How to blur the background of any photo (Android) - The Happy Android

The bokeh effect is a technique that is responsible for blurring the background of a photograph to achieve a greater sense of depth. In mobile phones, this is normally achieved by using 2 cameras: one is responsible for capturing the scene with a good level of detail and the other takes the same scene but in unfocused mode, to finally unite both captures by cutting out the profile of the " elements ”- usually people - that are closer to the target. An effect that in most mobiles is activated automatically when we use the famous "portrait mode".

However, nowadays there are already many terminals that use artificial intelligence to perform these types of tricks, without the need to resort to a double camera. But what happens if our mobile does not have this feature or we forgot to activate the bokeh effect at the time of taking the photo? Can we achieve the same blur effect afterwards using an editing program?

How to blur the background of an image on Android

If we have an Android phone or tablet, achieve a quite credible bokeh effect with the app AfterFocus. In Android there are other applications such as Snapseed that also allow you to apply blur effects, but the great advantage of AfterFocus is that it allows us to draw by hand the areas where we want to apply the effect. A simple technique but that gives much more satisfactory results in slightly more complicated photographs.

• Once we have installed AfterFocus we open the application.
• On the first screen we will be given the option to choose between 3 editing modes: “Smart”, “Manual” and “AI”. If we choose the last option, the tool will automatically identify the closest object or person by blurring the background. With the first 2 options we will have to identify by hand the areas to blur.
• Then we will enter the editing panel, where we can make the appropriate adjustments. When we have everything ready, click on "Next".
• Here the tool will show us the final result with the bokeh effect already applied. If we are satisfied, we will select "Save" to save the image.

After blurring some photos with auto mode (AI) on, we have seen that it delivers surprisingly good results.

Do you have a Google Pixel?

Pixel phone users can also achieve a very successful background blur effect with the help of Google Photos. A tool that works especially well when applying bokeh to medium-length and close-up photos.

To apply the blur effect to the backgrounds in Google Photos we just have to enter a photo and click on the edit button. Here we will find a "Blur" bar that we can adjust to apply a greater or lesser effect to the image.