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Lens Blur in Lightroom

Last updated on 12 December 2024

Learn how to apply Blur and Bokeh adjustments to achieve a creative look that emphasizes the focus of an image.

The new Lens Blur tool in Lightroom adds aesthetic blur to any part of your photo. You can easily apply optical Blur and Bokeh effects through an interactive, customizable experience that lets you define the blur amount and refine focus.

Tip:

See Lightroom Academy for professional tips on how to find interesting backgrounds.

Select the surface you want to learn more about:

Lightroom desktop
Lightroom for mobile (iOS)
Lightroom for mobile (Android)

Apply Lens Blur in Lightroom desktop

Try it in Adobe Lightroom.
Get in-app help and tips to apply blur effects in a photo.

Open Blur in Lightroom

Try Lens Blur in Lightroom

Select Edit > Lens Blur.
To automatically apply AI-powered Lens Blur, select Apply. Once the blur is applied, you can change the character of the blur effect using the Bokeh controls:
- Bokeh: These buttons let you choose the shape of out-of-focus light sources in the background blur. Choose from the following options:
  
  Circle: Modern circular lens
  
  Bubble: Standard circular shape with over-corrected spherical aberration
  
  5-blade: Commonly seen in the vintage lenses
  
  Ring: Commonly seen in reflex or mirror lenses, also known as Doughnut
  
  Oval / Anamorphic: This gives the bokeh an oval appearance.
- Amount sliders:
  
  Blur amount: This slider lets you control the strength of the blur effect. It is set to 50 by default.
  
  Cat Eye: This slider lets you achieve a swirling, crescent-shaped effect.
  
  Bokeh Boost: This slider lets you adjust the brightness of out-of-focus light sources in the image.
The Blur and Bokeh options are available in the Lens Blur panel.
Use the Focus Range to adjust the range of depth values that are in focus.
- Subject Focus: Automatically sets the focal range using AI-powered subject detection.
- Point / Area Focus: Manually set the focus range by clicking and/or dragging on the photo.
Select Visualize Depth to visualize the depth map and focal range.
When you select Visualize Depth, the overlays on the image show the following colors:
- Warm or Yellow: Covers the area that has a near focal range.
- Cool or Blue: Covers the area that has a far focal range.
- White: Covers the area that is currently in focus when adjusting the Focal Range controls.
Manually refine the Lens Blur depth map using the Refinement sliders.

Choose Focus to selectively add Focus or Blur to selectively add Blur. The other refinement controls will be available when you select Focus or Blur.
- Adjust the Amount, Brush size, Feather, and Flow sliders to manually refine your selection.
- Select Auto Mask to allow automatic edge detection while brushing.

Tip:

If a photo has an existing depth map, Lens Blur will use it, unless you specify otherwise
You can press and hold to hide the applied adjustments.

Batch copy-paste Lens Blur settings

Once you have applied the Lens Blur adjustments to a particular photo, you can batch copy and paste the edits to one or multiple other images. Right-click on the picture and select Copy Edit settings. Select the photos where you wish to batch apply the copied edit settings, right-click on the selection, and choose Paste Edit settings.

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