The miniature effect
A narrow band of focus with heavy blur above and below tricks the eye into reading a real scene as a tiny model — the classic tilt-shift illusion.
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Tilt Shift Image Effect
Blur the top and bottom of a photo for a miniature tilt-shift look.
- Upload
- Single file · 25 MB max
- Privacy
- Nothing is uploaded
- Cost
- Free · no sign-up · no watermark
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Processed entirely on your device
Your file is read, transformed and re-encoded inside this browser tab using JavaScript. There is no upload endpoint — nothing leaves your machine, nothing is stored, and the result is created as a local object URL that disappears when you close the page.
Overview
About the Tilt Shift Image Effect
Create a tilt-shift effect free online — keep a central band sharp and blur outward to make any photo look like a miniature model, with an adjustable blur slider. No upload.
Making the world look tiny
Tilt-shift photography uses a lens that tilts the plane of focus so only a thin, sharp band cuts across the frame. Applied to an elevated shot of a street or landscape, that razor-thin focus makes a full-size scene read as a miniature model.
How this tool recreates it
We keep a horizontal band across the centre sharp and blur everything above and below it, with the blur strength rising the further a row sits from that band. The gradient defocus reproduces the shallow, banded depth of field of a real tilt-shift lens.
On-device and adjustable
The gradient blur runs per pixel on an in-browser canvas with a blur slider, and the result is exported as a lossless PNG at full resolution, so your photo never leaves your device.
Step by step
How to use the Tilt Shift Image Effect
Drop a photo onto the upload area — elevated, wide scenes work best.
Set the blur slider to control how strongly the edges defocus.
A central band stays sharp while the top and bottom blur out.
Download the tilt-shift PNG at full original resolution.
Why use it
Benefits and common use cases
What this tool is good for, and what it deliberately does not try to do.
Great for cityscapes
Aerial and street-level shots of cities, roads and crowds look especially convincing as miniatures.
Local and adjustable
The gradient blur runs per pixel on an in-browser canvas with a blur slider, exporting a lossless PNG.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
Short, honest answers about quality, limits and privacy.
What is tilt-shift?
Tilt-shift uses a special lens that tilts the plane of focus, so only a narrow band stays sharp. Applied to an ordinary elevated photo, the shallow focus makes full-size scenes look like tiny models.
Why does blurring make things look miniature?
We associate a very shallow depth of field with close-up photography of small objects. Faking that narrow focus band on a large scene convinces the brain the subject must be tiny.
Is my photo uploaded?
No. Every pixel is processed on an in-browser canvas and the result stays on your device; nothing is sent to a server.