Focusing is something you do with a camera. But sometimes it turns out that the details in an image is more than you wanted and detracts from the main figure. You can use Photoshop to accentuate the main figure. This can be done in a number of ways. I will show you one which I think is the easiest and can be done in any version of Photoshop, including Photoshop7. No special expertise is required either.
This is a free stock image which you can download from here
It belongs to me
You can see that the image is nothing great. It is a Kolkata street scene. Let us see if we can shift the focus more on the girl than on the bus.
Step 1 : Press CTRL+J to duplicate the Background Layer. Switch off the eye icon by clicking it off in the Background layer. It is a simple precaution to duplicate the Background layer. So you always have the original to fall back on if something goes wrong.
Step 2 : Click the Elliptical Marquee Tool.
Step 3 : Press SHIFT and you will be able to draw a perfect circle. Do not be worried if the circle is not exactly where you want it. Mine isn't either.
Step 4 : Press the UP, DOWN,LEFT,RIGHT arrow keys to move the circle where you want it. Here the circle covers the girl because I wish the focus to be on the girl.
Step 5 : Go to Select>Modify>Feather.
Step 6 : The Feather Selection dialogue box comes up. I have set the Feather Radius quite high at 150 pixels. Click OK.
Step 7 : Press CTRL+SHIFT+I to inverse the selection.
Step 8 : Go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur.
Step 9 : Depending on your image set the Radius of Gaussian Blur to between 10 and 14. I have set it at 12. Click OK.
Step 10 : Press CTRL+D to deselect. The figure of the girl has grown more focused and sharper as the bus in the background has been blurred. That is all.
The before
And the after.
Other photshop tutorials are here.
