About the Blur Tool
The blur tool softens only what you paint over. Use it to smooth a bumpy background, hide a small detail, soften harsh edges after a cut-out or fake a shallow depth of field. Drag a soft brush across the picture and the pixels under it are blended with their neighbours. Choose the size, edge softness and strength, undo anything you do not like and save the result as a full-size PNG. If you want to blur a whole rectangle or hide a face completely, Blur Image is a better fit. Nothing you edit leaves your device.
Updated October 2026
How to use the Blur Tool
- 1Select an image or drop one on the page.
- 2Choose a brush size and edge softness.
- 3Set the strength. Lower strengths give a gentler softening.
- 4Drag over the parts you want to soften, repeating for more blur.
- 5Undo if needed and press Download PNG.
What a blur brush is for
Local blur smooths things: a wrinkled sheet behind a model, skin texture, noise in a dark area, jagged edges after you cut something out. It is also a quick way to push a background out of focus so the subject stands out.
Practical tips
Use a large brush with soft edges for backgrounds and a small one for details. Several light passes give a better look than one heavy pass, and you can stop when it feels right.
- Skin: small soft brush, low strength, one or two passes
- Background: large brush, medium strength, several passes
- Hard edges after a cut-out: tiny brush along the edge
Blur and sharpen together
A classic trick is to blur the background and sharpen the subject. Use the Sharpen Tool afterwards on the eyes and details to emphasise them. Download between steps because each tool opens its own picture.
A quick example
Imagine a portrait where the wall behind has distracting texture. Choose a brush about a third of the person's width, an edge hardness near 20 percent and a strength of 50. Go over the wall in broad strokes, twice, staying a little away from the hair. Then switch to a small brush at low strength to blend the transition near the head. The wall turns smooth and the person appears to stand out from it.
Limits
A brush blur is a soft smoothing, not a camera effect. It does not know what is near or far, so large edits can look flat. For deliberate privacy blur use Blur Image.
Phone and computer
On a phone, use one finger to paint; the page does not scroll while you touch the picture. On a computer, a ring shows the size before you click. Pictures up to about 16 million pixels work.
Good to know
The result is saved as PNG at full size. Press Start over at any time to return to your original, and Undo to step back one stroke at a time. When one soft area is not enough, Pixelate Image hides faces or numbers more strongly, and the Photo Editor handles the rest of the picture.
Features
- Paint a blur exactly where you want it
- Adjustable brush size, softness and strength
- Builds up gradually with repeated strokes
- Undo and Start over
- Touch, mouse and pen supported
- No upload
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between this and Blur Image?
Blur Image blurs whole rectangles or the entire picture, which is ideal for hiding faces and text. The blur tool is a brush, so you shape the blur freely with strokes.
How strong is the blur?
Each pass softens a little. Going over the same place again increases it. Use a higher strength to blur faster.
Can I use it to hide personal information?
For light touch-ups yes, but a few passes of a brush can leave the text readable. For privacy, use Blur Image with pixelate, which cannot be undone by sharpening.
Can I fake a blurred background?
Yes. Use a big soft brush and paint around your subject in several passes. It will not match a real lens, but it can look convincing for small areas.
Will the edges of my subject look rough?
Use a soft brush and keep a little distance from the edge. Reduce the strength near the edge for a natural transition.
Is my photo uploaded?
No. The editing happens on your device.