Add bokeh to a photo

Bokeh is out-of-focus light, so it should only add light: the discs, hearts, stars and sparkle open on Screen over a black tile that disappears. Confetti is paper, not light, so it opens on Normal.

Every pattern comes from a seed. The same seed draws the same scatter at 600 pixels and at 6000, which is why the preview can promise to be the file.

1. 1Open the photo. It stays in this tab.
2. 2Pick a pattern. Bokeh, heart or star bokeh, sparkle or confetti.
3. 3Tune it. How many, hue, and Another pattern on the Blend tab.
4. 4Keep it off faces. A mask fade or the brush on the Mask tab clears the scatter from where it should not be.
5. 5Save. Drawn again at the saved size.

Patterns

Bokeh, Heart bokeh, Star bokeh, Sparkle, Confetti.

Controls

How many, hue, pattern seed, strength, mode.

Opens

Screen for lights; Normal for confetti.

Pattern

Seeded: reproducible at any size.

Saving

PNG, JPG or WebP.

• These are drawn shapes, not photographed lights; at full strength they can look graphic. 50–80% reads as depth.
• Bokeh is not depth of field: the photo itself is not blurred.
• Confetti covers what is under it; mask it away from faces.

Which mode does bokeh open on, and why?

Screen for the lights, because out-of-focus light only adds brightness and Screen only lightens. Confetti opens on Normal because it is paper sitting in front of the scene.

Is the texture a downloaded image?

No. The scatter is generated in this tab from a seed — no stock image, nothing to licence.

Will it look the same at full size?

Yes. The same seed draws the same pattern at the saved size; nothing is enlarged.

Can I get a different scatter?

Press Another pattern on the Blend tab. Each seed is a different arrangement, and going back to a seed brings its pattern back exactly.

• Light leak overlayNine drawn leaks for film and 80s looks, each opening on Screen with its tint control first.
• Add a texture overlayOpens the drawn-texture shelf first: light leaks and film grain, with hue, strength and blend beside the stage.
• Frame a photoInstant film, film strip, rounded window, simple and double borders, drawn at the photo's own size.
• Place something on a photoThe stage and a deck of layers: logos, stickers, textures or a second photo, each moved until it looks right.