A Candid Portrait

[Grumpy John]

Using Isac's blur tutorial I softened the background in this image. However I have a halo effect around the woman, why did this happen, and how do I fix it?

#1 Before edit.


#2 After edit.

[Isac]

Good point John. I would guess you had the Feather set to something above ZERO. Set your selection tool of choice to "Feather: 0 px" and it will give a sharp selection. I'll add that to my tutorial.
Here is a great tutorial for the use of the MAGNETIC LASSO TOOL

[Isac]

Yes John send the PSD

[Grumpy John]

Tried to send the PSD, but "File Too Big"

[Isac]

No problem, just send a screenshot of the layers palette.

[seaslug]

I've had that problem of halo too John particularly when you blurring past about 8 pixels even though the selection tool is set to zero.
My technique has been to use the magic wand to select the subject, then set to inverse, then apply a good deal of motion blur which seems to get around the problem of halo.

eg.

[Isac]

I noticed in your edit, that there are dark outlines that are visible around the shoulders, head and her left arm and her hair is not whispy as in the original. It looks OK for the quick method you used, but for much more control and to work non-destructively, a mask will give much better results. I'll do an edit and post up a sample of what I mean.

[seaslug]

You are looking much closer than most people would, I’m playing with a tiny jpeg and I’m not going to spend much time trying to get it perfect. As far as destructive goes, I still have the original, and it’s always as easy as going back a few steps if you don’t like the result. I respect your work, and accept that you’ve probably forgotten more about PS than I’ll ever know, but I still think it’s valid to show simpler ways of achieving an acceptable result for showing on line.

[Isac]

Sorry Greg. I always try to pass on what I know to others because it's not going to be worth anything when I'm dead. As far as masks go, they are really easy to create. In PS editing, layer and vector masks are said to be nondestructive because you can re‑edit the masks without losing the pixels they hide. This is when PS is open, not after you exit the program. It doesn't mean you can't redo and you always have the original as the background layer and the original on your HD as well.

[Isac]

By using a mask, you can paint on it with black or white to hide or reveal parts of the image. By changing the opacity of the brush it basically just smooths the transition between black and white, which can be seen in my tutorial in the shadows under the car. Once you have created the mask, you can blur the under copy using any method you like for different effects (as below) or just a little to create a subtle bokeh. You can even drop in a different background, like the second image.

New background added just by dragging it under the mask layer.

[Grumpy John]

"No problem, just send a screenshot of the layers palette."
Is this what you wanted?

[Isac]

The mask looks really jagged - is that the case? Maybe you can zip the PSD file, then email me.

[Grumpy John]

I'm guessing that it looks that way because I upsized the image by a fair bit.
Zipped file on its way, I had to split the file and send it in 5 emails.

[Isac]

Just got it, so I'll have a look.

[Isac]

I loaded the PSD OK. Easy fix John. Because you are blurring an exact copy of the image (Layer 1) you will get the blur of all the colours which causes the halo effect.
To avoid that, delete your existing "Layer 1", so you only have the "Background" layer and the "Layer 1 copy" with the linked Mask.
1. Select the "Background" layer and duplicate it with CTRL + J /OR/ on the top menu click "Layer > Duplicate Layer... > OK".
2. Select the "Background copy" layer.
3. While holding CTRL, click on the "Layer 1 copy" MASK THUMBNAIL. This will select around the mask edge and you will see the "marching ants".
4. While the "Background copy" layer is STILL SELECTED, press CTRL + X /OR/ on the top menu click "Edit > Cut". This will remove the selection from the "Background copy" layer.
5. While the "Background copy" layer is STILL SELECTED, Right-Click (not on the thumbnail) and select "Convert to Smart Object". This will allow you to change the amount of blur at any time, by Double-Clicking on the words "Gaussian Blur" which is shown under under the Smart Filters Thumbnail.
Now you can blur the "Background copy" layer. On the top menu, click "Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur...". Set the blur amount and click OK when you have the look you want.
It will now show the blurred background without the appearance of the halo.

[Grumpy John]

Done. Thank you so much Isac.

[Isac]

Cool John, glad you got it!

[Grumpy John]

Another candid shot edited using Isac's blur method.

[Isac]

I wouldn't know without the original

[Grumpy John]

Here you go then. I did straighten the other one.

[Grumpy John]

And if either of the portrait subjects had curly, or frizzy hair I could have done this.

[Isac]

Yes, you could have with the perfect clear background. I have used that in the past but prefer using channels to isolate the hair and then use different hair brushes for final adjustments.