Gaussian Blur

I've been using Photoshop at least an hour a day (sometimes 10 hours) for the last five years. I know the program rather well, relative to, I guess, most people I know. But in relation to all there is to know, I know close to nothing. This program amazes me every time I learn something new with it. There are at least 100 buttons, functions, and menu items I have no idea how to use yet. One graphic designer I worked with several years ago told me I'd never learn everything, and that he had been designing for over a decade and still didn't know the half of what Photoshop can do. Lately I've been playing with Gaussian Blur and really like what it's done to my portraits, although it can be used on just about anything - I used it on a flowers and fruit arrangement once.

Here's the Before and After:


And here's how to get the effect:

1. Adjust the color balance, curves, brightness, and contrast to your liking. (I usually like to up the contrast just a tiny bit in almost all my pictures to bring the colors out)

2. Once you're happy with lighting, etc. Make a duplicate copy of the layer.

3. Apply a Gaussian Blur to the layer on TOP. On a high-resolution image about 20-25% works well, but what you're going for is the face to be just blurry enough that the nose disappears and you can't quite recognize the person. The perfect percentage will vary with each photo.

4. On your Layers palate, there is a drop-down just to the left of the opacity selector. It's set to "Normal" by default. On the layer you just blurred, change the setting to "Multiply".

5. Don't freak out because your picture just went super-dark. Stay on your blurry layer and adjust the Curves up until the picture looks good again.

If after doing all this the picture is blurry, then your Gaussian Blur percentage was set too high. It takes a few practices before you'll consistently guess correctly on your blur percentage, but the warm and fuzzy look is well worth it! In my picture above, I used a higher percentage than normal for an extra fuzzy look. Look at that tan!!

I'll post more Photoshop tips as I get questions for them. Comment here if you have one!