3 fast Ways to Emphasize the Focus of a Photo
1: Gaussian Blur Vignettes
1) Start by using the Ellipse selection tool to define the area of the photo you want
to emphasize. Feel free to experiment with other shapes, or use the selection
tools to create your own shape.
Don’t forget to duplicate and lock your photo before you do anything to it! That
way you’ll always have the original.
2) Once you have selected the area you want to emphasize, invert the selection.
This can be done by going to Select > Inverse or hitting Shift + Ctrl + I.
You should end up with the opposite of what you want to emphasize as your
selection.
3) Once you’ve got that selected, you’ll need to go feather your selection. You
can do this by going up to Select > Modify > Feather, or hitting Alt + Ctrl + D.
This will bring up a Feather Selection dialog box. I feathered my selection 10
pixels; feel free to experiment with yours to see what looks best for you. (Note:
You won’t be able to see the effect of the feather until after the next step, so to
experiment repeat and undo this and the next step.)
4) The next step is to apply the Gaussian Blur. Gaussian Blur can be found by going
to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur…
This will pop up the Gaussian Blur dialog box. Again, the amount of blur that you apply is
up to your sensibilities, but I prefer to keep it a fairly subtle effect, so I stuck to 2.0 pixels.
If you keep the Preview button checked, you will be able to see the effect of the blur
on your image itself, as you can see below.
Once you’ve hit ok on the dialog box, use the shortcut Ctrl + D to deselect, and you’re
done! You should end up with something similar to the image below.
2: Shadow Frame Vignettes
1) Repeat steps 1-3 above on your photo. For this photo I chose to feather my
selection 30 pixels instead of 10, this allows a more gradual fill in. Fill can be
reached by going to Edit > Fill.
This will bring up the Fill dialog box (as shown below).
Once you have hit ok, use the shortcut Ctrl + D to deselect the picture. You
should end up with a final image something like the one below, using shadows to
emphasize the focal point of the photo. Feel free to explore using different opacities
and colors for the vignette.
3: Saturate/Desaturate
1) There are two ways to do this effect. For the first, repeat steps 1-3 of the first
explanation, “Gaussian Blur Vignettes.” For this one, I used a pixel feather of 15, I
also filled in the edges of the photo with the rectangular marquee, so they would
be fully selected.
2) Once you have the area you want selected, it’s time to create an adjustment
layer. To find the adjustment layers, look underneath the Layer’s palette. You
want to choose the “New Fill or Adjustment Layers” button, which is shaped like a
circle half filled.
Select “Hue/Saturation” from the menu. It will pop up a dialogue box. In the box,
turn the saturation down to zero.
What you should end up is something like the photo below, with the color
denoting the focal point.
3) The second way to try this is more time consuming, but can be used to add
interesting pops of color on things you want noticed. Instead of selecting a
general area and fading the saturation out, you select a single item, or a few
items that you want to retain their color. In this photo, I chose the umbrellas.
4) Once you have selected the area you want to emphasize, invert the selection.
This can be done by going to Select > Inverse or hitting Shift + Ctrl + I.
5) Once you have the area you want selected, it’s time to create an adjustment
layer. To find the adjustment layers, look underneath the Layer’s palette. You
want to choose the “New Fill or Adjustment Layers” button, which is shaped like a
circle half filled.
Select “Hue/Saturation” from the menu. It will pop up a dialogue box. In the box,
turn the saturation down to zero. What you should end up is something like the
photo below, with the color denoting the focal point.