Feathering objects

Sometimes you want to blur the edges of an object so it blends into a background object. An example is merging two bitmaps together and wanting to avoid a sharp edge between them. To achieve this you can use feathering.

Note that feathering affects only the object's edge and no other part of the object (see Notes).

To feather an object

1. Select the object you want to feather - see Selecting objects.

2. Use the size slider on the Feather Control Bar to produce the feathering effect you require - see Changing the feathering size.

You can also change the feathering profile. Normally a linear transition across the feather produces the best effect but you may want more change at either the inner or outer edge of the feather. See Changing the feathering profile.

Notes:

On an 800x600 display the feathering profile button may be off the edge of the display. You may need to move the feathering control bar - see Moving control bars.

If you have multiple objects selected, the feather appears around each object. If you group the objects, the feather appears around the outside of the group.

Objects with bevels or contours:

Selecting only the object adds the feather to the outside of the object, not to the bevel/contour.

Selecting only the bevel/contour adds the feather to both the inside and outside of the bevel/contour.

Selecting the object and bevel/contour adds the feather to the outside of the object and the inside and outside of the bevel/contour.

If you want to feather only the outside of the bevel/contour, group the object and bevel/contour before adding the feather.

Example:

In the example below, the flower and landscape are separate bitmaps. The left-hand flower has been feathered. Notice how much smoother the edges are, especially in the sky area.

Feathering the flower

All bitmaps have a rectangular shape even if some areas are transparent. Feathering therefore blurs the edge of this rectangle, which is not the effect you want. To feather the outline of the flower:

1. Draw around the outline of the flower.

2. Select both the flower and the drawn shape.

3. Choose Combine shapes on the Arrange menu. This opens the Combine shapes menu.

4. Chose Intersect shapes on that menu. This creates a shape which has the outline of the flower and uses the flower bitmap as a fill.

5. Feather the edge of this new shape.

Movies

Using feathering

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