Blog Post 2 Design

 In this week's Design Blog I wanted to share what I learned this week. This week we learned about special effects in photoshop. This week I was able to continue to work with various different special effects and the one I found most interesting was the blur effect. Mainly the movement blur or motion blur that when used properly can give a still image the illusion of motion. 

Blur Effect 

The Blur effect in photoshop is a tool used to soften or reduce the sharpness of an image or part of an image. It creates a sense of motion, depth, or focus by blending pixels together, making the image appear out of focus or hazy. It can be applied to entire images or selected areas to create various visual effects, such as simulating motion or focusing attention on a particular part of the composition. There are a handful of different blur effects that photoshop offers like one of the most commonly used is the gaussian blur which helps soften the image by averaging the pixels around the edges.

How to apply the blur effect in photoshop 

1. 
   Select the area with a selection tool for example the marquee tool or lasso once selected to apply blur to that selected area. 

2. Select filter at the top menu

3. Then select blur and select the blur effect you want to apply that best suits your project

4.  Each blur effect comes with its own adjustment setting so adjust to what look you desire most 

5. Once you're done click ok and if you want you can make your original image a smart image so you can keep the original layer to keep the blur non-destructive and adjustable later.
   

Special effects 

Special effects in photoshop are used for many reasons allowing creativity in an artist to express their ideas and vision by transforming an ordinary image into something extraordinary. Special effects can also have a visual impact by enhancing the visual appeal of an image making it more engaging and attention grabbing. Also special effects are used for its artistic style by enabling the creation of specific artistic styles, some examples like vintage and futuristic looks or maybe something completely unique. Blurring is a powerful technique in Photoshop for controlling focus, depth of field, and artistic style. It’s also commonly used in retouching to create smooth skin textures or dramatic focal effects in design and photography.