Blur Tool Group

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In the bitmap portion of the Tools panel you'll see what looks like a water drop. This group of tools includes Blur, Sharpen, Dodge, Smudge, and Burn. These tools work well for smaller areas that need repair or a quick focused touchup.

Blur

After you select the Blur tool, you have a good bit of control in the Property inspector. You can adjust the softness of the edge, choose the size and shape (round or square), and determine the intensity or the amount of blurring that is applied. The Blur tool is great for smaller areas that you need to blend into a composite image, to help blend pattern changes, or even to blur out sensitive parts of an image.

Note 

For large areas needing to be blurred, such as a background, the Gaussian Blur filter found in the Filters or Effects menu does a more efficient job than the Blur tool does.

Sharpen

The Sharpen tool helps bring detail out in an image. It can't make a truly bad photo clear however. It can reduce blurring if you blurred a bit too much or add detail back to the edges of a blurred area. It's great for bringing focus back to things like eyes, hair, and other details of an image. Once you select the Selection tool you have the same properties available as the Blur tool. Practice with the Intensity setting to get a feel for what setting you need. You'll know you sharpened too much when you begin to see odd colors showing through.

Dodge

The Dodge tool is new to Fireworks MX. If you use the Dodge tool carefully you can gently lighten or desaturate an area. Figure 19-5 shows the properties available for the Dodge tool. Notice the Range pop-up menu. You can adjust the Shadows, Midtones, or the Highlights settings. Try each to see its effect.

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Figure 19-5: The properties available for the Dodge tool after the tool is selected

Burn

The Burn tool works the opposite of Dodge, that is, it adds darkness. The Burn tool has the same properties as the Dodge tool.

Smudge

The Smudge tool smears paint and can be useful for those coming to Fireworks from a traditional paint background. You can make your strokes more organic looking. The following list describes the properties for the Smudge tool:

  • Size, Shape, and Edge are the same as they are for the Blur tool.

  • The Pressure setting determines the intensity of smudging.



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Macromedia Studio MX Bible
Macromedia Studio MX Bible
ISBN: 0764525239
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2003
Pages: 491

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