Adobe Photoshop/Blur Tool

The Blur Tool is used to paint a blur effect. Each stroke made using the Blur Tool will lower the contrast between affected pixels, making them appear blurred.

The context-sensitive Options Bar, usually located at the top of your workspace, will display all relevant options related to the Blur Tool.

The brush option allows you to alter the size and hardness of the brush. The hardness of the brush affects how soft or feathered the edges of the brush are. A soft blur brush will alter pixels at varying strengths, stronger in the center turning weaker towards the edges. It will make a stroke that blends well into the surrounding pixels. A harder blur brush will alter pixels at the given strength so that all affected pixels are blurred to the same degree. It will make a stroke that stands out against its neighboring pixels.

In the latest edition of Adobe Photoshop there are seven blur tool modes:

• Normal blur strokes affect all pixel information creating a standard blur.

• Darken blur strokes blur dark pixels into lighter neighboring pixels darkening the image.

• Lighten blur strokes blur light pixels into darker neighboring pixels lightening the image.

• Hue blur strokes blur variations in hue but not saturation or luminosity.

• Saturation blur strokes blur variations in saturation but not hue or luminosity.

• Color blur strokes blur variations in color (hue and saturation) but not luminosity.

• Luminosity blur strokes blur variations in luminosity but not hue or saturation.

The Strength option allows the user to choose to what extent their blur strokes blur the affected pixels. A lower strength percentage will not blur the pixels as noticeably as a higher strength percentage.

You can save your Blur tool settings for future ease of use. Click on the arrow next to the blur tool icon in the options bar and then click on the 'new' button below the right pointing arrow. Give it a name and press OK. For future use just return to the blur tool and click on the arrow next to the blur tool icon in the options bar to see a list of saved Blur tool pre-sets.