Blur Cinnamon

A Cinnamon extension to Dim, Blur and Colorize parts of the Cinnamon Desktop.

Features

1. Gaussian blur algorithm (borrowed from the Gnome extension Blur-my-Shell) with a user configurable intensity
2. Dimming overlay with user configurable color and intensity (0-100%, transparent to a solid color)
3. Simple blur algorithm (the Cinnamon built-in algorithm) which I would only recommend for very old computers
4. Makes the Panels and the Expo transparent so that the desktop background image effects are visible
5. Applies blurring, colorization and dimming effects to all Panels, the Overview and the Expo
6. You can use general settings for Panels/Overview/Expo or use unique settings for each Cinnamon component

Requirements

This extension requires Cinnamon 6.0 or better (i.e Mint 21.3 or better).

If you have installed any of the following Cinnamon extensions, you should disable them before enabling Blur Cinnamon:

• Transparent panels
• Transparent panels reloaded
• Blur Overview

Using any of the above with Blur Cinnamon may have some odd side effects that would require a Cinnamon restart to resolve.

Limitations

1. Currently, any windows that are moved such that they overlap with a panel will not be visible beneath the panel as you might expect with a transparent panel. This is because the blur effect is applied to a user interface element that floats above all windows just like the panel floats above the windows. At some point I hope to look into allowing the blur element to appear below all windows rather than above and make the a optional behavior setting.
2. If you disable effects for the Overview, Expo or Panels under the General tab of the setting dialog while any "Override the generic effect settings" options are enabled under the other tabs, the components "effect setting" options under the other tabs will still be visible, but changing those setting will have no effect until you re-enable the component under the General tab. Ideally those effect setting would only be visible when the component is enabled under the general tab but Cinnamon setting support is a bit limited in this way.

Installation

• Right click on the cinnamon panel and click "System Settings"
• Click on the "Extensions" icon under the "Preferences" category
• Click the "Download" tab and then click the "Blur Cinnamon" entry
• Click the "Install" button on the right and then return to the "Manage" tab
• Select the new "Blur Cinnamon" entry and then click the "+" button at the bottom of the window
• Use the "gears" icon next to the "Blur Cinnamon" entry to open the setting window and setup the preferred behavior

Feedback

Please leave a comment here on cinnamon-spices.linuxmint.com or you can create an issue on my Github to give me feedback, make a suggestion or to report any issues you find.

If you like this Cinnamon extension, please give it a "star" here any maybe on my Github repository as well to encourage me to continue working on the project. Thanks!

Credits

Some code was borrowed from the BlurOverview Extension by nailfarmer.

The Gaussian effect code was borrowed from the Gnome Blur my shell extension by Aurélien Hamy.

The Blur Cinnamon icon was generated by Google Gemini