The Photoshop tilt-shift action

The Tilt Shift effect is a popular technique that originated from the use ‘Tilt Shift’ lenses. Architectural photographers use these specialized lenses to correct the converging verticals of the buildings they are photographing, but they can also be used creatively to shift the plane of focus so that areas of the image are thrown dramatically out of focus. One of the most popular effects is to create a ‘toy town’ look where figures and cars look more like they have been placed in a model village. This effect can be created easily in post-production and the advantage is the cost saving (tilt shift lenses are extraordinarily expensive) and the fact that the point of focus can be changed at any time when and if you change your mind.

The movie demonstrates the process recreated automatically by the action in Photoshop Elements 10.
The action will also work in Elements 9 and Photoshop CS2 to CS5.

Actions available for Elements 9 and 10 and CS2 to CS5

You need to pick which software you’re using: