Haze with Photoshop

This is about making a photo hazy deliberately for a special effect. I have seen this effect in some advertisements.

Step 1 : I have opened this free stock image in Photoshop. You will find it here

It belongs to ~halo19

Step 2 : You can use the Pen Tool or the Magnetic Lasso to cut out the figure of the man.

Step 3 : After making the selection a column of marching ants forms.

Step 4 : Press CTRL+J. The selection is cut and pasted onto a new Layer1.

Step 5 : Zoom into the image.

Step 6 : Go to Filter>Artistic>Cutout.

Step 7 : The Cutout dialogue box opens.

Step 8 : In the controls at the right I have given these settings. You don't have to follow them. You can give your own settings depending on the image and the effect you are happy with.

My image looks like this after giving the settings in the earlier step. Click OK in the Cutout.

The image looks like this.

Step 9 : Click on the Background layer.

Step 10 : Press ALT and double click the Background layer. It changes to Layer0.

Step 11 : Press g on the keyboard to bring up the Gradient Tool. Click in the top to open the Gradient Editor.

Step 12 : The Foreground to Transparent should be selected.

Step 13 : Click the Add Layer Mask button. A Layer Mask forms next to the layer thumbnail in Layer 0.

Step 14 : Press CTRL+click the New Layer icon. A Layer 3 forms under Layer2.

Step 15 : The Foreground/Background color should be set to Black/White. If it is not press x and d on the keyboard to restore the default.

Step 16 : Press CTRL+BACKSPACE. The layer is filled with the Background Color which is White in this case.

Step 11 : Click the Layer Mask on Layer0.

Step 12 : Since the Gradient Tool is already selected press SHIFT and drag the Gradient Tool from above the top of the image to below the bottom in a straight line.