Broken Blur Tool?

I've just started using Photoshop, having been advised of its superiority over Paint Shop Pro, and so far I've been very pleased with the results. I've noticed, though, that no matter what I do, the Blur tool doesn't seem to work properly, and it's preventing me from getting the effects that I need. Everything else is fine, including the variants (Smudge and Sharpen) on Blur, but when I use this particular tool, nothing whatsoever happens. There's probably a very silly thing I'm missing, but it's driving me mad, so if anyone has any suggestions, please, please let me know.

Thanks in advance!

hmm works fine for me?
You have selected the right layer?
You can always choose a spot and then take filters-> blur...

What are you trying to do? Be specific, and outline the steps.

What results are you expecting, but aren't getting?

Even on a simple background layer, two adjacent colours remain stubbornly separate- the lines of gradation don't change at all. I can change the pressure as much as I like, and no matter how often I go over the "line", it doesn't change in the slightest. I'm working on converting a black and white sketch into colour, and I'm used to PSP, where blurring worked beautifully and effectively. After selecting the blur tool, and having the appropriate layer selected for use, I pick the pressure I want to use with the tool and set about trying to smooth the edges between fields of colour, but I'm not getting any indication that it's working.

I'm sorry - where exactly are you picking the pressure? Do you mean the opacity? Could you post a link to a screenshot of the settings? maybe there's some weird blending mode that's preventing it from appearing as it should...

Here's a link to a screen capture of the work in question- I'd also like to note that the blur options in Filter didn't seem to have an effect, either. :(


http://www.geocities.com/minh_sheolan/Liana-Screenshot.jpg

It looks like you need to grasp the finesse of layers a little more. At the moment it looks like (although your layers palette is not clear) you have those cheek gradients on the the sketch layer. You always want to work on a duplicate of the picture and not on the base layer itself, but even so, that's not what's needed here, you need to keep adjustments and corrections on their own seperate layer.

If the work you are trying to do is on the background or base layer, make a selection of the area you want to blur and feather it a considerable amount. Then gaussian blur to required amount. If on same layer and not different then follow above but no need to make a selection.

Actually, I'm working on an airbrush layer, 65% opacity overlaying a duplicate of my background. (So I can see the original shading from the sketch and use it as a guide, without screwing up the background/underlying layer.) I've got a channel for just the skin, which I'm working on currently, but regardless of which layer I work on (in either this image or a different one- I tried just colour scribbles on a blank image), I haven't found anything that works.

By the way- I hope that last post didn't sound rude. I'm admittedly pretty new to this, so I'm following a tutorial for this particular image. As a bit of history, though, I've not been able to get blurring to work with this program since I started using it- I've just been able to sort of "fake" blending with airbrushing, smudging, etc. It's pretty frustrating, but the problem is finally refusing to be ignored. The program is my fiance's, on his PC, so I'm not sure if it's something that isn't set properly or if I'm just amazingly clueless. I appreciate all the help you guys are giving, though!

Don't worry, you weren't rude at all.

Anyway, what I suggest is to zoom in really close to see the border between the two colors, and then try blurring it iwth your blur tool. If you see the definition getting the slightest bit blurrier, then your blur tool is fine and you probably have to make either the size of the brush bigger or the pressure more. If that doesnt work just try selecting the area you want blurred and going filter>blur>gaussian blur and toy with that.