Keep 'Border' of image with 'Blur'? [SOLVED]

[goddi]

Greetings,

I was just experimenting with blurring a background image (behind a reduced sized video clip) but keep the background image's border in the Frame. When I select a border of the background image, I get the border. But, when I blur this background image, the border gets blurred too. Is there a way of blurring a background image but keeping its border not blurred?

Gary

Later...I found a workaround. I added the same image with the border. Sent it to the back. Reduced the front blurred image by a few percents to show the border of the image behind it. The reduced sized video clip now plays in front of the blurred image that is front of the rear image with its border.

Can do, but is there a better way???

 

[Lin Evans]

Sure - Several ways. Make the border a separate object. Just duplicate your video image size with a different image and apply the border to the image behind the video. Make a PNG border which is a separate object and won't be affected by the blur. Use a complete solid color image slightly larger than you video and put it behind the video so that what remains around the edges acts as a border.

Best regards,

Lin

[goddi]

Lin,

If I understand the first way, I'd blur an image in Photoshop and add the border to it in PTE. Then add in the reduced sized video clip to be in front of it.

I think the other two ways would not work for me. Making a separate PNG border image does not seem flexible to me. And making a slightly larger color image behind the video would not solve the problem of a border around the blurred background image--if I understand what you are saying.

Anyway, I tried the 'Blurring' an image in Photoshop and I don't like the results, as compared to using the PTE blur. It is not that difficult to do my 'workaround' to get the same results. I think I will stick with it. So much easier to do all within PTE, more flexible, and all within PTE.

Thanks... Gary

 

[Lin Evans]

Hi Gary,

No.  What you do is take your original video and place an image with a border on the layer beneath. Make the image with the border precisely the same size as the video. The video will then hide the image but not the border. If you intend to animate the image you can make the video a child of the image. The border on the image beneath which is hidden by the video on top serves as the border for the image on top. No need for anything but PTE. If you want a very "clean" border the logical way to do it would be to go into Photoshop and create a solid color on top of a transparency. Then cut out all but a border. Save this as a PNG then you can make others of the same color in different aspect ratios. In PTE it would become another object lying over the background and the border would be knife sharp. You can change the color to any color with PTE so it doesn't matter what the original color of these borders are. The reason you can't get a perfectly clean border in PTE alone is that when you blur an object, the size increases slightly.

Best regards,

Lin

[goddi]

26 minutes ago, Lin Evans said:

Hi Gary,

No.  What you do is take your original video and place an image with a border on the layer beneath. Make the image with the border precisely the same size as the video. The video will then hide the image but not the border. If you intend to animate the image you can make the video a child of the image. The border on the image beneath which is hidden by the video on top serves as the border for the image on top. No need for anything but PTE.

Best regards,

Lin

Lin... I don't think I follow you. If you place a video on top of an image with a border ("precisely the same size as the video"), it will not show the border of the image behind it. The border of the image behind the video is placed inside the image, not the outside, so the border gets hidden. My point is to be able to put a blurred image behind the video as a background and have the border show around the blurred background image. When you blur an image with a border, the border gets blurred too.

In other words, I am looking for a bordered image within a bordered blurred image.

See attached screenprint....

Gary

[Lin Evans]

Geeze Gary,

Just use PTE to make the image behind as much larger as you need. The aspect ratio stays the same and if you make a relatively large border it will extend beyond the top layer image. It's really simple. Look at my samples.. Give me a minute and I'll show you how to do it with a Photoshop PNG image.

Best regards,

Lin

[Lin Evans]

Here - a PNG border surrounding a blurred background with an image or video with a border inside..Put all three under a frame if you want to animate or manipulate them as a group without changing the dynamic between them.

Best regards,

Lin

Here's the border: right click on it and save to use it...

 

[goddi]

11 minutes ago, Lin Evans said:

Geeze Gary,

Just use PTE to make the image behind as much larger as you need. The aspect ratio stays the same and if you make a relatively large border it will extend beyond the top layer image. It's really simple. Look at my samples.. Give me a minute and I'll show you how to do it with a Photoshop PNG image.

Best regards,

Lin

Lin...I don't see how you made the white border in your previous post. Thanks for the latest posting with the red border. Did you have to make the red PNG border in Photoshop? I tried using it but it is just not flexible. If I use the 'Aspect Crop 16x9', it cuts off the top/bottom of the red border. Sure, I can use the 'Shift/drag' to adjust its aspect ratio, but not precise enough to match other slides. I think I will have to stick with my workaround. Easy to do and adjustable. Thanks for trying. Gary

[Lin Evans]

Gary, you just make three PNG borders. The one I gave you is 3:2. Make one at 16:9 and one at 4:3 in Photoshop. Put them in a folder and use them over and again. You can change the color to any color of the rainbow with PTE 9. 

The one with the white border is incredibly easy. Take an image - any image of the same aspect ratio of the one you are using for your background. Put it on the layer behind your background image and apply a border to it. Adjust the size of this image with the border so the border is revealed behind the blurred image. 

Give me a couple minutes and I'll make you a quick tutorial on how to create the PNG border in Photoshop..

Lin

[Lin Evans]

Here's the zipped video tutorial:

http://www.lin-evans.org/gary/makepngborder.zip

Here's the 16:9 red png border created as seen in the video:

Lin

[davegee]

All done within PTE - No Photoshop necessary.

