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You can change your camera background directly in the Tella web recorder or Chrome extension. Blur everything behind you, or replace your background with a solid color or an image — no green screen or third-party app needed.
Tella’s background effects — blur, solid color, and image — are available in the web app and the Chrome extension. The Mac app can use background effects provided by macOS. Background effects are not supported in the Windows app or in Safari.

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Change your background in the Mac app

The Mac app uses the video effects provided by macOS. Which effects are available depends on your macOS version and selected camera.
  1. Open the camera menu using the arrow next to the camera button.
  2. Under Apple Effects, click Portrait to blur your background. On macOS 15 or later, you may also see Background, which lets you choose a color gradient, system wallpaper, or your own photo.
If an effect is disabled or missing, the current macOS and camera combination does not support it. Try another camera from the same menu, or click More effects… to open the macOS Video Effects controls directly. See Apple’s camera guide for more information.

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Turn on a background effect in the web app

  1. Open the recorder and make sure your camera is on.
  2. Click the background button in the bottom-left corner of the camera preview.
  3. The currently selected effect turns on immediately. The recording captures the processed feed automatically.

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Turn on a background effect in the Chrome extension

  1. Open the extension recorder and make sure your camera is on.
  2. Click the round background button in the corner of the camera preview to open the background options.
  3. Choose Blur, Color, or Image. Your background changes immediately, and the recording captures the processed feed automatically.
Your camera keeps showing its original feed until the effect is ready, so you never record a blank frame while it loads.

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Choose a background

In the web app, click the picker next to the background button. In the Chrome extension, click the round background button to open these options:
  • None — turn the effect off and show your original camera feed.
  • Blur — softly blur everything behind you so the focus stays on your face.
  • Color — replace your background with a solid color. Pick from the preset swatches or your recent colors.
  • Image — replace your background with one of the preset images, or upload your own.
Picking a color or image turns the background effect on automatically if it isn’t already.

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Upload your own image

In the Image section, click the upload tile and choose a JPG, PNG, or WebP file. Your uploaded backgrounds are saved so you can reuse them later.

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Adjust blur intensity

When blur is selected, a slider appears next to the background button in the web app or inside the background options in the Chrome extension.
  • Drag the slider to the right to increase the blur (up to 20).
  • Drag the slider to the left to decrease the blur (down to 1).

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Turn off the effect

In the web app, click the background button again or choose None in the picker. In the Chrome extension, open the background options and choose None. Your camera feed returns to its original state. Your background choice is saved per device and persists across sessions.