✨ A Complete Guide to the Stack Blur Tool
PhenoCapture AI’s Stack Blur tool is a revolutionary, ultra-high-speed feature designed to deliver incredibly smooth, natural-looking blurs. By utilizing an advanced mathematical O(1) algorithm, it provides the beautiful, gradient-like quality of a Gaussian filter but at a fraction of the computational cost, allowing for extreme blur intensities without any performance drop.
💡 Key Features
- O(1) Extreme Performance: Unlike traditional blur filters that slow down as the blur size increases, Stack Blur’s computation time remains constant. This architectural breakthrough allows you to apply massive blurs instantly, making it the fastest smoothing tool in the software.
- Massive Radius Control (Up to 100): Because of its extreme speed, the Stack Blur tool lets you push the blur radius all the way from 1 up to 100. Whether you need a subtle softening or a complete, heavy wash out of the background, this tool handles it effortlessly.
- Gaussian-Like Quality: While Box Averaging can sometimes leave harsh, blocky edges, Stack Blur uses a triangular weighting distribution to create a highly natural, smooth gradient that is virtually indistinguishable from a true Gaussian blur.
- Real-Time Live Preview: Instantly see the blurring effect on your canvas. Thanks to the zero-allocation memory optimization, the preview engine renders huge blurs seamlessly without any UI freezing or flickering, and it intelligently compensates for your current canvas zoom level.
- Smart Regional Masking: Draw a selection on your workspace, and the tool will intelligently apply the Stack Blur only to that specific area. Boundary edge artifacts are perfectly eliminated, ensuring crisp edges around your unselected pixels.
- Seamless Undo Integration: Connected directly to PhenoCapture AI’s undo engine, you can experiment freely. If the massive radius is too strong, simply undo it and try a lower setting!
🛠️ How to Use the Stack Blur Tool
Step 1: Select Your Target Area (Optional)
If you only want to smooth out a specific section of your image (like completely obscuring a background or anonymizing a face), use any of the region selection tools to highlight it. If no region is selected, the extreme blur will be applied to the entire image.
Step 2: Adjust the Blur in Real-Time
Navigate to the menu and open the Stack Blur tool.
- Ensure the Preview checkbox is enabled.
- Drag the Filter Size slider (radius 1 to 100) to adjust the intensity. The canvas will update instantly—even at the maximum setting of 100—showing you exactly how the blur will look without any lag.
Step 3: Apply and Review
Once you are satisfied with the preview, click OK. The parallel engine will instantly process the high-resolution final image and commit it to your workspace. If you change your mind later, just use the standard Undo shortcut to revert to the original state.