Jernej LeticaPhotography Tools & Stories
Edit Photos

Blur Faces in a Photo

Drag over each face in your photo, blur it, and save a copy in which the covered parts keep no detail. You mark every area yourself.

Built and written by Jernej Letica

Local browser processing No image upload No account required Blur saved into the pixels

How to blur faces in a photo

You mark every face yourself. The page does not look for faces, so check each area before you save.

  1. Choose a photo. It opens in the editor, one photo at a time, with Blur and Ellipse already chosen.
  2. Drag over a face with a mouse or a finger. Draw the oval a little larger than the face, to take in the hair and the chin.
  3. Drag over the next face to add a second area. Move an area by dragging inside it, and resize it from its blue corner.
  4. Press Undo last area to take back the area you drew last, or select an earlier one and press Remove selected area. When every face is covered, press Download blurred photo.

What a drawn area does to the pixels

A blurred face is not a face with a filter laid over it. The area is first averaged into square cells, so detail finer than a cell is gone from the saved pixels. Strength sets the cell size, from 3 % of the area's shorter side at the lowest setting to 27 % at the highest. Pixels outside the oval or rectangle are never written, so the rest of the photo keeps its values.

On this page the areas are drawn by hand only. A detector can miss a face in profile or in a crowd, and a face left visible in a published photo is the mistake this page is meant to prevent.

Ovals, rectangles and overlaps

An oval follows the outline of a face and takes in less background than a rectangle, so it is the default here. A rectangle suits a number plate or a sign, and you can switch the shape for any area. Areas may overlap. The effects are applied in the order you drew them, so the newest area is applied last.

Touch, mouse and saving the copy

On a phone, drag with one finger. The photo does not scroll while you draw on it, and the blue corner of a selected area answers a touch within 22 screen pixels, so a fingertip can reach it. A tap outside every area only clears the selection; an area needs a drag of at least 10 screen pixels.

The download applies the areas to the full-size pixels, not to the preview. A JPEG keeps its other blocks as they were, and only the blocks under the areas are written again. A PNG or another format is saved whole through the shared encoder.

Checks before you share the copy

  • Cover a little more than the face. Include the hair and the ears where they show, so no edge of the face stays sharp.
  • Strength works on the size of the area, so a small face needs the same setting as a large one. Raise it for a face with fine detail.
  • Look at the saved copy before you share it. A blur hides a face, but not a name badge, a reflection or a number plate next to it.
  • Undo removes the last area only. Use Remove selected area for one you placed earlier.

Privacy

Your photo never leaves your device. The blur, the saving and the download all happen in your browser, and the copy you save carries none of the camera data or embedded preview of the original.

Frequently asked questions

Does the page find faces for me?

No. On this page you draw every area yourself, and the photo is not searched for faces. A face you do not cover stays visible, so look at the saved copy before you share it.

Can the blur be undone once I have saved the copy?

No. The saved copy holds the averaged cells, and no sharpening can bring back detail that is finer than a cell. Keep the original file if you may need the face later.

How many faces can I cover in one photo?

There is no fixed limit. Each drag adds one area, and the counter under the controls shows how many there are. Undo takes back the last one, and Remove selected area takes back the one you picked.

Can I pixelate a face instead of blurring it?

Yes. Under Effect, choose Pixelate before you draw, or change the effect of a selected area. The area then shows square blocks instead of a soft blur, and the saved copy holds no more detail than the blocks.

Does the blur work on a phone?

Yes. Drag over the photo with one finger, and move or resize an area by touch. The page is laid out for a phone screen, and the drawing area does not scroll while you draw, so each area lands where your finger goes.

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