Soft Focus Photoshop Tutorial

I absolutely love the soft focus tutorial. It gives your photos a soft glamor photo feel. It reminds me of the soft images you see in a magazine. This tutorial is great for all kinds of photos, but it is particularly nice for wedding photography. It gives you that soft, glowing romantic feel.

Here is the look I am going for:


Here is my original photo:


Step 1 Open your photo in Photoshop and duplicate the back ground layer by hitting Ctrl + J.


Step 2 Select the new layer (the one on top) an change the blend mode to Overlay.


You can play around with the Blend Mode to get different results. I suggest trying a few. The ones I like best are; Overlay, Screen and Multiply. You can even do several layer modes together by creating multiple layers of the original layer and changing each layer to a new blend mode.

Step 3 Add a Gaussian Blur by going to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur.


Step 4 Use the slider to select the amount of blur you want. For bigger photos you will need a higher number. I used 10. Make sure the Preview box is checked so you can see your results.


The next step is optional, but the results look much better.
Step 5 Select the Eraser tool and set it to a soft edge. You want the size to be close to the size of your eye in the picture. Then change the Opacity to around 30%.


Step 6 I am going to click on the eyes, to lighten th blur effect. This adds more life to the eyes.


You are done! That was a pretty easy one, but with a really nice result. I hope you enjoyed the tutorial.

BriannaNichole!