# PhotoshopElements

# Blur or soften edges

The Blur tool softens hard edges or areas in an image by reducing detail. Blurring a busy background can bring your target images more into focus. You can also use Blur filters for this purpose.

Original photo (left), and photo after blurring the background (right)

1. Select the Blur tool .
2. Set options in the options bar:
   Brushes pop‑up menu
     Sets the brush tip. Click the arrow next to the brush sample, choose a brush category from the Brushes pop‑up menu, and then select a brush thumbnail.

   Size
     Sets the size of the brush, in pixels. Drag the Size pop‑up slider or enter a size in the text box.

   Mode
     Specifies how the pixels you blur blend into other pixels in the image.

   Strength
     Specifies the amount of blur that occurs with each stroke

   All Layers
     Blurs all visible layers. If this is deselected, the tool blurs only the active layer.

3. Drag over the part of the image you want to blur.

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- Blur and Blur More
- Gaussian Blur
- About blending modes

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- This page on the Web