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[denja]

I recently reviewed a tutorial that used a duplicate layer with a Gaussian blur. The blend mode was than set at 5% opacity. The result was a subtle change in contrast while minimally reducing sharpness. It was a really nice tool on some images. Unfortunately I must be missing a step, as my images are not reflecting the change that I noticed before. I cannot locate the tutorial. If anyone could point me to it, I would appreciate it.

[Nicole]

It wasn't in this thread was it?

I haven't come across anything else similar unfortunately

[Free]

5% seems a bit small, try 20-30%

Also if your using it on people add a layer mask and use a soft edged brush to mask the blur from around the eyes.

[morts]

The blend mode was likely set to Soft Light/Overlay at about 30% opacity.
The blur is most often Median not Gaussian Blur (noise > median).
To counteract the drop in brightness and increase in contrast you can add a copy of the blurred layer over the top of everything set to Screen blending mode.