: Photoshop: how to create an adjustment layer that blurs all layers below? Right now I'm creating copies of all layers, flatten them all (the copies) to a single layer, and apply blur to this

@Ravi4787994

yes it's possible ,,, make your object in " convert smart object " than every effect in below of layer which u'll give :) right click on object > covert to smart object :)

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@Karen819

I found out something very useful, but you still have to copy merged:


copy merged layers
add a layer mask with a gradient (radial or linear, as you like it)
think of black will be blurred 100% and white will be blurred 0% (or vice versa)
start filter -> blur -> lens blur


In the lens blur dialog box you can choose either transparency oder the layer mask as the source (depth map) for your lens blur filter.

Play around a little with the options.

Great, huh?

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@Turnbaugh909

Simply highlighting one of Farray's methods. This seems to work best for me.

Highlight all the layers in the Layers Panel.

Right-click (Win) or Control-Click (Mac) and choose "Make Smart Object" / "Convert to Smart Object" (CC 2014).

Now, apply a blur to the Smart Object.

This will leave the original layers in tact. If you need to access the original layers, just double-click the Smart Object thumbnail in the Layers Panel.

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@Radia289

The fastest way, even better than the Copy Merged method is creating a new layer above all, and press Ctrl+Shift+Alt+E

But beware with transparencies... :(

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@Berumen635

To the best of my knowledge, you can't do it exactly the way you are asking.

The quick and dirty way, without duplicating the actual layers and then flattening them, would be to Copy Merged (Ctrl+Shift+C) and paste to a new layer.

Another potential workaround is to group all the layers you want to blur and convert them to a smart object. You can then apply a non-destructive smart-filter blur to the smart object. The drawback is that you now have to edit the smart object as a separate document which may introduce too much friction into your workflow.

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