How to Add Blur to Photos in Lightroom

Here’s how to add a custom blur effect to photos in Adobe Lightroom. You can watch the video tutorial above to quickly learn how to add blur in Lightroom in less than 5 minutes. You’ll learn how to do so with the radial filter and adjustment brushes.

Lightroom Blur Tutorial

1. Select the photo you want to edit
2. Go to the Develop module
3. Choose the adjustment brush, radial filter, or graduated filter
4. Drop the Sharpness slider
5. Click and drag on the photo to create the blur

Depending on the type of tool you’re using, the blur will be applied to a certain part of your photo. With the adjustment brush, anywhere you paint on will have the blur. With the radial filter, the blur will be applied to the outside of the mask unless you have the Invert Mask button checked. With the graduated filter, it will apply to one side of the filter.

You can adjust the strength of the blur with the Sharpness slider.

If you want a stronger blur, you can either add a new layer with any of the tools mentioned above. Or you can decrease the Clarity slider to get another kind of blur. This can look a little wonky if you go too far. I prefer just using the Sharpness slider and duplicating it if I want even more blur.

Conclusion

I hope this Lightroom blur tutorial will help you out. I have many other free Adobe Lightroom tutorials on Video School Online such as:

• How to Easily Add a Border in Lightroom
• Editing Landscape Photos
• Retouching Portraits

Or you can check out our full Adobe Lightroom Course below.

Thanks for reading!

Phil