How To Feather Shape Edges

Talk about Pixelmator Pro, share tips & tricks, tutorials, and other resources.
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2018-12-01 20:44:36

Is there a way to feather the edge of a shape, filled with color, so that the edges simply fade out to the background?
I can see a control for adjusting an inner shadow but that does create the effect I'm looking for.
Any help would be much appreciated.
Thanks
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2018-12-03 10:59:25

As ever, there are a few different ways, depending on the kind of results you're looking for. By feather, I'm guessing you mean blur, so if you want to blur the edges of a shape, you can use a Gaussian or even Focus blur. Once you add your shape, choose Format > Effects > Blur > Gaussian (or Focus, or any other blur) and adjust the settings to get the effect you're looking for. If you're looking for a different effect, I'd love it if you could share some examples with me and I'll try and work out a way to achieve them in Pixelmator Pro.
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2018-12-04 18:00:21

Thanks for your response. I understand for shapes.

How would I feather the edge of an image so that the edge fades to transparent?
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2018-12-05 11:11:31

I'd suggest using the Refine Selection tool along with a few other tools and commands. Here's how:

1. Click to select the layer you'd like to feather.
2. Choose Edit > Load Selection (or press Option-Command-L).
3. Choose Tools > Select > Refine Selection (or press Option-Command-R).
4. Move the Edge Softness slider to around 60% and Expand slider to -25%, for example.
5. Click Apply.
6. Choose Edit > Invert Selection (press Shift-Command-I).
7. Press the Backspace key (or choose Edit > Delete).

Hope that helps!
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2019-12-21 02:54:27

It would be great if Pixelmator Pro could come up with a way to find edges, just like in Photoshop: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ciJrI-7A2RY
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2019-12-27 11:20:19

The original Pixelmator had a few effects a little similar to this — maybe we could add something like it to Pixelmator Pro as well. The main issue is that these are tricky to do nondestructively, but it might also make sense to let people add certain effects destructively too.
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2020-03-05 17:09:06

by Andrius 2019-12-27 17:20:19 The original Pixelmator had a few effects a little similar to this — maybe we could add something like it to Pixelmator Pro as well. The main issue is that these are tricky to do nondestructively, but it might also make sense to let people add certain effects destructively too.
What about a tool like lighten/darken but with transparency? Would it be possible?
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2020-03-06 15:14:52

by Diego
What about a tool like lighten/darken but with transparency? Would it be possible?
Wouldn't that simply be an eraser with reduced opacity and increased edge softness?
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2021-12-28 23:58:49

by Andrius 2018-12-05 19:11:31 I'd suggest using the Refine Selection tool along with a few other tools and commands. Here's how:

1. Click to select the layer you'd like to feather.
2. Choose Edit > Load Selection (or press Option-Command-L).
3. Choose Tools > Select > Refine Selection (or press Option-Command-R).
4. Move the Edge Softness slider to around 60% and Expand slider to -25%, for example.
5. Click Apply.
6. Choose Edit > Invert Selection (press Shift-Command-I).
7. Press the Backspace key (or choose Edit > Delete).

Hope that helps!
Is this still the best way to do this in Pixelmator Pro? Wouldn't a "Feather" effect be enough? I was trying to do this and this way seems like a workaround, it's counter intuitive and is not super easy to see the results of it. Maybe I'm using Pixelmator Pro incorrectly?
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2022-01-05 09:04:46

by Undertaker01 2021-12-28 21:58:49
Is this still the best way to do this in Pixelmator Pro? Wouldn't a "Feather" effect be enough? I was trying to do this and this way seems like a workaround, it's counter intuitive and is not super easy to see the results of it. Maybe I'm using Pixelmator Pro incorrectly?
Since we've added the Select and Mask feature with the Output option, you can now easily drop a couple of steps from Andrius's proposed method:

1. Click to select the layer you'd like to feather.
2. Choose Edit > Load Selection (or press Option-Command-L).
3. Choose Edit > Select and Mask (or press Option-Command-R).
4. Adjust the Softness and Expand sliders.
5. Choose "Layer" under Output and click Apply.
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2022-02-26 21:37:30

Image

This was very easy for me to do before - after one of the updates the feature changed and cannot for the life of me figure out how to do it now.

UPDATE: I figured it out --- it took me about a hundred tries - but finally got it.
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2022-02-28 08:45:46

by KathyD 2022-02-26 19:37:30 <p><img src="//support-cdn.pixelmator.com/uploads-new/cuf_1645911399_just_a_sample.jpg" class="postimage is-shown is-visible" alt="Image" width="1425" height="1275"></p>

This was very easy for me to do before - after one of the updates the feature changed and cannot for the life of me figure out how to do it now.

UPDATE: I figured it out --- it took me about a hundred tries - but finally got it.

Hey KathyD, glad to hear you worked it out. Looks great!