Make BEAUTIFUL Blurred Backgrounds in Affinity Photo!

Free Course! 10 steps to make any photo amazing: affinity.sale/...
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Download the example image: affinityrevolu...
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In this tutorial, I'll show you how to blur the background of any photo. To do this, we will use Affinity Photo's selection tools and blur filters. And after blurring the background, I'll also show you how to improve the lighting and colors of your photo, to make it look even more beautiful. :)

[@AffinityRevolution]

I tried to keep this photo looking natural by not blurring the background TOO much, but you can use these same steps to add as much blur as you want!🙂

[@kennuff2]

At last this lady has demonstrated this video at a slow a and steady pace showing all the movements of the cursor giving us time to take it all in. Well done and thankyou.

[@AffinityRevolution]

Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed the tutorial.

[@iantownsend751]

Thank you Ally! I had to create a photo with blurred background at short notice and my first attempts with Affinity were a disaster. They included all the potential errors you highlighted! Once I found your tutorial it all worked perfectly. Thanks to you and Ezra for all your great work.

[@AffinityRevolution]

That's great to hear Ian! I'm glad my video could help you. 🙂

[@fastr1red]

The reason I purchased Affinity is because of the excellent and very easy to follow tutorials. I've had a dabble at the other 2 big name products that are very powerful editing tools, however Affinity is just as powerful but far easier to navigate around and layering is just easier overall.

[@AffinityRevolution]

That's great to hear! Glad you're enjoying it. 😊

[@lloydstuartm.d.5625]

As always, great video. For me, I use the clone brush to get rid of the subject's edges on the background layer so you don't get the blur artifact. Saves bringing the selection, growing it, etc. Another option is to just context aware out the subject in the background layer.

[@AffinityRevolution]

Good tips! Thanks for sharing.

[@MegaLancslass]

So incredibly helpful - thank you.

[@AffinityRevolution]

Thank you! I'm so glad you liked the video. 😊

[@jer3006]

Enjoyed seeing how you applied the gradient to the blur layer. Nice trick! Thank you for sharing this effect.

[@AffinityRevolution]

Thank you! Glad you liked the video. 😊

[@NaweedQadirdotcom]

Your every tutorial has made me fell in love with Affinity Photo even more.

[@AffinityRevolution]

Thank you! Affinity is a wonderful program. 😊

[@trevorlewis6826]

This tutorial is sooo timely. I needed to edit a particular photograph for this evening at the local camera club. I decided I wanted to blur the background and I used one of your earlier tutorials and it was OK. However the techniques in this latest tutorial have allowed me to improve on my first efforts. I am so grateful. You (and Ezra) are just the best.

[@AffinityRevolution]

That's great to hear! I'm glad you could put this new technique to good use. :)

[@extremelydave]

You've just bumped my Affinity skill level from ugly to pretty good!! Awesome video Ally!!

[@AffinityRevolution]

Thank you Dave! I'm glad you liked the video 😊

[@npimages2010]

Excellent tutorial as always. Thank you 🙂

[@AffinityRevolution]

Thank you Nick! Glad you liked it. 😊

[@japx2]

Your tutorials are super clear. Do you ever use Affinity Photo on the iPad? There are other tutorials out there for it, but I prefer your teaching style.

[@AffinityRevolution]

Thank you! I'm glad you're enjoying my videos. I don't have any iPad videos right now, but I plan on making them in the future. 😊

[@nicholasrobertson-art]

Excellent training video, her slow and deliberate voice makes it easy to follow.

[@AffinityRevolution]

Thank you! Glad you liked the video.

[@Spawn666949]

You have the best Affinity Photo tutorials.

[@AffinityRevolution]

Thank you so much! 😊

[@UngefiltertTV]

never lose your happiness about doing what u do!

[@AffinityRevolution]

🤗

[@1519joel]

I was able to follow through to the end. This is an amazing tutorial.

[@AffinityRevolution]

Thank you! Glad you liked the video. 😊

[@rusher0008]

This video made my day

[@AffinityRevolution]

Yay! Glad to hear. 🤗

[@lamst9721]

A very great knowledge sharing. Thank you

[@AffinityRevolution]

Thank you! 😊

[@IdahoSAM.]

Wow, again some use of tools that I have never used before. I learn something new every time I watch your videos. Thanks for taking the time to make these!

[@AffinityRevolution]

Thank you Elder Meyers! 😊

[@Games4junggebliebene]

Oh, your lovely voice and your teaching makes Affinity so simple 😁

[@AffinityRevolution]

Thank you so much! 🤗

[@matrixate]

By far, the best method...the best. Thank you so much for all the effort in scripting and the care you guys took in producing this. Like I said before, your presentations should be the de facto standard by which all other post productions videos are made.

