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A portrait, pet or product shot where the subject is clearly in front.
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Free Tool
Blur Background
Keep the subject sharp and blur what is behind it, the way a wide-aperture lens would.
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What background blur does to a photo
A wide aperture lens keeps the subject sharp and lets everything behind it fall out of focus, which is why portraits shot on a fast lens pull your eye straight to the face. Phone cameras approximate the same effect with a depth map.
This tool builds a mask of the subject, blurs everything outside it and feathers the transition so the cut does not show. Gaussian is an even softening, bokeh renders bright points as soft discs the way a real lens does, and motion smears the background in one direction.
Three steps to a blurred background
Set style and strength
Pick gaussian, bokeh or motion and slide the strength until the background stops competing.
Download the image
Export at the original size or a smaller long edge for the web.
Control over how the blur reads
Three blur styles
Even gaussian softening, lens-like bokeh discs, or a directional motion smear.
Adjustable strength
From a light separation to a fully abstract background, on one slider.
Edge feather
Set how gradually the blur begins so the subject outline does not look stamped on.
Subject untouched
The subject pixels are copied back from the original file, so the face stays exactly as shot.
Blur strength, side by side
When the background is doing too much
Portraits in busy places
Push a crowded street or a full room out of focus and keep the attention on the face.
Profile and call photos
A clean, calm frame for a work profile or a meeting avatar.
Product and desk shots
Soften a messy desk behind the item you actually want people to look at.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between gaussian and bokeh?
Gaussian softens everything evenly. Bokeh grows bright points into soft discs, which is what a real lens does at a wide aperture, so it looks more photographic on night and backlit shots.
How much blur should I use?
For portraits, somewhere around 30 to 50 percent usually separates the subject while the location is still readable. Push higher when the background is visually noisy.
Will hair look cut out?
Keep the edge feather on medium or high and leave edge protection on. Both widen the transition zone so strands blend into the blur instead of ending on a hard line.
Does the subject get changed?
No. Only the pixels outside the subject mask are filtered. The subject is written back from the original image.
Can I blur only part of the background?
This page blurs everything behind the subject. Masking a single region, like one face in a group photo, is not part of this tool.
Blur the background of your photo
Upload an image, choose a blur style and download the result.