Portrait Bokeh — Fake DSLR Background Blur in Your Browser

The single biggest visual difference between a phone snap and a 'real camera' portrait is depth of field — a sharp subject in front of a creamy, blurred background. Phones have been trying to replicate it with computational portrait modes for years; the results are often plagued by halos and weird hair edges. PikDraw's Portrait Bokeh takes the honest approach: a soft, feathered radial mask you position by hand, a Gaussian-blurred copy of your image underneath, and live preview so you stop the moment it looks right.

What is the Portrait Bokeh — Fake DSLR Background Blur?

Portrait Bokeh is a radial-mask depth-of-field simulator. It generates a Gaussian-blurred copy of your image, clips it to a feathered ring around an adjustable focus point, and composites that blurred ring over the sharp original. The result mimics the look of a wide-aperture lens — a sharp subject with the background falling off into a soft blur — without any AI, no subject segmentation, and no server round-trip.

Key features

  • Adjustable focus point (X and Y as % of image)
  • Focus radius (5–70 %) — how large the sharp area is
  • Falloff (1–60 %) — how gradually sharp transitions to blurred
  • Blur strength up to 40 px for cinematic or stylised looks
  • Live preview at 800 px, full-resolution PNG export
  • 100 % browser-side — no uploads, no models, no signup
  • Works on portraits, products, food, landscapes — any image
  • Free, unlimited, no watermark

How it works

First the tool draws a Gaussian-blurred copy of your image into an off-screen canvas. Next it generates a radial-gradient mask centred on your chosen focus point: fully transparent inside the focus radius, fully opaque outside the focus + falloff distance, smoothly interpolating in between. The blurred copy is clipped to that mask using destination-in compositing, leaving only a soft ring of blur. That ring is then drawn over the sharp original. Inside the focus circle the original pixels show through unchanged; outside, the gradient gradually reveals the blurred version.

Why use this tool

Phone portrait modes apply AI segmentation that fails on hair, glasses and complex backgrounds. Photoshop's blur galleries take five clicks and a mask. PikDraw's Portrait Bokeh exposes three sliders — focus position, radius, falloff — plus a blur strength, all with live preview. You position the focus where your eye wants it instead of arguing with an algorithm.

Common use cases

  • Faking shallow depth of field on phone photos
  • Polishing portrait headshots for social and dating profiles
  • Product photography on cluttered backgrounds
  • Food and lifestyle blog hero images
  • Wedding and event photos shot at narrow apertures
  • Real estate shots emphasising a single feature
  • Drawing the eye to one face in a group photo

How to use this tool

  1. Upload Your Photo — Drop in a portrait, product shot or any image where you want one area sharp and the rest softly blurred.
  2. Position the Focus — Drag Focus X and Focus Y so the centre of the sharp circle lands on your subject's face (or product label, or focal element).
  3. Set the Focus Radius — Choose how large the sharp area is. Tight (15–25 %) for a single face; wider (40–60 %) to keep two subjects sharp.
  4. Tune the Falloff — The Falloff slider controls how gradually sharp transitions to blurred. Higher values feel cinematic; lower values feel more like a vignette.
  5. Set the Blur Amount — 10–18 px reads as a fast-prime lens; 25 px+ starts to look obviously artificial. Pick the strength your subject deserves.
  6. Export PNG — Download the full-resolution PNG with the bokeh baked in.

Who should use this

Phone photographers wanting DSLR-style portraits. Real-estate and product sellers who need their subject to pop. Bloggers preparing hero images. Wedding photographers rescuing wide-aperture-looking shots from a deep-focus original. Anyone whose phone's portrait mode keeps eating half their subject's hair.

How to get started

Drop a portrait, drag Focus X / Focus Y until the focus circle lands on the subject's face, set blur to 14 px and focus radius to 22 %. Adjust falloff until the transition feels natural — usually 25–35 %.

Best practices

  • Place the focus point on the eyes, not the centre of the head — viewers read sharpness as 'where the camera was focused'.
  • Keep blur under 20 px for realism; go higher only for deliberate stylisation.
  • Always raise Falloff if you see a visible ring — it widens the gradient and removes the seam.
  • For two subjects, increase focus radius to 40–55 % rather than running the tool twice.
  • Pair with a subtle vignette afterwards to push attention even harder toward the subject.

Pro tips

  • For portraits, place the focus circle just below the eyes — that's where the human brain expects sharpness.
  • Combine 18 px blur + 22 % focus + 30 % falloff for a flattering 50 mm f/1.8 look.
  • If the falloff edge looks like a hard ring, increase the Falloff slider — it widens the blur gradient.
  • For product photography, set focus to 35–45 % so the entire product stays sharp.
  • Portrait Bokeh works best on photos already taken at f/4 or wider — extending an existing blur reads more naturally than faking it from a deep-focus image.

Expert insights

💡 Focus on the Eyes

Drag Focus Y so the sharp centre sits just below the eyes — that's where photographers always focus, and viewers expect it.

🔍 The Falloff Trick

If you see a visible ring where blur starts, raise the Falloff slider. It widens the gradient and the seam disappears.

⚡ 50 mm f/1.8 Preset

Blur 14 px + Focus 22 % + Falloff 30 % is a near-perfect impersonation of a portrait prime at 1.5 metres.

✓ Under 20 px

Keep the blur slider under 20 px for natural realism. Anything higher starts to look obviously digital.

⭐ No AI, No Halos

Because the mask is a soft circle you draw, you never get the wonky AI halos that phone portrait modes leave around hair.

Limitations to be aware of

  • No automatic subject detection — the focus circle is positioned manually.
  • Cannot handle complex subject shapes (whole bodies, hands above heads) without trimming the focus radius generously.
  • Hair edges around the focus boundary may show partial blur, just like real shallow depth of field.
  • Live preview runs at 800 px; the exported full-resolution result may look slightly softer because the blur radius scales with image size.

Frequently asked questions

Is this real bokeh?
No — true bokeh is the optical out-of-focus pattern of a physical lens. This tool applies a Gaussian blur to the area outside a soft focus circle, which mimics shallow depth of field very convincingly for most viewers.
Does it detect the subject automatically?
Not in this version. You position the focus circle manually with the Focus X / Focus Y sliders. This keeps the tool 100 % browser-side with zero AI model download.
Why is part of my subject blurred?
The focus circle is too small. Increase the Focus Radius slider until the entire subject sits inside the sharp area, then tune Falloff to feather the edges.
Can I use this for product photos?
Yes — set focus radius to 35–50 % so the whole product stays sharp, blur to 12–18 px and falloff to 40 % for a soft studio look.
What blur amount looks most natural?
10–18 px reads like a real 50 mm f/1.8 lens at portrait distance. Above 25 px the effect starts to look obviously digital, which can be a stylistic choice but is not 'real-camera' realistic.
Will the file size grow?
Slightly — blurred areas compress poorly in JPG but are smaller in PNG. For web upload, export PNG then convert to high-quality JPG with our compressor.
Are my photos uploaded?
No. All blur and compositing runs in your browser. Nothing leaves your device.
Is the tool free?
Yes. No signup, no watermark, unlimited use.

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