[@AffinityRevolution]

Thank you so much! 🤗

[@SteveBrookfieldmusic]

I really appreciate these tutorials as I'm trying to transition over to using Affinity all of the time instead of PS. Thank you!!

[@AffinityRevolution]

That transition can be tough, but it's so nice not needing to pay Adobe's subscription! 😄

[@SteveBrookfieldmusic]

@@AffinityRevolution YES... having to rethink and learn how to do something in a different way makes for frustrating moments but you do have to think about the greater gain... in the end.

[@alainadamski7703]

You are the queen of the magicians. ;-) Thank you.

[@AffinityRevolution]

Haha thank you so much! 😊

[@jarrodking4342]

I've fooled around with a few different ways to deal with haloing but didn't think of this one. Great stuff as always, thanks 👍🏼

[@AffinityRevolution]

Thank you! Glad you liked the technique. 😊

[@paulknight7789]

Thanks so much, I have just tried this to blur the background and it works a treat. Many thanks.

[@AffinityRevolution]

Thank you! Glad you liked the video. 😊

[@chrisefc3579]

Superb, as always. Thankyou. Best wished to you and Ezra.

[@AffinityRevolution]

Thank you Chris! 🤗

[@robertnicholls4277]

just fantastic tutorial

[@AffinityRevolution]

Thank you Robert! 😊

[@neglectedloves]

thank so much, that was so incredibly helpful... I used your method on a seamless paper backdrop which wasn't that seamless anymore... wow what a difference.... 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

[@AffinityRevolution]

That's great to hear! I'm glad this technique worked for you. 😊

[@anilmenon2503]

Beautifully explained!

[@AffinityRevolution]

Thank you Anil! 😊

[@mahaminmondal6248]

I have switched to Affinity permanently and all thanks to you. I've been following your tutorials for a long time and now I can use affinity fluently. I have already known this technique. I use this technique when upper/mid portion of the subject is visible. I use tilt-shift blur when the legs of the subject are visible.

[@AffinityRevolution]

That's a great way to do it! Thanks for sharing your workflow. 😊

[@mahaminmondal6248]

@@AffinityRevolution Thanks for replying 😊

[@prasinpradeep]

Wonderful video and explained beautifully. Thanks...

[@AffinityRevolution]

Thank you! I'm glad you liked it. 😊

[@good3112]

Thank you! I have several of your excellent courses, and videos like this one really help to reinforce all that knowledge.

[@AffinityRevolution]

Thank you very much Ken! 😊

[@tomaswilde5481]

A very nice and useful tutorial. Thank you so much!

[@AffinityRevolution]

You're welcome! I'm glad you liked it. 😊

[@aaronperkinson8314]

Thanks! As always, I enjoyed this quick tutorial.

[@AffinityRevolution]

Thank you Aaron! Glad you liked it. 😊

[@stephenstevenson1900]

Great tutorial. Thanks Ally!

[@AffinityRevolution]

Thank you Stephen! 😊

[@JasonMilner]

Another awesome video. Thanks guys, these are really useful.

[@AffinityRevolution]

Thank you Jason! 🤗

[@jamesthomson7047]

Excellent. Love this

[@AffinityRevolution]

Thank you! Glad you liked the video. 😊

[@rictorize3485]

Thank you for always sharing great tutorials :) keep it up

[@AffinityRevolution]

Thank you! 🤗

[@chrisdecraene9242]

Great tutorial!

[@AffinityRevolution]

Thank you Chris!

[@mshameer7471]

thank you for educating me

[@AffinityRevolution]

You're welcome! Glad you liked the tutorial. 😊

[@MK-ni6gs]

Excellent video . Thank you again!

[@AffinityRevolution]

You're welcome! Glad you enjoyed it. 😊

[@mikevandoorn7161]

Another great and fun tutorial. I love each and every one you present and always look forward to the next one. Thanks so much for making it fun.

[@AffinityRevolution]

Thank you so much Mike! That makes me really happy. 😊

[@youlookingatmelookingatyou533]

This tutorial is so useful, thank you.

[@AffinityRevolution]

Thank you! Glad you liked it. 😊

[@rockdoverehab8407]

Hey thanks, this was super helpful :D

[@AffinityRevolution]

You're welcome! Glad you liked it. 😊

[@cjc363636]

Ezra and Ally: This is so cool This lesson is right where I've ended up in 'retouching' photo practice. I've been really working with simulated background lighting - adjusting bg curves to pull 'out' the model more, with the goal to not touch the model settings. Haloing with the blur efx has been a problem, and I didn't even know what it was called. The impainting method to fix that is just cool! Thanks for the tips, and as a hobbyist, this is just more fun with the lessons you both provide! Peace!

