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Inspiring
June 2, 2012
Open for Voting

P: Increase the strength of the blur tool.

  • June 2, 2012
  • 83 replies
  • 15280 views

It's too weak. It needs to be more versatile. Maybe even allow airbrush to be enabled so the blur effect can build-up like water on a watercolor painting.

83 replies

Inspiring
July 4, 2025

Gosh. Here we are in july 2025 since 2012. Yeah, but AI is more important, I see.

 

I just wanna blur a face or stuff like that. But not possible with the weak blur tool in Ps. 😞

Makerman111111
Participating Frequently
August 23, 2024

The latest community expert excuse to justify NOT giving the customers what they want. Its 2024. Put a strength slider on the blur tool. Period.

D Fosse
Community Expert
Community Expert
January 29, 2023

The blur tool is one of the original Photoshop tools that were there at the very beginning. It was made for direct pixel editing ("destructive") on the small files in use at the time. Now the focus is on re-editable ("non-destructive") tools, and the blur tool got left behind and forgotten. That's not a reflection on merit; just a factual description of Photoshop development.

 

Now, I do use it myself, I do keep it in my toolbar. But I find it mainly useful for fine-tuning masks, not pixel content.

 

The main problem with the blur tool is the lack of precision. You can't set a radius. I don't know if it's "gaussian" or "average". In use, it's like pouring from a bottle - you just keep going until you have enough. To really improve the blur tool, I think it would take more than just widening the neck of the bottle.

Participant
January 29, 2023

It is 2023. Please fix the blur tool. It is functionally useless to digital artists unless we work at super low res. A blur mask doesn't work for what we need, and neither does the smudge tool. You've needlessly handycapped artists for years at this point, and if I could I would honestly let my subscription lapse in favor for a company that actually listens to their consumers.

Participant
May 8, 2022

Adobe, please PLEASE make the Blur Tool stronger -- currently to get a strong blur effect in a small, precise area, we have to try to make a perfect tiny selection and then use a Blur Filter on that tiny area -- pixels always get left out, the selection gets messy, it may be too small to feather or blend effectively --  just let us choose a precise brush shape and size within the Blur Tool and use it wherever we need with a real choice of strength and the ability to blend the edges like we can with any other brush-based tool. Please please please, this would help SO MUCH! Thanks!

Inspiring
May 7, 2022

Make the blur tool better, please.

Kelly5C2A
Known Participant
May 1, 2022

Adobe, please PLEASE make the Blur Tool stronger -- currently to get a strong blur effect in a small, precise area, we have to try to make a perfect tiny selection and then use a Blur Filter on that tiny area -- pixels always get left out, the selection gets messy, it may be too small to feather or blend effectively --  just let us choose a precise brush shape and size within the Blur Tool and use it wherever we need with a real choice of strength and the ability to blend the edges like we can with any other brush-based tool. Please please please, this would help SO MUCH! Thanks!

jmvdigital
Known Participant
December 6, 2021

It's 2021 (nearly 2022, and we just had a major software update) and Adobe STILL hasn't updated the blur brush tool. It's both incredibly useful and incredibly annoying to use because it's so weak. 

 

And no, using a blur filter and layer mask is NOT the same thing at all. Maybe with Lens Blur and layer mask to feather the blur, but man that's WAY more work than it should be. The current blur brush tool needs to go to 1000%, relative to it's current power. 

Participant
September 10, 2021

Clip Studio Paint has a stronger and fastert blur tool than Ps, Painter or Krita.
On an lage image: 7360 px X 4912 px at 300 ppi with a high blur value, Krita's blur brush is slow while the blur brush in Clip Studio Paint is usable. The blur brush in Clip Studio also gets slow with huge values, but is the fastest in this software compared with the rest of them.

Inspiring
July 6, 2021

*phtshop 

On an lage image: 7360 px X 4912 px at 300 ppi with a high blur value, the brush is very slow, with a 780px brush. With a 180 px brush size, the brush is slow. If you move the brush slowly the effect is live.