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Any new methods to get rid of halo?


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Hello

Are there any new (easy) methods to get rid of the halo when trying to get the background blurry? Searched old treads and found this (link). Are there any better/easier way to do it?

 

https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/topic/44282-how-to-blur-backgrounds-in-ap-requesting-instructions/&page=5#comment-260626

 

Thanks in advance

tss

 

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1 hour ago, Pompel said:

Never mind

I found a easier way to do it.

And what is this easier way? We are all here to learn!

Windows 10, Affinity Photo 1.10.5 Designer 1.10.5 and Publisher 1.10.5 (mainly Photo), now ex-Adobe CC

CPU: AMD A6-3670. RAM: 16 GB DDR3 @ 666MHz, Graphics: 2047MB NVIDIA GeForce GT 630

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Sorry, you're absolutely right. There are probably other and better methods, but this worked on the image I worked with. Did not get rid of everything but a significant part.

I used the selection brush tool
Then inverted the pixel selection
Then i made a copy of the image

Selected/marked the copy and used a blured filter (gaussian blur) and at least at the current image got better.

If there is another way to do to it i will be pleased to hear about it.

tss

 

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When I had to blur a background, I found that the area adjacent to the selection picked up pixels from the selection. What I did was to cut out the selection to a new layer then hide it. Then returning to the original layer, I used the clone tool to copy pixels from the area adjacent to the hole into the hole. This layer was then blurred. This ensured that there was minimal halo effect when the original selection was restored.

This was not exactly the 'easy' solution you were seeking, but it worked for me at the time.

 

John

Windows 10, Affinity Photo 1.10.5 Designer 1.10.5 and Publisher 1.10.5 (mainly Photo), now ex-Adobe CC

CPU: AMD A6-3670. RAM: 16 GB DDR3 @ 666MHz, Graphics: 2047MB NVIDIA GeForce GT 630

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Thanks John

I`ll try your way to do it. 

Strange that whatever we do with the background affects the forground, but if we do something with the foreground it does not affect the background.

Wonder if other programs/apps like photoshop etc have the same halo problem?

 

tss

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Try the attached "Blur Background" macro, hopefully no halos

1. Make and refine your selection  (This selection is the object/person you want to remain in focus, i.e. NOT blurred)
2. Run the Macro
3. Adjust the strength of the background blur via the added Live Gaussian Blur filter.

The macro is imported and run via the Macro panel, you can then save it to your Macro library if you want to keep it.

It has been tested and seems to work OK but it has not been intensively tested.

It is added here as a RFC and for others to improve upon if they wish to. 

Or you can just use it to blur all the in-laws out of your wedding photographs

Blur Background (V1).afmacro

To save time I am currently using an automated AI to reply to some posts on this forum. If any of "my" posts are wrong or appear to be total b*ll*cks they are the ones generated by the AI. If correct they were probably mine. I apologise for any mistakes made by my AI - I'm sure it will improve with time.

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Hi Carl 123

I've just tried the macro and it is excellent. No halos!

Thank you so much for sharing this with us.

 

One related question: How to tidy up the selection after the fact?

I say this because I find that no matter how long I spend making an accurate selection, when I hit refine it seems to be a lottery as to how the refine engine interprets what to include or mask off. And so I then find myself having to try to add/remove parts after the selection has been made. See this screenshot.

Selection.thumb.jpg.80a38e4abf860ccfb5c7dd0e67739c87.jpg

How should I remove the unwanted extras around the wood? I've a feeling it should be very simple to just paint out the parts I don't want, but I cannot figure out how.

(... In the Affinity videos, Refine Selection always seems to behave itself...)O.o

Excuse me if it seems I'm hijacking the thread. But I thought it was related.

R

 

Affinity Designer & Photo  :  Win 10

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It would be best to get your selection accurate before running the macro but you can still go back and refine it afterwards, like so...