[@AffinityRevolution]

I didn't know about that inpainting trick for a long time, but it's so useful for getting rid of that haloing! :)

[@victoriacarroll9886]

Thank you! So easy to follow.

[@AffinityRevolution]

Thank you! Glad you liked the video. 😊

[@playerthree38]

inpaint saves so much time!

[@AffinityRevolution]

Totally! I love the inpaint feature.

[@Greg-fg1rd]

Thank you Ally! 👋🏻

[@AffinityRevolution]

You're welcome! 😊

[@purtion851]

Absolutely Awesome!!! Love your informative and easy to follow Affinity photo tutorials! You are amazing and so creative....i was just wondering how to blur the background...i use to use ps and i am so happy i dont now....and the transition is at times frustrating...but..well worth the effort to learn Affinity!!! Thankyou!!!!😀

[@AffinityRevolution]

You're welcome! I'm glad you enjoyed the video. 😊

[@johnpaulirvine5845]

Thank you, Ally, this video was so 'enlightening'! Makes me wonder where you learned all these tricks 😊

[@alanfindlayviewfromtherock6200]

Super tutorial. Have you guys got any plans, or have you covered this already to show a technique how double chins can be removed from a portrait in Affinity?

[@AffinityRevolution]

That's a good idea for a future video! 😊

[@SuchContent]

Great idea, thank you very much!

[@AffinityRevolution]

Thank you! I'm glad you liked it. 😊

[@keithwjones]

Nice work. Thank you.

[@AffinityRevolution]

Thank you! I'm glad you liked it. 😊

[@rpigeon8]

Great video again! Thanks

[@AffinityRevolution]

Thanks so much Robert! 😊

[@rm0234]

very helpful thanks

[@AffinityRevolution]

You're welcome! Glad you liked the video. 😊

[@vinr]

Super cool

[@AffinityRevolution]

Thank you! Glad you liked the video. 😊

[@simonpayne7994]

Very nicely explained. Something I do on a regular basis. Especially on those ugly smartphone images that are sent to you by your friends and relatives. Blur the background and then darken the background down a bit is my standard recipe. If you manage to correct the horrible wide angle perspective and put all the walls up straight again, and then crop appropriately, you can sometimes even turn completely untalented rubbish into quite a good looking picture. 😊 Affinity Revolution delivers a good path for beginners to take to get to grips on this very powerful and rather complicated piece of software. Note the tip about enlarging the selection slightly prior to inpainting.

[@AffinityRevolution]

That's the magic of Affinity! Even dull photos can be turned into something special. 😁

[@gossedejong9248]

brilliant thank you

[@AffinityRevolution]

Thank you for watching!

[@johnwelday199]

Thanks for another great video. I've learned so much from you. In this picture, the stuff on the right and left hand sides, particularly the leaves in the upper right hand corner, are also close to the camera. Would a radial or eliptical gradient work better to keep them from being blurred as much as the stuff in the very background?

[@AffinityRevolution]

A radial or elliptical gradient would work wonderfully! 😊

[@mongoose9594]

Hi Ali. Another great instructional video! You explain the process so well that, as usual, it’s simplified for those of us who are learning the complexities of AF. Thank you so much. Now, it would be even better (an 11 out of 10…) if we could see you again too. Hope you’re very well indeed, hope Ezra is doing good too. Thanks again.

[@AffinityRevolution]

I've been too lazy to get out my camera and film myself lately, but I'll try to be less lazy in the future... haha 🙃

[@mhpjii]

Thank you, Ally Affinity Revolution tutorial lady. This is excellent (and very advanced, no?)

[@AffinityRevolution]

This is an advanced tutorial, but I hope you could still follow along! 😊

[@ChrisB257]

Another real gem - great stuff Ally and as usual so nicely described, making it super easy to understand. Over time I've used gaussian but never got the extremely useful result you made. Love the application of gradient to the blur. Can't wait to play with this one, thank you. :)

[@AffinityRevolution]

Ya, I think adding that gradient really takes it up a notch. :)

[@johnlawrence6124]

Fantastic clear tutorial. Very informative and you have a superb teaching skill. I've purchased legal copies of P.S. from eBay saying they are genuine ex university software, but after time P.S. always blows me out, so now time to fully get into my purchased Affinity Photo software. Fantastic alternative to the overpriced Photoshop. Thank you for a great tutorial.

[@AffinityRevolution]

Welcome to the Affinity side! It's a great Photoshop alternative. 😊

[@gerarbara]

Rather than in paint, is it not just as useful to cut and paste the subject to a new layer?

