What is the modern way to blur an image with PHP?

Question

I want to blur images dynamically, but it has to be a very strong blur, so it can only be assumed what the real image is.

I read this question where imagefilter is used. But this solution didn't blur my image enough.

1. Somewhere I also read that it's too old and not modern anymore to use Imagick. Is this true? What is the best method in the modern standards of 2016/2017 or is even a good php class out there?

2. If I'm using Imagick like in this example on PHP.net do I have to include a file with this image header to display one or more images on a webpage or is there a way to use Imagick without setting an image header?

Answer 1

Try this...

for ($x=1; $x<=15; $x++)
{
    imagefilter($image, IMG_FILTER_GAUSSIAN_BLUR);
}