Blurred background, apps and sites to blur the background of a photo | Tips and Tricks

We talk a lot aboutbokeh effect, which consists of blurring the background of photos to make the foreground subject (s) stand out. This effect is particularly used in portraits of people or to draw attention to some objects (or on food, as in the case of food bloggers).

In this article we will see all the best free solutions (apps and sites) to easily get a blurred background to photos with good results, even if you do not have a smartphone with a dual (or triple, or quadruple) camera.

The best apps to blur the background on photos

Snapseed (Android e iOS)

Snapseed is a powerful one photo editing app, which is completely free (and also without advertising) and is maintained by Google.

We have already talked about her because she is one of the best photo editing solutions available on mobile. Among the many effects available, the blurry one is not only easy to use but also gives excellent results.

We can download the app from Play Store or App Store.
After installing and running it, to blur a photo just:

• open the photo we want to edit;
• press down on “Tools“;
• then in the menu that opens select “Blur“;
• once the tool is activated, a blue dot will appear which should be aimed at the center of our subject;
• then you can choose, by scrolling with your fingers, the size of the blur area;
• by pressing the icon with the three overlapping segments at the bottom, you can choose to intervene using the appropriate bars “Blur intensity“, “Transition” O “Vignette intensity“;
• finally when you are satisfied with the work you can press the check button and then on “Export“.

DPTH: AI refocus (Android e iOS)

If you prefer an automatic tool, this is just for you, thanks to artificial intelligence DEPT calculates depth, managing to distinguish the background from the subject. The results are excellent and appreciated.
Just a few taps are enough to get beautiful, natural and effective results.

The app is free, with in-app purchases, on Android and iOS.
If you want to try this solution too, just download the DEPT app directly from the Play Store or the App Store.

Adobe Photoshop Express (Android e iOS)

Photoshop has become synonymous with photo editing over the years, even on mobile the situation is repeated.
The Express version is free, you must have an Adobe account to use it, but this is also free.

After installing the application from Play Store or App Store, just launch it to start editing our shots.

Once you have chosen the snapshot on which you want to intervene from the gallery, just press the icon with the bars located at the bottom and then on the command “Clarity“.
By acting on the bar you can choose the level of blur suited to our tastes.

AfterFocus (Android e iOS)

It is an excellent solution for the post production of our smartphone shots, the app makes it very easy to remove the background from a photo or blur it.
AfterFocus can be downloaded for free from the Google Play Store (with App purchases), while on the App Store it costs € 1.09.

The use of the App is simple and intuitive and the results that can be obtained with a few taps are of absolute importance, for this reason it is highly appreciated.

The best sites to blur the background of a photo

Adobe Photoshop Express

Yes, even in the Web App version, Adobe’s solution is exceptional.
The use is very simple, but you must log in with an Adobe account, fortunately the registration is completely free.
To conveniently use the online service, just go to the Adobe Photoshop Express page.

Once you have clicked on the “Touch up photos right away“, You can upload your shot and then click on the left on the item”Remove background“And then click on the right on the”Blur background“.
Immediately below you can use the bar “Factor“To establish the intensity of the effect and confirm by pressing on”Apply“.
Finally, if you are satisfied with the processing, you can download the modified image by clicking on “Download”.

Fotor

We’ve already talked about Fotor, it’s a handy one Photo editing web app that has a lot of tools.
The one dedicated to the background blur is called “Tilt-Shift” and allows you to obtain splendid results.
Once you have processed your shot, you can easily download the result.

You will notice that some filters are paid, fortunately the one dedicated to blur is free.
If you want to use this service just connect to the Fotor web page.

Pixelmatic

Similar to the previous solution, an effective manual background blur effect can be achieved via the handy Pixelmatic web app.

The option is simply called “Blur”And is located in the sidebar of the tools.
It allows you to have both a linear and a circular blur, and you can also choose to blur everything except some areas.

If you want to try the service just go to the Pixelmatic web page.