dekeBytes: Your Basic Smart Filter Mask

First we'll revert the file to restore the original image. Then we'll create a mask around her face with the quick selection tool. New to Photoshop CS3, this tool is designed to search for edges inside an image as you paint. Like the magnetic lasso, it's not particularly sophisticated or precise. But we don't need a lot of precision for this project, so the tool is a good fit.

Brush inside the woman's face to select it. Then click the Refine Edge button in the options bar to bring up yet another new feature inside Photoshop CS3, and a sophisticated one at that. Select the On Black icon at the bottom of the Refine Selection Edge dialog box to see what the selection looks like against a black background. Change the top Radius value to 40 pixels to blur the selection outward into the tendrils of the woman's hair. Then set the other values to 0. Click OK to modify the selection outline.

We want to blur the area outside the woman's face. So reverse the selection by choosing Select→Inverse. Convert the image a smart object by choosing Filter→Convert for Smart Filters. Name the layer Image so we can keep track of what we're doing. Throughout, the selection outline remains intact.

Now to apply the blur. Choose Filter→Blur→Radial Blur, set the Blur Method to Zoom, raise the Amount to 60, and move the center point slightly to the left. Click OK. Photoshop relegates the effect to the formerly selected area using a layer mask, one that is not applied to the layer but to the smart filters themselves. If you like, you can Alt-click (or Option-click) on the layer mask thumbnail to see the mask independently of the image. The white area indicates the region of the image that is affected by the filter; the black area is the protected region.

As ever, we can edit the effect. Start by right-clicking on the Radial Blur item in the Layers palette and choosing Edit Smart Filter Blending Options. Then change the Mode setting to Linear Light and the Opacity to 50 percent and click OK.

Of course, the beauty of this is that the layer mask is editable as well. Notice the Linear Light Radial effect does not entirely cover all of the woman's hair. We can edit the mask by clicking on its thumbnail in the Layers palette and painting white with the brush tool until we gets exactly the effect we want. And wonders of wonders, we're able to pull it all off without degrading so much as a pixel in the original photograph thanks to smart filters in Photoshop CS3.