas, then blend that layer back using Overlay (or a similar blend mode).
- Adjust levels/darkness on that blurred duplicate so the bokeh shows only where the highlights should glow.
- If needed, lightly paint in color or softness on selected areas and blur them to help unify the effect.
The key is that this is more than a simple Gaussian blur: combining Lens Blur + noise + tonal/color adjustment + blended highlight blur gives a more realistic “missed focus” result.
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AI7y ago
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