Reason for Blurring
- To emphasize certain areas. Blurry areas guide the eye elsewhere.
- It can be used to smooth textures (especially in the skin).
Reason for Sharpening
- To emphasize certain areas. Sharp areas catch your eye.
- To create detail.
SHORTCUTS
Lasso Tool - lDeselect - Ctrl+D
Blur Tool - r
Sharpen Tool - y
PART A: Blurs
There are so many types of blurring on Pixlr. The first two will be used together below.
1. Blur Tool
2. Gaussian Blur
3. Box Blur
4. Blur Filter
5. Denoise Filter
Both are covered in a short youtube video (below). Turn the subtitles (closed captions) on for the best viewing experience. I have opened this image by thetruepreneur on pixabay.
If you want to follow along you can use any image. Now there is already some blurring in the background (the tree trunk), but I want to focus on the fingertips. Here is where the previous lesson on selection comes in handy.
Please note you don't need the selection tool to use any of the blurs, I am simply showing something you can do to control the blur's range.
First, you use the freehand lasso tool (l) and change the feather to 10 or higher depending on the image and how soft you want the edges to be.
TIP: Test the feathering before preceding to ensure optimal results.
Zoom in if you need more control. Create a selection around the area you want to remain sharp. It doesn't have to be perfect or fit precisely around the area you want because I'll fix it later. Then go to Edit> Invert Selection.
Go to Filter> Gaussian Blur. The amount must be over 10 to see any real difference. I put mine to 11. Adjust as desired.
Edit> Deselect All (Ctrl+D)
You can clean up image by using the Blur Tool (r) to work in the areas that need more blurring. I smooth over the skin a bit more. I also adjusted the size to work into the smaller areas. My main focus was on the fingertips. You can also change the strength to suit your needs.
Now you can add text, if you want. By blurring the area around the fingertips I draw the eye to the fingertips and the text above it.
BLUR FACE-OFF: Gaussian Blur vs Box Blur
To be honest Gaussian Blur and Box Blur aren't that different in Pixlr.
Similarities
1. Blur Tool
2. Gaussian Blur
3. Box Blur
4. Blur Filter
5. Denoise Filter
Both are covered in a short youtube video (below). Turn the subtitles (closed captions) on for the best viewing experience. I have opened this image by thetruepreneur on pixabay.
If you want to follow along you can use any image. Now there is already some blurring in the background (the tree trunk), but I want to focus on the fingertips. Here is where the previous lesson on selection comes in handy.
Please note you don't need the selection tool to use any of the blurs, I am simply showing something you can do to control the blur's range.
 |
| Gaussian Blur + Blur Tool |
TIP: Test the feathering before preceding to ensure optimal results.
Zoom in if you need more control. Create a selection around the area you want to remain sharp. It doesn't have to be perfect or fit precisely around the area you want because I'll fix it later. Then go to Edit> Invert Selection.
Go to Filter> Gaussian Blur. The amount must be over 10 to see any real difference. I put mine to 11. Adjust as desired.
Edit> Deselect All (Ctrl+D)
You can clean up image by using the Blur Tool (r) to work in the areas that need more blurring. I smooth over the skin a bit more. I also adjusted the size to work into the smaller areas. My main focus was on the fingertips. You can also change the strength to suit your needs.
Now you can add text, if you want. By blurring the area around the fingertips I draw the eye to the fingertips and the text above it.
BLUR FACE-OFF: Gaussian Blur vs Box Blur
To be honest Gaussian Blur and Box Blur aren't that different in Pixlr.
Similarities
- Amount slider
- Ability to blur
- Gaussian Blur range: 10 to 250 (10 is its zero); Box Blur range: 0 to 100
- Gaussian Blur: Very adjustable; Box Blur: Dramatic shifts in blur amount
- Blurring Selection w/o feather option - Gaussian Blur: Inferior; Box Blur: Superior
- Blurring Selection w/ feather option - Gaussian Blur = Box Blur
- Blurring PNGs (transparent background - be careful when using blurs with PNGs)
- Gaussian Blur is pixelated
- Box Blur has a smooth transition, but creates a black box.
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| Gaussian Blur vs Box Blur
The least helpful, in my opinion, is the blur filter. There is not that much control over the strength or amount of blur. You can not change the amount. However, the first iteration is fairly light. It would take many iterations to achieve a powerful blur. You can also use selections to blur, but I prefer using either the Gaussian Blur or the Box Blur
TIP: If you want to create smooth skin, but not affect the eyes and lips (as well as other areas) then you must select the areas you want blurred - use the modifier key (ctrl) to subtract selections. Definitely use the feather option for a natural look.
The last blur is the filter 'Denoise' because of its simplicity I will not put a demo (but it is briefly covered in the video for part b). However, this works well on grainy ("noisy") images. I like using it to smooth skin.
PART B: Sharpen
Unlike blur, there are not a lot of tools for sharpening.
1. Sharpen Tool
2. Unsharp Mask (Used for sharpen and blur)
3. Sharpen Filter
For this part I will be using this image by thetruthpreneur from pixabay.
This video features the unsharp tool and the denoise filter. I figured there was no need for a sharpen tool tutorial because it works the same way the blur tool does except it sharpens instead of blurs. The sharpen filter also operates the same as the blur filter except it does the opposite of blurring.
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