| • | To soften focus |
| • | To soften by specifying pixel values |
The Soften and Super Soften effects increase the transition from one part of an image to another by enhancing the anti-aliasing of the brushstrokes. You can apply the Soften effect to images by using either the Gaussian or Circular aperture options. The Gaussian aperture is useful for creating smooth, optical blurs or defocusing; the Circular aperture is useful for creating shadow maps cast by a circular light source like the sun.
The Super Soften effect lets you soften images by specifying the radius of pixels that you want to soften.
| To soften focus |
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| 1 . | To apply the effect to: |
| • | The canvas — Click the Canvas in the Layers panel. |
| • | A selection — Click a selection tool from the toolbox, and drag in the document window to select an area. |
| • | A layer — Click a layer in the Layers panel. |
| 2 . | Choose Effects  Focus Soften. |
| 3 . | In the Aperture area, enable one of the following options: |
| • | Gaussian |
| • | Circular |
| 4 . | Adjust the Amount slider. |
| The farther the slider is to the right, the more steps there are between image elements, which creates more blurring. |
| To soften by specifying pixel values |
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| 1 . | To apply the effect to: |
| • | The canvas — Click the Canvas in the Layers panel. |
| • | A selection — Click a selection tool from the toolbox, and drag in the document window to select an area. |
| • | A layer — Click a layer in the Layers panel. |
| 2 . | Choose Effects Focus Super Soften. |
| 3 . | Type a pixel value in the Soften box. |
| This value determines the radius of pixels that are softened. The lower the value, the more subtle the effect. |
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Enable the Wrap Around check box.
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Enable the Preview check box.
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Click Reset.
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