How to use LibreOffice to blur and save a PNG?

I have a PNG image. I need to edit the image to blur out some portions that I don't want other people to see, and then save that modified PNG image.

Is this something that LibreOffice can do? I tried running Draw and then opening the PNG. I believe the "Smooth" operation is what I need. I can see this in the "Filter" dropdown when I click on the image, but I'm not sure what to do with that.

I'm guessing if I can figure out how to properly modify the image, I would use the "Save Image ..." menu item in the context menu to save the modified PNG. Is this correct?

Hi David,

KARR, DAVID schrieb:

I have a PNG image. I need to edit the image to blur out some
portions that I don't want other people to see, and then save that
modified PNG image.

Is this something that LibreOffice can do?

LibreOffice has only some rudimentary things you can do, for example crop an image, or combine an image with text. It has some filters, but they work all on the whole image. LibreOffice is not designed for editing raster graphics, Draw is a tool for editing vector graphics. So no, LibreOffice is the wrong tool. You can try The Gimp instead.

Kind regards
Regina

The good thing about GIMP, if you cannot find the needed function/filter/plug-in built in the install, there is a large plug-in "database" site.

​David, here the URL of the​

​GIMP webpage which explains how to use the blur​/sharpen tool :
http://docs.gimp.org/en/gimp-tool-convolve.html

Good luck !

Henri

Henri - - - Did you decide to send a reply both to myself and the list? That is what you did.

One of these days I will read the GIMP docs. I have been using it as a primary image tool [not vector] for 5 or more years of Ubuntu or Mint Linux, with Paint Shop Pro as my default for Windows on my systems. I also add GIMP to my Window system.

As for Charles post - - - YES, you have to be careful about where you look for and download the freeware and open source software. You never know what may be added to the downloads. I always go to the "official" site to download most of these packages I want. To be honest, I have a web page list, which I have not kept up-to-day, where I store links to the more common sites I tend to go to. That way I do not have to remember the "exact" titles of the software I want to download and not need to Google then to find where to download them. Actually, That whole domain web pages needs to be worked on. So, here it the link to my list. When I have time I will update it.
http://lungstrom.com/list/

2015-07-11 1:43 GMT+02:00 Tim---Kracked_P_P---webmaster <
webmaster@krackedpress.com>:

​<...>​

​David, here the URL of the​

​GIMP webpage which explains how to use the blur​/sharpen tool :
http://docs.gimp.org/en/gimp-tool-convolve.html

Good luck !

Henri

Henri - - - Did you decide to send a reply both to myself and the list?
That is what you did.

One of these days I will read the GIMP docs. I have been using it as a
primary image tool [not vector] for 5 or more years of Ubuntu or Mint
Linux, with Paint Shop Pro as my default for Windows on my systems. I also
add GIMP to my Window system.

As for Charles post - - - YES, you have to be careful about where you look
for and download the freeware and open source software. You never know what
may be added to the downloads. I always go to the "official" site to
download most of these packages I want. To be honest, I have a web page
list, which I have not kept up-to-day, where I store links to the more
common sites I tend to go to. That way I do not have to remember the
"exact" titles of the software I want to download and not need to Google
then to find where to download them. Actually, That whole domain web pages
needs to be worked on. So, here it the link to my list. When I have time
I will update it.
http://lungstrom.com/list/

​Yep, that was my intention, as also in the case of the present reply. I
hope that by doing so I do not inadvertently offend....

Henri

Hi :slight_smile:
Gimp is probably waaay more than is needed for such a simple task - it's
comparable to Photoshop but with a MUCH friendlier price-tag but still
relatively heavy compared to simpler tools. There are numerous much
simpler, free and safe alternatives. Some of which are on-line, "Cloud"
apps and work on any platform (Windows, Gnu&Linux, Mac or BSD), others are
installable on many platforms but many are restricted to one or other
platform. Sadly we don't know which platform you are using so it's
difficult to make specific recommendations - which leads us to guess you
are probably on one version of Windows or another. Just being "free" is a
worry without having the quality assurance of being "Open Source" (such as
using a license like GPL, LGPL, MPL).

However what you are trying to do is very simple in Gimp and the task would
help you over-come the initial hurdle of using Gimp, which is the
bewilderingly vast amount of buttons and menus - all of which you can
ignore for your task.

Initially my favourite way was to use a paint-brush, pencil, spray-gun or
smudge tool. Then i found that if i click at the beginning of the 'word'
and then let go and move the mouse arrow to the end of the 'word' and do a
keyboard-Shift and click then it makes a very neat straight-line.

Then i found how to change from black ink to a gentler colour (or gray) or
to increase the smudge level rather than just smudging many times, then i
found other filters and more interesting ways of doing it. Eventually i
settled on doing it "the easy way", for me. :slight_smile:

So, i heartily recommend Gimp as others have done, despite it initially
looking a bit daunting and taking a long time to start-up. There may well
be better or more appropriate tools but Gimp allows you to do so much that
it's well worth using for fairly simple things like this to gain
familiarity.

Henri i don't think you caused offence. There was an unfortunate post by
someone else that looked a bit hot&bothered but open source "customer
support" often seems to have one or two people who seem to think it's
clever to be rude, or maybe are incapable of being anything else.

Obviously "image editing" is not this mailing list's primary area of
knowledge so it might be better to take our advice on this "with a pinch of
salt".

Draw really seems to be designed to do "vector graphics" or/and fairly
simple diagrams - it can be pushed a LOT further but in Open Source it's
often fairly easy to find a specialist tool for doing the work and then use
the results in other programs. Unlike tools made for or by Microsoft the
various Open Source programs usually achieve compatibility between each
other. So, i edit with Gimp and then drag the Png, Jpg or Gif (or
whatever) into Draw or Writer or whatever if i need them in a document.

Regards from
Tom :slight_smile: