Why

Posting images of protests on social media is an effective way to raise awareness, not only of the protests but examples of police brutality as well. However, protestors have been identified by their appearances in pictures and have been subsequently attacked or killed by opposition. Blurring not only faces but also clothing and tattoos of protestors in your pictures is one way to spread awareness while protecting those in the photos.

How

I’m going to be listing ways to blur images and videos that either use built-in tools or apps that do not require internet connection. Blurring apps that require internet could be saving the photos that you’re blurring. It’s also important to remember that you should be blurring enough that facial features are not recognizable. Many standard blurring apps do not blur strongly enough for this.

Cross-Platform

I know I said no internet, but if you’re in a bind and need to use the internet to blur your photos, use LunaPic. The face blur works perfectly, and there’s no evidence I’ve seen that the site uses any user data or saves images. Still proceed with caution though.

iOS

This app works pretty well, just click “Adjustment” in the bottom right corner and turn the middle setting (blur strength) to the maximum

Android

This app was recommended by a friend of mine. Please let me know if you have issues with it and I’ll look for another.

Windows

  • In MS paint, open your image
  • Select the faces, clothes, and tattoos of the protestor you’d like to blur
  • Copy them
  • Open a new window of Paint, paste the selection into the window
  • Click Resize, and resize the image by 1% and maintain the aspect ratio.
  • Resize the selection again, but this time to 10,000%
  • This should pixelize the image sufficiently. Copy the selection and paste it back on top of the original image.

Mac

  • Open your image in Preview
  • Select the faces, clothes, and tattoos of the protestor you’d like to blur
  • Copy them
  • Open a new Preview window, paste the selection into the window
  • Click Tools > Adjust Size
  • Resize to 1% and save as a new file
  • Close and reopen the new file
  • Resize to 100%, copy and paste back onto the original image.