In this article, I’m going to show you some practical ways of adding depth, or a simulated “Depth of Field” effect to your graphics. These techniques will help you create images that appear to have three dimensions by emulating how your eyes focus in on certain objects while obscuring others.
Easy Depth of Field
What is “Depth of Field”? I’ll dodge the technical answer here and save you a lot of time. Basically, depth of field is what causes that blurry effect you see in photographs. It allows you to focus in on a part of scene, and keep other parts of the same seen unfocused.
It’s really easier to see than to explain:
In the photo above, you can see how the strawberry, the bottom of the spoon, and part of the edge of the bowl are all in focus, while parts of objects outside of this plane seem quite a bit more blurry. This is called depth of field… in a really simplified manner.
It’s pretty easy to simulate this effect in Photoshop. The two main factors that make Depth of Field effects possible in Photoshop are the emulation of Distance, and the perception of Focus.
Example #1 - Depth between Objects
In this example, we can see distance demonstrated by the layering and size of the cloud objects. Objects further back are smaller, and are behind the clouds which are closer up.
Focus is also emulated in this example by applying a small Gaussian Blur to clouds REALLY close up, or far away. This makes the clouds in the middle seem the most in focus.
Example #2 - Depth of Field on a Plane
Looking at the Top example in the image above, it would seem that both circular objects are the same distance away from the viewer on a make-believe plane. The Object on the left appears to be MUCH larger than the one on the right.
In order to add some depth, we must adjust the placement of the objects. As you can see in the lower example, the object on the right immediately appears further back when we move it just a small bit along our make-believe plane. Not only does it appear further back, but it also seems like both objects could both be the same size (things look smaller when they are further back).
To add a small focus effect, I’ve added a small Gaussian Blur to the right object. I’ve also enhanced the lighting of the Plane by adding a small gradient to it.
Trying out Easy Depth of Field
Let’s give easy depth of field a go. I’ve prepared an example document to work with that you can download here.
There are 4 layers in this document, respectively named Large, Medium, Small, and Background for the objects in the document. Using the Move Tool, drag each of the objects to a place in the document, so that the larger the object is, the closer it is to the viewer on the plane. Note: I’ve added some grid lines to help show our imaginary plane.
From this point, we just need to decide where on the plane we’d like to focus in on. See the darker horizontal lines in the image above? Try to choose two of those lines to focus in on (make sharper), and then proceed to blur the objects outside of those lines. The further from the area you’re focusing on, the stronger the blur should be.
I’ve highlighted my area of focus on the plane in green.
And there you have it! Simulated Depth of Field, in just a few easy steps that can be applied to nearly ANY situation!
Depth of Field in Photography
Tip: Use The Grid in Photoshop
Energize Your Graphics with Abstract Energy Lines
Composition & Framing in Photography
very nice explaination, i seem to have a decent grasp of this but some people i know struggle so ill be sure to point them this way.
Very useful tutorial, thanks so much
Great explanation, I’ve always been a bit confused about this.
Thank you!
Hey, this is a good easy to understand method of introducing some depth to images.
One other thing (that isn’t really depth of field) when dealing with images of clouds, buildings, mountains, and other far off objects is that things tend to progressively gray out as they get further from the viewer. For example, if you wanted your clouds to look as if they’re really far off, you might decrease the contrast just to give it that color-faded atmospheric perspective.
That’s an excellent point Cpt. Crayon! Thanks for your that extra little tip
I haven’t written any tutorials here on contrast (yet), but I know that using Levels (or Curves) both provide a very effective way of adjusting contrast (among other things).
Thanks again mate!
Awesome tutorial! There are so many tutorials out there on step-by-step procedures, and little things like this (which make a huge impact to your image) are often over looked.
I can’t wait for the next one.
wow this is a good tutorial, i did this a few times to pictures i took to make them look cooler. Thanks!
thanks this is great needed to know how to do this .
Glad this was useful to you folks
Great explanation and tutorial.
Quick suggestion, though. Try using “shape blur” (just pick the circle when choosing a shape) instead of lens blur in newer versions of photoshop. It’s a linear blur algorithm that (in my opinion) more accurately resembles a real lens blur than does a gaussian blur. Only real downside is that its minimum radius is 5px, I believe.
Of course, “Lens blur” is ideal, but can get a bit overwhelming with all of its options.
Great tutorial.. but I’d be a little disappointed with the visual artist who couldn’t work out depth of field on their own, what with digital cameras being so cheap these days and what not.
This is the best depth of field lesson I’ve ever seen. Congratulations on excellent work!
Nice info.
Great tutorial!
thanks
Its cool! i am always confuse how to do this trick..thanks for your explanations..
Truly a great tutorial, however i do feel that you are over using the gaussian blur, it should only just be out of focus if it’s standing alone, only massively if the part in focus is very close to the “lens” or front of the picture.
Keep em coming.
I really like this tutorial. Thanks a lot.
PS
You are sort of over doing it with the G. Blur…
Wow, thanks for all the feedback folks! rootyb made some excellent suggestions for using the Lens Blur or Shape Blur instead of Gaussian Blur.
Keep in mind that this is simply a demonstration of how to go about using this effect. I’ll leave it up to you for now to decide how intense you’d like the effect to be!
very nice tutorial david,learn something again..thanks.
Short, Simple, Effective!
Thanks
Nice tutorial! Very easy to follow.
Thanks again folks =) You’re all so welcome!
short and sweet.
the author is very clever.
i love this website!
good explanation. Great!
Very good done.. Very is y to do end so effective. Thanks end Keep the tutorials coming man you rock. LW
One thing I am curious about - how did you create the blue balls?
Awesome tutorial! This will work wonders for my wedding photography pictures! Thanks
Is good ideea