How to Blur in Procreate

In this tutorial, we are going to have a look at how to blur in Procreate and the 3 types of blur you get. We are using an aesthetic paper bundle, but you can use any Scrapbook background for this tutorial. Let’s get started!

Please note: we are using the latest version of Procreate 5X. If you do not see the features mentioned below, ensure your Procreate is up-to-date.

Step 1 - Prepping Your Artwork

First, we will import the digital paper that we will use as our background. To import a file saved in a folder go to the Actions panel (Wrench icon). Then tap on “Add” and tap on “Insert a file”. You will be directed to your files, locate, and select the digital paper you want to use.

As you can see I have populated my canvas with digital paper to create a seamless background.

The most important part of prepping our artwork for blurring is to ensure our artwork pieces are on separate layers. We can go to our Layers panel (stacked squares icon) to see all layers we have available.

We can select a layer that we want to apply a blur too. I only want to place the blur on my background to select my layer named “Background”.

Step 2 - Blur Layer vs Pencil

Once you have selected the layer you want to add a blur too, go to the Adjustments panel (Wand icon). In the Adjustments panel, you will see 3 Blur types, which we will go over in a moment. First I want you to understand the 2 additional options you will be given when selecting a blur, namely “Layer” and “Pencil”.

The type of blur you select can be applied to the “Layer” or area that your “pencil” touches. Layer Blur is straightforward, the blur type is added to the whole layer that you have selected.

Pencil Blur is applied only to the area that your Pencil touches on your artwork. You will be able to set the type of brush and brush size and intensity to make precise blur points on an artwork. As seen below I can with the “Pencil” blur option blur a portion of my butterfly.

Step 3 - Blur Options

As mentioned before, there are 3 types of blur you can apply to your artwork: Gaussian Blur, Motion Blur, and Perspective Blur. Learning what each blur does is helpful when needing to add that finishing touch to your artwork or even using them to make 3D lettering in Procreate.

Gaussian Blur:

This is a standard blur, simply press and drag left or right on the screen to set blur intensity. Left is lower and right is higher blur intensity. Tap on the Actions icon again once you are done to apply the blur.

Motion Blur:

This adds motion to your blur. Meaning that whatever direction you slide your finder that is the direction your blur will follow. Tap on the Actions icon again once you are done to apply the blur.

Perspective Blur:

There are 2 options for Perspective blur. Overall perspective blur is placed around the circle indicator and you will be able to drag it around and change where the blur would “originate” from. Tap on the Actions icon again once you are done to apply the blur.

That’s the how-to blur and the 3 types of blur effects you can add to your artwork quickly. Get creative and test out the blur effects to take your artwork to the next level.

Next up check out our tutorials on preventing blurriness in Procreate, using the smudge tool, and recoloring in Procreate.