Blur Tool

Blur or pixelate areas of an image to cover distracting information and help focus your audience’s attention where you want.

Add a Blur

1. Click the Blur tool in the Snagit Editor toolbar.
   

   Note: If the tool is not visible in the toolbar, click the More dropdown. To customize your toolbar, see Customize the Snagit Toolbar.

2. Select a Quick Style or edit the tool properties to customize the tool. See Tool Properties.
3. Click and drag on the Canvas to draw the blur.
4. When you are finished with the Blur tool, click the Move tool to select, move, edit, or delete objects you added to your image.
   

Tool Properties

Edit the properties to customize the tool.

Type
Click the dropdown to select the blur type:

• Blur: Smooths the details in a capture similar to viewing though an out-of-focus lens. Use to apply depth or to blur the details in sensitive information.
  
• Pixelate: Covers up an area with a set of large square pixels. Use to mask faces or sensitive information in an image capture.
  
• Solid shapes: Covers an area with a fully opaque shape. Use this option to redact confidential information. To ensure security and prevent others from removing the redaction, be sure to flatten the file (right-click and select the Flatten All option) or save to a flattened file type such as JPG, GIF, or PDF before sharing.

Color (Solid shapes only)
Click the dropdown to select the color for solid shape redactions.

Shape
Click the dropdown to select the blur shape.

Intensity
Drag the slider to adjust the blur level.

Apply only to text (Mac only)
Select to apply the blur only to text rather than to the entire selection.

Smart Redact

Smart Redact identifies and automatically covers sensitive information, such as contact information, credit card numbers, and more.

To automatically redact sensitive information in an image:

1. Click the Blur tool in the Snagit Editor toolbar, or from the More dropdown in the toolbar.
   
2. In the Actions panel, click Smart Redact.
   
   Snagit detects different categories of sensitive information and covers them with black shapes.
3. Complete any of the following to edit the redactions:
   • Toggle off information categories that you want to keep visible in the image. Snagit removes redactions from those categories.
     
   • In the Type dropdown, select the Blur or Pixelate option to change the appearance of the redactions.
     

     Note: Some third-party tools can reverse blur or pixelation. For the most secure option, use the Solid shapes redaction type.

   • For the solid shapes redaction type, click the Shape Color dropdown to choose a different color.
     
4. Click Done to close Smart Redact.
5. To edit individual redactions or blurs, complete any of the following:
   • To remove a redaction and reveal the information underneath, click to select the redaction and press Delete.
   • To edit the redaction type, color, shape, or intensity, click to select the item, and then adjust the tool properties.
6. Flatten the image before sharing so that redactions and blurs cannot be removed to reveal the information underneath. Complete any of the following:
   • Right-click (Windows) or Control+click (Mac) and select the Flatten All option.

     Note: With this option, redactions and blurs cannot be edited further.

   • Click Share Link to share the image via Screencast. See Get a Shareable Link.
   • Select File > Save As and save the image in a flattened format such as JPG, PNG, or GIF for sharing.

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