Blur image online

Blur or pixelate?

Both hide the content, and the strength grows with the size of the selection, so even a large face is fully unrecognizable after one click. Blur gives a soft, smooth patch that blends into a photo — good for faces in the background or a street scene. Pixelate turns the area into large blocks; it looks deliberate, which is what you want when redacting a screenshot or a document. For the most sensitive details, such as passwords or account numbers, you can also cover the area with a solid Rectangle, which leaves nothing of the original.

Selecting exactly what to hide

Rectangle select is ideal for text, plates and screenshots. Use Ellipse select for faces, the Lasso for irregular shapes, or the Magic wand to pick an area of similar color. Hold Shift while selecting to add more areas, so you can blur several faces in one go. Set Feather in the tool options before you select, and the new selection gets a soft edge, so a blurred patch fades into the photo instead of ending in a hard line. Blur and Pixelate always need a selection; with nothing selected, the editor asks you to select what to hide first.

Blurring a background and other effects

Blurring works the other way round too: select your subject with the Lasso, choose Invert selection in the Edit menu, then click Soft blur in the Filters panel — again for a stronger effect — to soften everything except the person, for a simple portrait look. (The task bar’s Blur is made to hide things and would be far too strong here.) For gentle, hand-controlled softening, paint with the Blur brush exactly where you want it, for example over a distracting sign. Soft blur and Pixelate in the Filters panel apply to the active layer, or only inside the selection when there is one.