Skip to content

Blur the background of a photo

Keep the person or object sharp and blur everything behind it, like a phone's portrait mode, with an AI model that runs in your browser.

Drop a photo to blur its backgroundPortrait-mode blur behind a person or object · JPG, PNG, WebP, HEIC
Choose imageProcessed on your device — never uploaded
AI modelDownloads once, then works offline on this device
Runs in your browser · no uploadHow it works

How to use Blur background

  1. 1

    Add a photo

    Drop or paste a portrait, a pet or a product shot of up to 25 MB. The people model is preselected because it is the smaller download.

  2. 2

    Let the AI find the subject

    On the first run the model downloads once (about 44–88 MB) and is cached; after that each photo takes seconds.

  3. 3

    Choose how blurry

    Drag Blur strength until the background is as soft as you like, and touch up the edge with Restore or Erase if a strand of hair went missing.

  4. 4

    Download

    Save a JPG at the original size (PNG and WebP also work), or copy it to the clipboard.

Limits and Pro

One photo at a time, up to 25 MB, saved at its original resolution with no watermark.

Pro processes batches of up to 500 photos and files above 25 MB. See Pro

About Blur background

Phone cameras call it portrait mode; photographers call it shallow depth of field. Either way, the subject stays sharp while everything behind it melts into a soft blur, which pulls attention to the person and hides a messy room, a crowd or a distracting street. This page creates that look after the fact, from any ordinary photo, including ones taken on cameras that have no portrait mode at all.

An AI segmentation model separates the subject from the background, the original photo is blurred as a whole, and the sharp cut-out is laid back on top using a soft-edged mask, so hair and fur blend naturally into the blurred backdrop. Blur strength scales with the picture's size, so a setting of 12 looks alike on a small and a large photo. The result has the same dimensions as your original and is saved as JPG by default, which keeps the file small; PNG or WebP are available too.

The effect is uniform rather than optical: a real lens blurs objects more the farther they are behind the focus plane, while this page blurs the whole background evenly, and it doesn't add the round highlight "bokeh" balls of a fast lens. When the subject and background have the same colours, or the subject holds something thin like a racket or a bicycle, check the edges and repaint them with the Touch up brushes. Strong blur can leave a faint glow of the subject's colour just around its outline; shrink the edge slightly to reduce it.

Privacy

The subject is found by a neural network running inside your browser and the blur is painted on your device, so the photo isn't uploaded. Only the model weights are fetched from Hugging Face the first time; they are cached so later photos work offline.

Features

Portrait-mode blur

Sharp subject, soft background, from any photo.

People model preselected

Smaller download, clean hair edges; switch models for objects.

Touch up the edge

Restore and erase brushes with undo for tricky outlines.

Original size

Saved as JPG, PNG or WebP at the photo's full resolution.

Blur background: frequently asked questions

How do I blur the background of a photo?
Add the photo and wait for the AI to outline the subject; the background is blurred automatically. Use Blur strength to make it softer or subtler, then download. If part of the person was blurred by mistake, open Touch up, choose Restore and paint over it. The whole process takes a few seconds per photo once the model is cached.
Does it work on photos that aren't of people?
Yes. The Fast · people model is preselected because portraits are the most common use and it downloads less, but for a pet, a plant, a car or a product, switch to High quality under AI model and re-run. That model is better at fur, leaves and objects with holes in them. Both models also handle several people standing together.
Why is there a light halo around my subject?
The blurred background is made from the whole original photo, so at high strength a little of the subject's own colour spreads into the area just around it. Under Edges, move Shrink / grow slightly below zero to tighten the cut-out, or lower the blur strength. Smooth edges blends a hard outline into the background more gently.
Can I blur a background that I already removed?
The blur needs the original photo, because it is made from the background pixels themselves. Open the original image here instead of a transparent PNG. If you only have a cut-out, place it on a new backdrop with the change background page, which accepts a colour, a gradient or any picture you choose.
Is the result as good as my phone's portrait mode?
Often comparable for head-and-shoulders shots, and it works on any photo after it was taken. Phones that measure depth with two lenses or a sensor can blur distant objects more than near ones; this page applies one even blur to everything behind the subject. Fine hair against a busy background may need a quick touch-up with the Restore brush.

Other tasks with this tool

Related tools

All image tools

Passport photo maker

Passport, visa & ID photos in official sizes for 35+ countries

Image upscaler

Enlarge images 2×–4× with on-device AI

Image compressor

Shrink JPG, PNG, WebP and AVIF without visible loss

Crop, rotate & flip

Crop to any ratio, rotate and mirror images