Surf's up! Time for some RGB action! As this is the first Kai Power Tools tutorial, we are going to cover some basic principles. Every version of KaiPT comes with its very own options so we are going to discuss Version 7 in all our tutorials.

Afraid of the waves?

Well, fear not. Channel surfing is as easy as deoxyribonucleic. Think of it as a Saturation alteration. Ok, to clear things up: Channel Surfing is a preset that can be found in the KPT Filters library. It modifies the Hue, Saturation and Luminance channels of an image [as well as Red, Green and Blue]. Aside from these options it can also add effects such as blur and screen. These terms are the subject of another tutorial. What you need to know right now is that blur is going to be discussed in this tutorial.

Step I - The base image
As a base image, I've decided upon a heart made of sponge [Sponge Bob's heart]. It is black and white as the blur is more artistic this way. Sure, you can use color photos as well but bear in mind that regardless of colour or no colour, the blur preset darkens the image.

Step II - Applying the blur

First thing's first. Go to the Filter tab and select the KPT Effects>Channel Surfing filter. Once inside the plug-in menu, select the Blur effect. The To channel and Attenuate with menus should be left at their default settings. Also, make sure thatthe blend mode is on Multiply - this assures that the resulting image is dark.
Roughly 50% on the Blur slider should suffice. If you want a nice soft focus effect, you can increase the amount even further.

The result

The final image will look darker than the original one. Note that in order to create a "soft focus" effect, you need to have a clear white background and a b/w composition. When applied to colour photos, the blur will sharpen the colours which will lead to a HDR-ish look [HDR stands for High Dynamic Range].

See Also:

• Hue Tutorial
• Saturation Tutorial