[@AffinityRevolution]

Both steps are needed. We need a copy of the model on her own layer AND the model needs to be inpainted off the original photo

[@manfredweber9171]

Hi, Ally! As always a informative video. Thank you very much. :-)

[@AffinityRevolution]

You're welcome! Glad you liked it. 😊

[@meeway99]

THANK YOU!!!

[@AffinityRevolution]

You're welcome! Glad you liked the video. 😊

[@meeway99]

@@AffinityRevolution I did! I have watch a few Affinity Videos so far but have never come across yours. You have such a calm voice and clear way to explain, I love your videos, had to subscribe right away:) thank you again:) Cheers from Switzerland

[@ohbegitu5045]

Hi, everytime im using Blur it always merged with the selected layer. so i cant control it freely, which setting should i change?

[@AffinityRevolution]

You need to apply a LIVE filter, not just a regular filter. You can get Live Filters from the hourglass icon at the bottom of the Layers Panel. 😊

[@jean_mollycutpurse_winchester]

This was amazingly thorough. It's a great series and I've been following you for a long time. Just out of interest, any thoughts on Pixelmator pro?

[@AffinityRevolution]

Thank you so much Molly! 😊 I've never used Pixelmator, so I don't have an opinion on it for now.

[@jean_mollycutpurse_winchester]

@@AffinityRevolution Thank you. Your channel deserves more subscribers.

[@ekotardesign]

how do i transfer a mask in to backround layer with windows keyboard? i dont have this command putton!

[@AffinityRevolution]

Command (Mac) = Ctrl (PC) I hope that helps! :)

[@heydoyourhomework]

I've used this tutorial and its technique a dozen times. I am interested in why you don't use the Lens Blur filter on the background instead of Gaussian Blur filter. Especially when mimicking the DOF characteristics of a wide aperture. TIA

[@AffinityRevolution]

The Lens Blur filter is a great option to use. I was just trying to keep this video simple. 🙂

[@4toes1nose]

Thank you

[@AffinityRevolution]

You're welcome Kevin! 😊

[@caioaurelio7076]

Thanks

[@AffinityRevolution]

You're welcome. 😊

[@endyend222]

in the last step, I blurred the bordered area just around the subject - instead of the rest of the background. Don't know how to flip it? :(

[@AffinityRevolution]

Command + I on a Mac, or Ctrl + I on a PC, will invert your mask. 🙂

[@endyend222]

@@AffinityRevolution Thanks! :)

[@careofthespartans7538]

I have multiple RAW photos of the same object in the same srounding and lightning , I would like to know how to apply the same color corrections and color grading with out having to do it every time for each picture?

[@AffinityRevolution]

Affinity isn't really meant for editing a series of photos like that (you'd want to use Lightroom or Capture One Pro), but you can use Affinity Macros + Batch Processing to edit a series of photos. It's just not the simplest thing in the world. Here's a video if you're interested: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gl7TaJ-CYreCsLc

[@therookiefisherman5234]

Great video if you're doing one or two but if you're doing volume this won't work thanks for the vid.

[@AffinityRevolution]

Thank you! 😊

[@karambirsingh914]

Thnxxx

[@AffinityRevolution]

You're welcome! Glad you liked it. 😊

[@iankelsall25]

You can use the ALT option to switch from FOREGROUD to BACKGROUND, this saves having to keep clicking on the tabs. Also you can change the PREVIEW tab to BLACK AND WHITE to see which areas have not been selected that you may have missed.

[@AffinityRevolution]

Thanks Ian! Those are good tips. 😊

[@jazzlehazzle]

So nice! She maybe looks *slightly too cut-out still here but these techniques super help! TY!!

[@Putti509]

what if i just want to ad the mask directly with new layer without using the refine tool (after i marked the mask with brush tool) ^seems like double work if the mask is good enought from the start and i just want to ad it. So is there any hotkeys to ad mask with new layer?

[@raeesmohammed3072]

🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽

[@AffinityRevolution]

🤗

[@tonycmela3657]

Maybe a dumb question - why go through this detailed selection process only to expand the selection later. Am I missing something?

[@yoRRnl]

So this proces took almost 10 minutes. I can do this in 30 seconds in Photoshop :(

[@KathleenRenninger]

Wow; very helpful! Thank you .

[@SurfinPog]

Very helpful tutorial! Super easy to follow along, thanks!

[@AffinityRevolution]

Thank you! Glad you liked the video. 😊

[@sachkanade]

Love this tutorial! Thank you as always!

[@AffinityRevolution]

You're welcome! Glad you liked the video. 😊