Blur Background
Add a professional portrait-style background blur (bokeh effect) to any photo. The tool detects the foreground subject and applies Gaussian blur to the background, creating the shallow depth-of-field look typically achieved with a wide-aperture lens. Adjust blur strength for subtle to dramatic results. Runs entirely in your browser — your photos are never uploaded.
How to Use Blur Background
- 1
Upload your photo
Click the upload area or drag and drop a JPG or PNG photo. Portrait shots and product photos on distinct backgrounds give the best results.
- 2
Subject is detected automatically
The tool identifies the foreground subject (person, object) and creates a mask separating it from the background. Review the mask overlay to check accuracy.
- 3
Adjust blur strength
Use the blur radius slider to set the intensity of the background blur. A radius of 10–15 creates a natural portrait look. Increase to 30+ for a dramatic out-of-focus effect.
- 4
Refine the mask (optional)
If the automatic subject detection misses areas, use the brush tool to add or erase from the mask. This is especially important around hair edges and complex outlines.
- 5
Download
Click Apply and download the result. The subject remains sharp while the background is blurred.
When to Use This Tool
Quick Reference
About Blur Background
The Blur Background tool uses AI subject detection to identify the main subject in your photo and applies a Gaussian blur to the background, creating the shallow depth-of-field "bokeh" effect that professional DSLR cameras achieve with wide aperture lenses. This effect focuses viewer attention on your subject, reduces background distractions, and gives phone photos a more professional look.
Background blur is valuable for:
- Making portrait photos look like they were taken with a professional camera lens
- Reducing distracting backgrounds in product photography without removing them entirely
- Creating a professional look for video call screenshots and headshot photos
- Adding visual depth to flat, busy background photos of people or objects
- Preparing images for social media where a clean, focused subject performs better
The processing pipeline has two stages. First, a semantic segmentation neural network analyzes the image and generates a depth-aware subject mask — a grayscale map where brighter pixels indicate foreground subjects. Second, a Gaussian blur kernel is applied to the background layer with blur radius proportional to the estimated depth at each pixel. This creates a natural falloff where the transition between sharp subject and blurred background mimics the physics of optical bokeh rather than creating a harsh edge. The foreground subject layer is then composited back over the blurred background.
Input formats: JPG, PNG, WebP (up to 10 MB). Blur strength: adjustable from subtle (radius 5px) to strong (radius 40px). Output format: JPG or PNG. Processing time: 5–15 seconds on the server. Edge detection works best on subjects with clear separation from the background — portraits, isolated products, and animals on natural backgrounds.
Your image is transmitted over HTTPS to our processing server and immediately deleted once the blurred result is returned. The server retains no image data between sessions. No account is needed. For complete background replacement instead of blurring, try the Background Changer.
Pro Tips for Blur Background
For portraits, medium blur (15–20px) looks most natural — very strong blur can make the subject look like a cutout rather than a photo taken with a real lens.
Shoot subjects at least 1–2 meters away from the background for the best AI segmentation — subjects pressed against walls create ambiguous depth cues that confuse the model.
After downloading, check the edges around hair and shoulders at 100% zoom — if you see artifacts, try the Background Changer to remove background entirely for a cleaner result.
For product photography, use a lower blur strength (5–10px) — strong blur on product backgrounds can look artificial, while subtle softening looks intentional and professional.
Frequently Asked Questions
Related Image Tools
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