How to Create Beautiful Blurred Backgrounds with Divi

Gradient backgrounds are nowadays part of almost every modern website you come across. But as soon as you want to create a more complex gradient, you’re probably tended to reach for image editing software. With Divi, there’s an alternative. Thanks to the many built-in options Divi has, you can turn Image Modules into blurred backgrounds. We’ll blur the backgrounds up to a point where only the colors show through and thus form a gradient. We’ll recreate a beautiful example from scratch and also share the design example JSON file for free!

Let’s get to it!

Preview

Before we dive into the tutorial, let’s take a quick look at the outcome across different screen sizes.

Desktop

Mobile

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Approach

• We’re adding three different modules to one column; two Image Modules and one CTA Module
• The first image keeps its initial look
• The second image will be blurred and increased in size
• We’ll also enhance the colors by playing around with the other filters settings that are included in the Image Module
• The CTA module will overlap the blurred Image Module and use it as its background
• To make sure the blur and size increase of Image Module #2 don’t surpass the column container, we’re going to hide the column overflow

Let’s Start Recreating

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Add New Section

Start by adding a new regular section to the page you’re working on.

Add New Row

Column Structure

Continue by adding a new row using the following column structure:

Sizing

Without adding any modules yet, open the row settings and change the sizing settings in the design tab.

• Use Custom Gutter Width: Yes
• Gutter Width: 2
• Max Width: 100%

Column 2 Overflow

Move on to the advanced tab and hide the column 2 overflow using one single line of CSS code. Doing this will help us make sure nothing exceeds the column container. This will particularly become important once we start transforming an Image Module into a blurred background and increase its size.

overflow: hidden;

Column 3 Overflow

Do the same thing for the third column.

overflow: hidden;

Add Text Module #1 to Column 1

Add H2 Copy

Time to start adding modules, starting with a Text Module in the first column. Enter some H2 content of your choice.

H2 Text Settings

Move on to the design tab and change the H2 text settings.

• Heading 2 Font: Poppins
• Heading 2 Text Color: #232323
• Heading 2 Text Size: 40px

Spacing

Add some custom top margin as well.

• Top Margin: 9vw

Add Divider Module to Column 1

Visibility

The second module we need in column 2 is a Divider Module. Make sure the ‘Show Divider’ option is enabled.

• Show Divider: Yes

Line

Move on to the design tab and change the line color.

• Line Color: #000000

Add Text Module #2 to Column 1

Add Content

Continue by adding another Text Module with some paragraph content of your choice.

Text Settings

Change the text settings next.

• Text Font: Poppins
• Text Font Weight: Light
• Text Size: 17px
• Text Line Height: 2.1em

Add Button Module to Column 1

Add Copy

The next and last module we need in column 1 is a Button Module. Enter some copy of your choice.

Button Settings

Move on to the design tab and style the button in the button settings.

• Use Custom Styles for Button: Yes
• Button Text Size: 20px
• Button Text Color: #000000
• Button Background Color: #f4f4f4
• Button Border Width: 0px
• Button Border Radius: 0px
• Button Font: Poppins
• Button Font Weight: Bold
• Button Font Style: Uppercase

Spacing

Add some custom spacing values as well.

• Top Margin: 20px
• Bottom Margin: 20px
• Top Padding: 20px
• Bottom Padding: 20px
• Left Padding: 50px
• Right Padding: 50px

Add Image Module #1 to Column 2

Upload 1:1 Image

On to the second column! Here, the first module we need is an Image Module. Upload an image with a 1:1 ratio. This means that your image has to be a perfect square (width should equal the height).

Sizing

Move on to the design tab and enable the ‘Force Fullwidth’ option.

• Force Fullwidth: Yes

Add Image Module #2 to Column 2

Upload 1:1 Image

The second module we need in column 2 is another Image Module. We’re, again, using an image with a 1:1 ratio.

Sizing

Move on to the design tab and change the sizing settings.

• Force Fullwidth: Yes
• Height: 320px

Spacing

Create an overlap between this and the previous module by adding some negative top margin.

• Top Margin: -100px

Filters

Next, we’re going to change the filters settings. This is the part where we turn the image into a blurred background.

• Saturation: 200%
• Brightness: 145%
• Contrast: 117%
• Blur: 40px

Transform Scale

To make sure the image covers the entire width of the column, we’ll increase the size in the transform settings. Thanks to the hidden column overflow we’ve added to the row settings, nothing will surpass the column container.

• Right: 180%
• Bottom: 180%

Add CTA Module to Column 2

Add Content

The next and last module we need in the second column is a CTA Module. Enter some copy of your choice.

Add Link

Move on to the link settings and add a button link URL to make the button show up in the design.

Remove Background Color

Remove the background color as well.

• Use Background Color: No

Title Text Settings

Continue by going to the design tab and changing the title text settings.

• Title Heading Level: H3
• Title Font: Poppins
• Title Text Size: 40px
• Title Letter Spacing: -1px

Body Text Settings

Modify the body text settings as well.

• Body Font: Poppins
• Body Font Weight: Light
• Body Line HEight: 2.2em

Button Settings

Along with the button settings.

• Use Custom Styles for Button: Yes
• Button Text Size: 20px
• Button Text Color: #ffffff
• Gradient Color 1: rgba(244,244,244,0.4)
• Gradient Color 2: rgba(255,255,255,0)
• Button Border Width: 0px
• Button Border Radius: 0px
• Button Font: Poppins
• Button Font Weight: Bold
• Button Font Style: Uppercase

• Top Margin: 50px
• Top Padding: 20px
• Bottom Padding: 20px
• Left Padding: 50px
• Right Padding: 50px

Spacing

Last but not least, create an overlap between this module and the blurred background by adding some negative top margin. We’re also leaving some whitespace at the left and right side of the module

• Top Margin: -250px
• Left Padding: 2vw
• Right Padding: 2vw

Clone All Modules in Column 2 & Place Duplicates in Column 3

Once you’ve completed all modules in the second column, you can clone them and place the duplicates in the third column.

Change Duplicate Image Module #1

Change Image

Change the image in Image Module #1.

Change Duplicate Image Module #2

Change Image

Do the same for the second Image Module in the column.

Change Filters Settings

And modify the filters settings of the second Image Module as well.

• Saturation: 180%
• Brightness: 102%
• Contrast: 117%
• Blur: 35px

Change Duplicate CTA Module

Change Copy

Continue by changing the CTA Module’s content.

Change Button Gradient Background

Along with the first button gradient color and you’re done!

• Gradient Color 1: rgba(244,244,244,0.15)

Preview

Now that we’ve gone through all the steps, let’s take a final look at the outcome across different screen sizes.

Desktop

Mobile

Final Thoughts

In this post, we’ve shown you how to create blurred backgrounds using Divi’s built-in options only. We’ve recreated a beautiful example from scratch that you can use for any kind of website you create. We hope this tutorial inspires you to create your own customized designs using the tips that were shared in this tutorial. If you have any questions or suggestions, make sure you leave a comment in the comment section below!

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