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Create Beautiful Bokeh: Add a Blurry Background to Photos & Videos

Bokeh is a widely used visual effect by photographers and cinematographers. Bokeh is a word originated from Japanese, meaning haze or blur. You can understand the Bokeh effect as adding a pleasing blurry background while emphasizing more on the main object.

As a matter of fact, you can use a particular lens and change the camera settings to get a photo/video with Bokeh effect. However, for some inexperienced or professionals looking for the best results, adding a Bokeh effect after shooting is a better choice.

Luckily, there are loads of ways to create a Bokeh effect video, thanks to the numerous video editing tools. Here in this post, two ways are introduced to add Bokeh effect to video, one is for the professionals, the other way is especially for beginners. Check them out!

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Part 1. (for professionals) Add Bokeh Effect to Photo/Video via Premiere Pro

The best tool for professionals to add Bokeh effect to photo/video is definitely Premiere Pro. It is one of the most professional video editing tools enabling you to make all sorts of video edits. The process might be complicated for beginners.

Step 1

Upload your video to Adobe Premiere Pro project, and then drag them to the timeline.

Step 2

Find Effects and Controls > Effect > Gaussian Blur.

Step 3

Click on the Pen icon to draw a quick mask on the main object.

Step 4

Track the mask. If the main object is out of the mask, draw the mask again and track so that the objects are always in the mask.

Step 5

Expend the Mask Feature and change the Blurriness.

Step 6

Click the Inverted. Preview the video and see if the result is satisfying.

Add Boken Effect to Video

Part 2. How to Add Bokeh Effect to Photo/Video with FlexClip

FlexClip is an online video editing tool with default Bokeh effects for you to apply and use. You don’t have to deal with complicated parameters and tools. All you need to do is uploading a video clip or photo, pick a Bokeh effect you like and then download. In a word, it is quite friendly for beginners. Now, click on the Create a Video button and follow the steps below to get started.

Step 1

Upload your video to the Media section and apply to the timeline.

Add Bokeh Effect to Video - Step 1

Step 2

Drag the slider to trim the video if necessary.

Step 3

Go to Overlays > Effect Overlays. Pick a Bokeh effect you like and add to timeline.

Add Bokeh Effect to Video - Step 2

Step 4

Download and share. Save the video to a local folder or one-click share via short link.

The Bottom Line

Using Bokeh effect will surely add an excellent touch to your work. Premiere Pro is a professional tool to achieve that. However, a more effective and easier way to achieve that is using FlexClip. It has numerous Bokeh effects ready to be applied to video. It also has loads of other tools to edit the video, like adding filters, stickers, GIFs and changing video speed. Do remember to give it a try!

Create Beautiful Bokeh: Add a Blurry Background to Photos & Videos

Elena / Create Beautiful Bokeh: Add a Blurry Background to Photos & Videos

Member of PearlMountain Limited. Has a mania for video editing. Love to share photo/video shooting tips and ideas.


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