1.  Select your topmost layer
2. Select > Reselect (to reenable the selection)
3. Select > Grow / Shrink and shrink the selection by -4px (see below for why)
4. With the selection brush selected you can now click the Refine button to further Refine the selection
5. Once done select New Layer or New Layer with Mask in the Refine Selection dialogue box and click Apply


In the macro before I Inpaint the background I enlarge the selection by 4px to capture any occasional stray edge pixels that may be present from a poorly made initial selection. That is why in step 3 above you have to reduce the selection by 4px to return to the original selection if you want to further refine it. 

But if you prefer you can run (and save) the macro with the Grow / Shrink selection command unticked which will make step 3 above, unnecessary for further refinements.

To save time I am currently using an automated AI to reply to some posts on this forum. If any of "my" posts are wrong or appear to be total b*ll*cks they are the ones generated by the AI. If correct they were probably mine. I apologise for any mistakes made by my AI - I'm sure it will improve with time.

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Amazing......  i did a quick test using John`s method and another one using the macro from Carl123, and both worked. I now have 3 methods (incl my own)  that actually works. (Serif - call John or Carl if you need help to make a fix :10_wink:)

(when using the macro i had to apply guassian blur after running the macro) (the macro is now in my library - thanks)

Is sure that all 3 methods will be useful depending on the pictures (color combinations) to be processed.

Roger - don`t worry about hijacking, i also think thats related,

Thank you all and i also want to wish everyone a happy, happy new year 

tss

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Carl123

Thank you for your quick reply. You certainly know your onions.

I however just keep having difficulties with attempts at refining selections. One of my New Year resolutions must be to wrestle Affinity's selection process into submission. It's such a basic procedure to get right.

 

Pompel

And a happy New Year to you too!

Affinity Designer & Photo  :  Win 10

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4 hours ago, Roger C said:

One of my New Year resolutions must be to wrestle Affinity's selection process into submission. It's such a basic procedure to get right.

Same here!

 

John

Windows 10, Affinity Photo 1.10.5 Designer 1.10.5 and Publisher 1.10.5 (mainly Photo), now ex-Adobe CC

CPU: AMD A6-3670. RAM: 16 GB DDR3 @ 666MHz, Graphics: 2047MB NVIDIA GeForce GT 630

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The method I described used the clone brush. This was before I discovered the inpainting brush. I believe that this would actually be better, though I have not tried it.

 

John

Windows 10, Affinity Photo 1.10.5 Designer 1.10.5 and Publisher 1.10.5 (mainly Photo), now ex-Adobe CC

CPU: AMD A6-3670. RAM: 16 GB DDR3 @ 666MHz, Graphics: 2047MB NVIDIA GeForce GT 630

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  • 2 years later...
On 12/31/2017 at 1:12 AM, carl123 said:

Try the attached "Blur Background" macro, hopefully no halos

1. Make and refine your selection  (This selection is the object/person you want to remain in focus, i.e. NOT blurred)
2. Run the Macro
3. Adjust the strength of the background blur via the added Live Gaussian Blur filter.

The macro is imported and run via the Macro panel, you can then save it to your Macro library if you want to keep it.

It has been tested and seems to work OK but it has not been intensively tested.

It is added here as a RFC and for others to improve upon if they wish to. 

Or you can just use it to blur all the in-laws out of your wedding photographs

Blur Background (V1).afmacro 1.86 kB · 35 downloads

Yeah I realize this is an old discussion but I don't want to start another thread with the same question(s).

@carl123 what is actually happening when the macro gets to "fill" line? Thank you for a great resource!

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I'm pretty sure that's just an Edit > Fill > Inpaint command.

 

To save time I am currently using an automated AI to reply to some posts on this forum. If any of "my" posts are wrong or appear to be total b*ll*cks they are the ones generated by the AI. If correct they were probably mine. I apologise for any mistakes made by my AI - I'm sure it will improve with time.

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