FocalPoint

Simulates selective focus and limited depth of field effects

FocalPoint gives you selective focus control on your image. Place the focus Bug (not my words) on an area in your picture and then drag the bug?s legs in or out to blur the surrounding area. There are several controls available including size, opacity, feather, blur amount. The bug has four handles to control the grid size, and two handles for Blur amount /Feather, and Blur blend/Opacity. The plug-in is easy to use and results can be instantly viewed as you make any alterations.

The image is sent to Photoshop as a new layer which can also include a layer mask. The layer mask will enable you to fine-tune the blur amount in selective areas.

I enjoyed using this plug-in: it produced some effective results quickly and without any knowledge of imaging techniques. However, with a moderate understanding of Photoshop you could produce a similar result by duplicating a Layer and applying a Blur to that layer, then using a Layer Mask erase parts of the Blur layer to reveal the underlying sharp image. WDC RATING: 89%