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How to Use a Brush to Blur the Background

Digital technology has had a significant impact on the world of photography -- from shooting to storing to editing. Using such advanced photo editing programs as Adobe Photoshop, GIMP or Paint.net, images can be edited to have an appearance that is vastly different from the actual scene. Using tools such as "Brushes," photographers and designers can give photographs a blurred background.

Things You'll Need

Adobe Photoshop, GIMP or Paint.net

Instructions

- 1
  Open the Adobe Photoshop, GIMP or Paint.net program on your computer. GIMP and Paint.net are free programs based on Photoshop. The wording is slightly different in all three, but the steps are the same.
- 2
  Click "File" and select "Open" from the drop-down menu. Navigate to the folder containing the image you want to edit. Highlight the image and click "OK" to open the image.
- 3
  Click "Layer" in the navigation bar of the program and select "Background layer" from the drop-down menu. Click the layer thumbnail in the right margin.
- 4
  Click the "Brush" in the left margin (the icon looks like a small paintbrush). In the toolbar change the "Master Diameter" to 1500 pixels, which will give you a larger brush. Change the "Hardness" to zero.
- 5
  Click the "Strength" and change the setting to 20 percent. If the 20 percent setting does not give enough blur, increase the setting. You have a range from 1 to 100.
- 6
  Position your cursor to the portion of the image you want to blur. Click and hold the mouse and drag the tool across the background to blur it. Repeat the process until the image is how you want it to appear.
- 7
  Click "Layer" and select "Flatten Image." Click "File" and select "Save as." Give your edited picture a new name or title and save it to your computer's hard drive.

Photography