GIMP Tutorial - Fake Focus Blur - Bokeh
This is a quickie - Sometimes, there is just too much detail in the background of a photograph, which can detract from the image. This tutorials shows you how to get a fake focus blur with bokeh in GIMP. Sorry if the tutorial is a bit fast, but remember you can always press Pause!!! This tutorial uses the scissors tool to select the background, layers and layer masks to isolate the foreground from the background, and GIMP's focus blur plugin (see link below to get this plugin), then the Gaussian Blur and Erode filters to refine the layer mask. This is not meant to be a replacement for a real bokeh which is achieved in a camera and depends on the lens, the shape of the aperture blades, the lighting, and the depth of field, etc, etc.
As well as GIMP you will also need the focus blur plugin here: http://www.registry.gimp.org/node/8236