Add bokeh lights to a photo with a free overlay

Place a bokeh plate, set it to Screen and mask it off the subject. Big, soft circles in the background look like a fast lens at night.

Bokeh is the soft circles of light you get when lights are out of focus behind a subject. You can add them to any photo with a bokeh plate: soft circles of light on a pure black background.

Step by step

1. Pick a plate from the light collection. For a warm evening look use warm bokeh, sparse. For holiday images use gold bokeh, dense.
2. Place the bokeh JPG over your photo.
3. Set the blend mode to Screen. The black disappears and the circles glow on the photo.
4. Add a layer mask and paint black over the subject with a soft brush. Bokeh belongs in the background, not on a face.
5. Lower the opacity to 50–90%.

Make it believable

• Bigger behind, smaller in front. Scale the plate up for a far background. Big soft circles say "far away".
• Match the colour of the scene. Warm bokeh for candles and street lamps, blue bokeh for a city at night.
• Darker photos work best. Screen only brightens. On a bright white background bokeh disappears.
• Hexagons for a lens look. Many real lenses draw six-sided bokeh. Try warm hexagon bokeh for a more photographic, less "glitter" result.

Bokeh for cards and social posts

For a quick greeting card, put the multicolour festive bokeh over a dark background, add your text, and set the bokeh layer to Screen. That is a finished design in two layers.