Quick Tip: Samrt Feathering Using A Mask In Photoshop

On this quick video photographer Glyn Dewis shows how to use a mask in Photoshop in order to create a nice feathering and make a composite image look more realistic.

Sometimes when you want to combine several objects in an image you want to add a filter (in this case blur). Now the problem you may run into is that what you get is a sharp cut instead of a more gradual – realistic blurring. To solve this you can use feathering, however normally you will have to try and try again as you don’t really see what you are doing.

To solve this Dewis has a nice tip. Select the area you want to apply the blur to. add a mask (by pressing Q) and only than go to blur and you will see a bar below which will allow you to change the feathering with a preview).

Now, we have to say that we have tested this and at least for us – finding the exact feathering was not that simple – even with the preview – but it is probably still way better than without a preview at all and we are guessing that with some trail and error you can get that hang of this pretty quickly.

You can find many more Photoshop video tutorials on LensVid’s Photoshop section.

Iddo Genuth

Iddo Genuth is the founder and chief editor of LensVid.com. He has been a technology reporter working for international publications since the late 1990's and covering photography since 2009. Iddo is also a co-founder of a production company specializing in commercial food and product visual content.