Make it stand out?!

B
Posted By
Bertje
Aug 2, 2003
Views
517
Replies
6
Status
Closed
Hi all,

I have picture of a person in front of a background. They are both just as sharp. I want to make the person stand out more by blurring and darkening the background. But how do I do that without getting sharp edges?

I know how to make paths and selections and stuff. But I get those hard edges where you can see what is blurred and what not. And the hair is difficult as well.

Any tips?? Thanks a lot!!

Bertje.

How to Master Sharpening in Photoshop

Give your photos a professional finish with sharpening in Photoshop. Learn to enhance details, create contrast, and prepare your images for print, web, and social media.

JD
James Dodge
Aug 2, 2003
Bertje,

Feather your selection.

james
DM
dave milbut
Aug 2, 2003
varifocus plugin from andromeda. i think you can get a free demo:

<http://www.andromeda.com/>
CW
Colin Walls
Aug 2, 2003
You are right that blurring and darkening the background may make the subject stand out, but you may also which to try a little desaturation – with some subjects, their colour brings them out.
J
JR
Aug 4, 2003
There’s also the defringe function, that is suppose to remove the hard edge. Play with that feature (I believe it is under the "edit" pull down menu)

Also, wouldn’t lightening the background make the forground stand out better? (the further things are away from you the "lighter" it appears — for instance, think of mountains, the closer the mountains, the darker, or more saturated they seem).

"Bertje" wrote in message
Hi all,

I have picture of a person in front of a background. They are both just as
sharp. I want to make the person stand out more by blurring and darkening the background. But how do I do that without getting sharp edges?
I know how to make paths and selections and stuff. But I get those hard
edges where you can see what is blurred and what not. And the hair is difficult as well.
Any tips?? Thanks a lot!!

Bertje.
RH
r_harvey
Aug 4, 2003
with some subjects, their colour brings them out.

Increasing the saturation on the foreground, combined with fading the background (instead of darkening), makes the main subject stand-out, without making it look like it was photographed with a single electronic flash on the camera.
N
ninjasavant
Aug 4, 2003
quick mask, use a soft edge brush

How to Master Sharpening in Photoshop

Give your photos a professional finish with sharpening in Photoshop. Learn to enhance details, create contrast, and prepare your images for print, web, and social media.

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