Tilt-Shift photo effect using sample gallery photo

Original photo


Area size
narrow wide


Photo Effects
Defocus strength
weak strong
Defocus gradient
quick slow

Enhance Bokeh
weak strong
Bokeh controls

Tilt-shift preview
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Advanced controls

For the more adventurous miniature maker..
Defocus strength: Controls the maximum level of out of focus. Set to "weak" for a sharper focus, "strong" for more blurred. This also controls the size of the "bokeh" produced (out of focus discs from a real camera lens).

Defocus gradient: Controls how quickly the image goes out of focus. "quick" setting results in an abrupt change, whereas "slow" makes the change more gradual.

Note: If the defocus gradient is set very "slow", it may not reach the full amount of out of focus as set by the defocus strength control.
Enhance Bokeh: Bokeh usually describes the circular out-of-focus highlights in a photo. The enhance bokeh control attempts to increase the visibility of these areas.

Note: Strong levels of this control may make the photo look unrealistic - try different settings to find a good one. Strongly enhanced bokeh may look better with a weaker defocus strength control. This will reduce the size of the bokeh discs.


How to use

Move the vertical slider on the right of the original photo to select the area in focus.

Use the "Preview" button to see the results then "Get full size" when done, to get a link to the full size image. Creating and downloading the full size image may take a while, depending on original photo size and other factors.

Note: The Preview is meant as a low quality version only - it's better to download the full size image and resize it down if you want a small version of the picture.

The size of the main selected area can be adjusted using the horizontal slider, from "narrow" (focusing on a small area) to "wide" (focusing on a larger area).



hints and tips
Check out the photo gallery to get ideas about different picture styles.

Tilt-shift miniatures often look better with vivid colors. Some photos may have already had their colors adjusted though. In this case, the "Enhance colors" checkbox can be unchecked to avoid over-enhancement of the image.

You don't need to make the focusing area very wide to achieve the miniature look. Depending on the photo, a narrower area may be better.

Does part of the picture look good but the rest of it doesn't work so well?

Consider saving the picture full-size and then select and copy/paste out the best area as a new image.

Use the "Enhance Bokeh" control at a medium strength to bring out highlights in night shots.