Blurring and sharpening bitmaps
Fireworks has a set of blurring and sharpening options that you can apply as Live Effects or as irreversible, permanent filters.
Blurring an image
Blurring softens the look of a bitmap image. Fireworks has six blurring options:
Blur softens the focus of selected pixels.
Blur More blurs about three times as much as Blur.
Gaussian Blur applies a weighted average of blur to each pixel to produce a hazy effect.
Motion Blur creates the appearance that the image is moving.
Radial Blur creates the appearance that the image is spinning.
Zoom Blur creates the appearance that the image is moving toward or away from the viewer.
Note: Applying filters from the Filters menu is destructive; that is, it cannot be undone except when Edit > Undo is an option. To maintain the ability to adjust, turn off, or remove a filter, apply it as a Live Effect, as described in the first bulleted option in each of the following procedures. For more information, see “Using Live Effects” on page 119.
To blur an image:
1 Select the image.
2 Do one of the following:
■ In the Property inspector, click the Add Effects button, and then choose Blur > Blur or Blur More from the Add Effects pop-up menu.
■ Choose Filters > Blur > Blur or Blur More.
To blur an image using Gaussian Blur:
1 Select the image.
2 Do one of the following to open the Gaussian Blur dialog box:
■ In the Property inspector, click the Add Effects button, and then choose Blur > Gaussian Blur from the Add Effects pop-up menu.
■ Choose Filters > Blur > Gaussian Blur.
3 Drag the Blur Radius slider to set the strength of the blur effect.
Values range from 0.1 to 250. An increase in radius results in a stronger blur effect.
4 Click OK.
To blur an image using Motion Blur:
1 Select the image.
2 Do one of the following to open the Motion Blur dialog box:
■ In the Property inspector, click the Add Effects button, and choose Blur > Motion Blur from the Add Effects pop-up menu.
■ Choose Filters > Blur > Motion Blur.
3 Drag the Angle dial to set the direction of the blur effect.
4 Drag the Distance slider to set the strength of the blur effect.
Values range from 1 to 100. An increase in distance results in a stronger blur effect.
5 Click OK.
To blur an image using Radial Blur:
1 Select the image.
2 Do one of the following to open the Radial Blur dialog box:
■ In the Property inspector, click the Add Effects button, and choose Blur > Radial Blur from the Add Effects pop-up menu.
■ Choose Filters > Blur > Radial Blur.
3 Drag the Amount slider to set the strength of the blur effect.
Values range from 1 to 100. An increase in amount results in a stronger blur effect.
4 Drag the Quality slider to set the smoothness of the blur effect.
Values range from 1 to 100. An increase in quality results in a blur effect with fewer repetitions of the original image.
5 Click OK.
To blur an image using Zoom Blur:
1 Select the image.
2 Do one of the following to open the Zoom Blur dialog box:
■ In the Property inspector, click the Add Effects button, and choose Blur > Zoom Blur from the Add Effects pop-up menu.
■ Choose Filters > Blur > Zoom Blur.
3 Drag the Amount slider to set the strength of the blur effect.
Values range from 1 to 100. An increase in amount results in a stronger blur effect.
4 Drag the Quality slider to set the smoothness of the blur effect.
Values range from 1 to 100. An increase in quality results in a blur effect with fewer repetitions of the original image.
5 Click OK.
Blurring and sharpening bitmaps 51
Using the Find Edges effect to create a sketch look
The Find Edges effect changes your bitmaps to look like line drawings by identifying the color transitions in the images and changing them to lines.
Original; after applying Find Edges
To apply the Find Edges effect to a selected area, do one of the following:
•
In the Property inspector, click the Add Effects button, and then choose Other > Find Edges from the Add Effects pop-up menu.•
Choose Filters > Other > Find Edges.Note: Applying a filter from the Filters menu is destructive; that is, it cannot be undone except when Edit > Undo is an option. To maintain the ability to adjust, turn off, or remove this filter, apply it as a Live Effect, as described in the first bulleted option in this step. For more information, see
“Using Live Effects” on page 119.
Converting an image to a transparency
You can use the Convert to Alpha effect to convert an object or text into a transparency based upon the transparency of the image.
To apply the Convert to Alpha effect to a selected area, do one of the following:
•
In the Property inspector, click the Add Effects button, and then choose Other >Convert to Alpha from the Add Effects pop-up menu.
•
Choose Filters > Other > Convert to Alpha.Note: Applying a filter from the Filters menu is destructive; that is, it cannot be undone except when Edit > Undo is an option. To maintain the ability to adjust, turn off, or remove this filter, apply it as a Live Effect, as described in the first bulleted option in this step. For more information, see
“Using Live Effects” on page 119.
Using the Sharpen feature to sharpen an image
You can use the Sharpen feature to correct images that are blurry. Fireworks has three Sharpen options:
Sharpen adjusts the focus of a blurred image by increasing the contrast of adjacent pixels.
Sharpen More increases the contrast of adjacent pixels about three times as much as Sharpen.
Unsharp Mask sharpens an image by adjusting the contrast of the pixel edges. This option offers the most control, so it is usually the best option for sharpening an image.
Original; after sharpening
To sharpen an image using a sharpen option:
1 Select the image.
2 Do one of the following to choose a sharpen option:
■ In the Property inspector, click the Add Effects button, and then choose Sharpen >
Sharpen or Sharpen More from the Add Effects pop-up menu.
■ Choose Filters > Sharpen > Sharpen or Sharpen More.
Note: Applying a filter from the Filters menu is destructive; that is, it cannot be undone except when Edit > Undo is an option. To maintain the ability to adjust, turn off, or remove this filter, apply it as a Live Effect, as described in the first bulleted option in this step. For more information, see
“Using Live Effects” on page 119.
To sharpen an image using Unsharp Mask:
1 Select the image.
2 Do one of the following to open the Unsharp Mask dialog box:
■ In the Property inspector, click the Add Effects button, and then choose Sharpen >
Unsharp Mask from the Add Effects pop-up menu.
■ Choose Filters > Sharpen > Unsharp Mask.
Note: Applying a filter from the Filters menu is destructive; that is, it cannot be undone except when Edit > Undo is an option. To maintain the ability to adjust, turn off, or remove this filter, apply it as a Live Effect, as described in the first bulleted option in this step. For more information, see
“Using Live Effects” on page 119.
3 Drag the Sharpen Amount slider to select the amount of sharpening effect from 1% to 500%.
4 Drag the Pixel Radius slider to select a radius from 0.1 to 250.
An increase in radius results in a greater area of sharp contrast surrounding each pixel edge.