Easy Soft Focus Effect - Photoshop Tutorial

1. Open your photo in Photoshop (easy, eh).

2. Press Ctrl+J (Cmd+J on a Mac) to duplicate the layer.

3. In the layer window, your new layer should be on top and selected. At the top of the this change the opacity to 50% (picture on right)

4. From the top menu select Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur.

5. Drag the Radius slider to create the desired effect. I usually use between 8-14 for a good soft effect, or 2-8 for a smooth but less soft effect.

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Tips: The Gaussian Blur is what changes the 'style' of the effect, as you will see. You can adjust the 'intensity' of the effect by changing the opacity from the 50% originally set.

I've used it in a lot of black and white shots, but it works for anything, looks great on portraits.