How to Use Photoshop CC’s New Blur Gallery

Photography Tips

As Adobe continues to add new features to Photoshop CC, subscribers are reaping the benefits. In the 2014 updates, we see an updated blur gallery that can be pretty handy to adding artistic blurs to images giving them a creative look. Join Aaron Nace as he explores the new blur functions and gives us an in depth look at how to use them:

For this demonstration, Nace is working on an action sports image by Myro to show us how the new blurs work. Here is a copy of the original before Nace has applied any blurs to it. It’s a solid image all on its on own, but the style of the image also lends itself to some creative blurring, making it perfect candidate for the tutorial.

Original Image

Applying a Path Blur

1. Before getting started with the path blur, duplicate your background layer to work on so we don’t have to touch the original.
2. Now, you can isolate the subject by grabbing the Lasso Tool and quickly draw a circle around the cyclist.
3. Give the selection a nice Feathered edge to give the blur a smooth transition.
4. Next, Inverse (Select > Inverse) the selection you made with the Lasso.
5. Next, to access the Path Blur, click on Filter > Blur Gallery > Path Blur. You will see the blur immediately on your image along with a directional arrow in the center. Everything but the cyclist should be blurred.
6. By dragging the end of the arrow around you can control the direction in which the blur will appear to be travelling. The beauty of the Path Blur is that it allows you to create a specified path for the blur by simply clicking and dragging on the points of the directional arrow.
7. You’ll also see the Blur Panel on the right hand of your screen where you will be able to fine tune your blur using the Speed and Taper Sliders.

Final Edit

Try experimenting with all the new settings to learn how they work and how you can use them to amp up your own photos.