[Reducing depth of field (DOF)]

I'm slowly gaining on this process but I still find it difficult to select with the lasso.

I can't seem to find the correct zoom level on the subject to use to trace the border. If I don't zoom in enough then my tracing (is that the correct term) is not as accurate as it should probably be. If I zoom in too close the border of the subject gets rather blurry.

What level should I be zooming in or does it not really matter with the process that Sarkut described above?

[Installing paint.net]

Thank you for the advice.

[Installing paint.net]

Do the plugins work with the portable version?

[Reducing depth of field (DOF)]

Sarkut, how long would you say it took you to make the changes to the above picture?

Also, I see that you used Gaussian Blur for one part of the pic and Unfocus Blur for another part. How did you determine which blur to use? As a newbie I would have probably just chosen one type of blur.

Thanks.

[Reducing depth of field (DOF)]

Thank you very much.

I will practice this.

[Installing paint.net]

Thanks for the link. Lots of good info there.

One thing I didn't see is if I need to be an administrator to install the paint.net software. If not, I could just install it on whichever public computer I am using.

[Installing paint.net]

Does anyone know if paint.net can be ran from a thumbdrive or does it need to be installed on a computer?

I would like to bring the program with me on a thumdrive and use it on public computers and other computers where I don't have admin rights to install it.

Thanks.

[Reducing depth of field (DOF)]

Here's a pic:

and here's how I would like it to look by decreasing the depth of field with Paint.net:

Any suggestions?

[Reducing depth of field (DOF)]

Nevermind. Those steps don't create a shallow depth of field for a photo in which you have one subject that must remain in focus. It merely creates a gradient of focus/unfocus.

[Reducing depth of field (DOF)]

The tilt shift tutorial refers to TRUE BLUR effect.

I don't have it in my recent version of paint.net. Does anyone know which blur is closest to True Blur? Was it replaced by something?

[Reducing depth of field (DOF)]

I will paypal $7 USD if someone can effectively explain the steps to reduce depth of field in a picture using Layers.

[Reducing depth of field (DOF)]

Does anyone know what would be the next steps after duplicating a Layer?

Would I next choose a blur radius?

[Reducing depth of field (DOF)]

What advantages does using Layers have? More control or is it quicker?

P.S. Any idea why I am no longer receiving notification of replies to this thread??

It says:

You are currently receiving email notification of replies

[Reducing depth of field (DOF)]

I have read about how other software is used to create a shallower depth of field.

Many of them do it with something called Layers.

Do you think the Lasso method as shown in the video in the first post would be more effective than the Layer method?

[Reducing depth of field (DOF)]

Also, is there a trick/method to accurately selecting a subject with Lasso? I can't seem to trace the outline of my subject as precisely as I would like.

Zoom in and make a series of smaller overlapping lasso selections.

Is the person (in the video linked to in my original post) tracing around the outline of the flower or is he/she just getting close to the outline/border?

[Reducing depth of field (DOF)]

Additional overlapping selections are blurred at low radius.

If too heavy a blur is applied at one time to a single selection,

the border of the selection will be visible.

Also, areas of the background that are more distant can be

given more blurring than nearer parts of the background.

What tool would be used to select the "additional overlapping sections"?

[Reducing depth of field (DOF)]

The video shows the Lasso Select tool being used

to make various selections of the background.

The selections have blur applied to them.

The flower in the foreground remains

always unselected, so it never gets blurred.

Actually it looks more like the Lasso Select Tool selects the flower then the selection is INVERTED, then blur is added.

The next steps are unclear because it looks like they are selecting portions of the blurred background and doing something to it. Hmmmm.

Also, is there a trick/method to accurately selecting a subject with Lasso? I can't seem to trace the outline of my subject as precisely as I would like.

[Reducing depth of field (DOF)]

Hello.

I have searched and search on how to reduce depth of field in a digital photograph. The closest I could find was this blurry tutorial. I couldn't keep up with the video:

http://tutorials.downloadroute.com/video-131836.html

Can someone explain to me what the video is showing or tell me how make a shallower depth of field using paint.net?

Thanks.