How to Add Motion Blur to Backgrounds in Photoshop

Blurring a background in Photoshop sounds simple until your subject blurs right along with it. In this tutorial, we show you the trick professional retouchers use to add realistic motion blur behind a subject in sports and action photos while keeping them perfectly sharp. The secret is separating your subject from the background before you ever apply a blur, so the two can be treated completely independently and recombined seamlessly. CHAPTERS 00:00 Intro to motion blur backgrounds 01:02 Why blurring directly ruins the subject 02:58 Removing the subject with Spot Healing Brush 04:26 Converting to a Smart Object and applying blur 06:09 Masking the subject back in 07:27 Refining the mask around hair and legs 09:20 Increasing opacity and cleaning up edges 10:19 Comparing masked vs unmasked results 12:05 Recap and key steps THE STEPS 1. Duplicate the background layer and remove the subject with the Spot Healing Brush (Content-Aware, Sample All Layers) 2. Convert the cleaned background layer to a Smart Object 3. Apply a Motion Blur, or a Path Blur if the subject is moving toward or away from the camera 4. Lower the blurred layer's opacity and add a layer mask 5. Paint black on the mask to reveal your subject through the blur 6. Refine the mask around hair, limbs, and edges 7. Raise the opacity back to 100% once the subject looks clean 8. Double-click the Smart Filter anytime to adjust the blur amount Read the full written tutorial on phlearn.com: https://phlearn.com/tutorial/add-moti... PHLEARN PRO: Learn advanced compositing techniques like this one in our in-depth PRO courses. Check out PHLEARN PRO at phlearn.com/pro ――――――――――――――― What is PHLEARN PRO? ● Instant access to over 1,000 Photoshop and photography tutorials ● New tutorials added every week ● Download sample images and project files to follow along ● Ask questions and get feedback from a community of creatives Use code PRO26 for a discount on your first month of PHLEARN PRO Follow PHLEARN: Instagram:   / phlearn   Facebook:   / phlearn   Twitter:   / phlearn   #Photoshop #MotionBlur #PhotoRetouching