Part 8 of a series!
James Paterson helps you blur out backdrops with one of Photoshop’s best new Neural Filters
DOWNLOAD PROJECT FILES TO YOUR COMPUTER FROM: http://downloads. photoplusmag.com/pp194.zip
Neural Filters are part of a new wave of imageediting tools that make use of machine learning and artificial intelligence. These tools analyse the content of the image and are able to recognize people, animals and other objects. Such tools now allow for automated processes that we could only dream of a few years back.
For photographers, one of the most interesting Neural Filters is Depth Blur. It enables you to alter the depth of field in your photos and create both background and foreground blur, with realistic fall-off in between. Previously, this could only be done by carefully isolating the subject, then applying blur manually to the background.
Depth Blur does away with all that pesky masking work. Instead, it’s able to recognize and isolate the subject for you, then soften the areas furthest from it. The filter achieves this by translating your 2D image into a 3D depth map, so all you have to do is choose the sharpest point and set the strength of the blur.
TOOL SCHOOL
Photoshop’s new Depth Blur Neural Filter enables you to change an image’s depth of field
01 BETA NEURAL FILTERS
Photoshop’s Neural Filters employ artificial intelligence to recognize the subject and other objects in your photos. The Depth Blur Neural Filter is one of several beta filters that Adobe has released; it’s not the finished product, but is likely to be soon. The filter enables you to create realistic background blur. Simply go to Filter> Neural Filters, then click the test tube icon to access and download Depth Blur.
02 BLUR STRENGTH
The Blur Strength slider controls how heavily the details are blurred out. Anything over 70 tends to look too strong. Because all the processing for Neural Filters is carried out in
