Background Blur

Detects the subject in your photo, keeps it sharp, and applies a Gaussian blur to everything else. Same algorithm phones use for portrait mode, but on any photo from any camera. Adjustable blur amount from subtle to extreme. Free for the first try.

Why background blur looks expensive

Real cameras with fast lenses (f/1.4, f/1.8) produce shallow depth of field — the subject is sharp, the background falls into a creamy blur. It's the look of pro portrait and product photography. Phones simulate it via subject segmentation: detect the subject, blur everything else, composite the two. Apple introduced Portrait Mode on iPhone 7 Plus in 2016 and it changed everyone's expectations of what a phone photo could look like.

Now you can apply the same effect to any photo retroactively. Useful for: photos taken with cheaper smartphones that don't have portrait mode, older photos shot on point-and-shoots, photos where the original blur isn't strong enough, group shots where you want to draw attention to one subject.

How to blur the background

1. Drop your photo. Best results on photos with a clear subject (person, animal, product) and a separable background.
2. Wait 3–5 seconds for AI segmentation.
3. Adjust the blur slider. 0 = no blur (you can still see the AI's subject mask). 50 = typical portrait-mode look. 100 = maximum blur (looks intentional but heavy).
4. Optionally fine-tune the edge feathering. Default soft edges look natural; tight edges look more cardboard-cutout.
5. Download. Output is JPG; transparency isn't relevant here since the background is just blurred, not removed.

What works well, what doesn't

Excellent: portraits, headshots, full-body photos, animals, isolated products, food shots with one main item.

Decent: group shots (the AI picks all detected people), photos with distinct subject and background.

Tricky: photos where subject and background are similar colour or texture (red shirt against red wall, etc.), photos with multiple equal-importance subjects scattered through frame, abstract photos with no clear subject.

For those tricky cases, our Gaussian Blur tool lets you blur the entire image (no subject detection) — sometimes that's what you want anyway.

How it differs from other background tools

Background Remover — strips the background entirely, outputs transparent PNG.
Background Replacer — strips, then composites a new background.
Background Blur (this tool) — keeps the original background but blurs it. Best when the original setting is part of the photo's story (cafe, beach, park) but you want the subject to pop.