Adjust your border to suit yourself.

Goddi Border.ptestyle

Apply Style to a Blank 1920x1080 Slide - Demo.

DG

[goddi]

10 minutes ago, davegee said:

All done within PTE - No Photoshop necessary.

Adjust your border to suit yourself.

Goddi Border.ptestyle

Apply Style to a Blank 1920x1080 Slide - Demo.

DG

Dave... I get a bunch of 'exception errors' when I tried the Style. But, I really don't want to get it so complicated with Masks, Stencils, etc. You guys are more into doing them and modifying them to work. I keep going back to my 'easy' workaround.

And Lin, thanks for the demo. Super. I see how to make them now. But, the problem is getting that border to match the '.5 percent' border that I have added to all the other images, for example. Doing a manual adjustment for the size just does not work well. The aspect ratio does not even come out evenly when trying to do the adjustment. And having to make 'templates' of borders of each size and color, etc....too much.

Thanks all for the lessons. I just want to keep it simple. Gary

ADDED LATER:  Oh...I just had a lightbulb moment. I actually created a Style from my slide. Works great, fully adjustable, EXCEPT:

1- How can I change out the two background images that were created in the original Style after I have applied the Style to another image?

2- I get an 'Unhandled Exception' error when I use it (similar to using Dave's demo)

Gary.

[Lin Evans]

Gary,

Select one of the images in the Objects list in Objects and Animations. Click on Properties Tab, Where it says "Picture" (below Name at the top right of your screen) click on the little down arrow in the small blue box, navigate to the image you want to use to replace it with, select and click on "Open"

If you had marked the two images as Master images one and two before creating the style, you would not have to replace them with a different image. The images would be reflected in the style and your new image automatically inserted.. 

Lin

[goddi]

1 hour ago, Lin Evans said:

Gary,

Select one of the images in the Objects list in Objects and Animations. Click on Properties Tab, Where it says "Picture" (below Name at the top right of your screen) click on the little down arrow in the small blue box, navigate to the image you want to use to replace it with, select and click on "Open"

If you had marked the two images as Master images one and two before creating the style, you would not have to replace them with a different image. The images would be reflected in the style and your new image automatically inserted.. 

Lin

Lin,

Ok...thanks for the first instructions. Yes, I can see how to replace the images now.

However, I think you meant "Main object", instead of "Master images". And I found that if all three images have the "Main object" marked as '1', then it works. Took me a while to figure this out but it works great. Thanks... Gary

[Lin Evans]

Yes, you're correct - Main Object rather than Master Image - Sometimes I forget what they are called without looking...

Best regards,

Lin

[Igor]

 

13 hours ago, goddi said:

Dave... I get a bunch of 'exception errors' when I tried the Style.

 

13 hours ago, goddi said:

1- How can I change out the two background images that were created in the original Style after I have applied the Style to another image?

2- I get an 'Unhandled Exception' error when I use it (similar to using Dave's demo)

Gary,

Please tell me how to reproduce this error? Send me your project.

[davegee]

Igor,

The Style that I posted above needs no images.

Please try it on a BLANK SLIDE and se if you also get Error Mesages.

DG

[goddi]

50 minutes ago, Igor Kokarev said:

Gary,

Please tell me how to reproduce this error? Send me your project.

Igor,

I would not worry about it much. The error messages started when I was trying out Dave's Style (in his post above-GOddi Border.ptestyle). Being a demo, it is supposed to be applied to a blank slide. At first, I applied it to an image. It creates the error message.

Now, after that, I was attempting  to follow Lin's instructions to create my own Style where had the 3 images (see above screenshot of my post). When I was changing the 'Main object' numbers of the two background images, I got similar error messages. Perhaps, they were holdovers from incorrectly using Dave's demo style. I have tried to reproduce what I was doing to create that error message but I can not. But  it had to do with creating my Style. I have attached what I came up with. It needs a little tweaking but that is what I was trying to get. It all started because when I blurred a background image with a border, the border would get blurred too.

Gary

GOddi Inner Border with Blurred Bkgd-Portrait.ptestyle

[Igor]

Gary,

Thanks. I couldn't reproduce both problems. I will check again after my vacation (May 3nd).

[jt49]

I wonder why this topic is marked as "solved". The original problem has not been solved! We only seen workarounds. What we really need is a second version of the blur effect that blurs the image but preserves the edges (and borders). I often use the blur effect for images that just fill the screen. The blur effect makes the outer parts partially transparent, a rather bad effect in many cases. Please notice that I do not want to see any workarounds here!!!!!!!

[goddi]

2 minutes ago, jt49 said:

I wonder why this topic is marked as "solved". The original problem has not been solved! We only seen workarounds. What we really need is a second version of the blur effect that blurs the image but preserves the edges (and borders). I often use the blur effect for images that just fill the screen. The blur effect makes the outer parts partially transparent, a rather bad effect in many cases. Please notice that I do not want to see any workarounds here!!!!!!!

Greetings JT,

I, the original poster, marked it 'Solved'. I did this because I found a way around the problem I had. However, I agree with you that it would be a good thing to have the borders not become blurred or disappear when the image is blurred. I created a Style that served my purpose. But maybe Igor will look into it to solve this problem.

Gary