Get the IMAGE YOU WANT [Electronic resources] : Essential Photoshop Editing Techniques نسخه متنی

Combining filter layers

You aren't alone if you've tried an artistic effectsuch as watercoloronly to give up because it just didn't produce convincing results. We happen to know from experience that a single filter effect can fall short of our expectations. And adding more effects on top of it just opens the door to chaos. We start throwing whatever we can think of at an image hoping for the best. It's a free-for-all and, while experimenting is great, it's also smart to know how we got there, how to repeat the combined effect, and how to change just the parts that bother usand accomplish all of this in an easy, organized, and speedy fashion.

Enter the Filter Gallery with effect layers. If you haven't tried this feature yet, you're missing out on an elegant work process that will open up new ways for you to create captivating illustrations.

Mix and match with filter layers

Working with filter layers isn't difficult. To get started:

Open the file you wish to work with.

Duplicate the Background layer to preserve the original by dragging it onto the Create A New Layer button in the Layers palette.

Choose Filter Filter Gallery to access the Filter Gallery.

NoteSome filters require a lot of processing power, so if you find that you're waiting more than a few seconds to see the results of your filter in the preview pane, here's a workaround that will save time and aggravation. Make a small selection on a representative portion of the image before you access the Filter Gallery. Now, as you view the filter results, Photoshop modifies a smaller section and, consequently, does it more quickly. Take note of your settings and then click Cancel. Now, remove the selection marquee and re-create your filters and settings to apply the effect to the entire image.

Make a Cutout filter and apply it once

Select Cutout in the Artistic folder in the center list of filters.

Set the Number Of Levels slider to 5, the Edge Simplicity slider to 5, and the Edge Fidelity slider to 3.

Make sure that the Cutout filter is listed in the layers section and its Eye icon is turned on. These values give the appearance of individual pieces of paper pasted into a montage.

Click the New Effect Layer button at the bottom of the palette to keep this choice. Photoshop copies this effect in the filter layers list, making it visible, but keeps the first layer entrywhich is still Cutouthighlighted and visible. So, until you turn off the Eye icon, you're looking at the filter applied twice.

Click on the Eye icon (turning it off) in the top filter entry to preview the effect of one application of the Cutout filter, as shown in Figure A.

Figure A.

[View full size image]

Add a Texturizer filter on top of Cutout

A texture would work nicely in our example image. To add one:

Choose the Texturizer filter (in the Texture folder).

Select a texture from the first dropdown list in the Texture panel on the right side. We chose the Sandstone texture.

Set the Scaling slider to 110 and the Relief slider to 5. This is a good place to start, but your image may require custom settings to optimize the effect.

Click once on the arrow button next to the panel that displays the thumbnail filter samples if you're running out of room on your monitor, or if you simply want to preview a larger portion of the image that's being filtered. Although the samples disappear, you can still access the filters in the dropdown list in the right panel, as shown in Figure B. Notice the Texturizer effect above the Cutout effect.

Figure B.

[View full size image]

Click the New Effect Layer button once to add this filter to the group.

Click on the Eye icon in the top entry of the layer list to hide it.

Create a Diffuse Glow filter for variety

Let's experiment with one more filter. This time, do this:

Select Diffuse Glow from the Distort folder.

Set the Graininess slider to 3, the Glow Amount slider to 6, and the Clear Amount slider to 16.

Click on the Eye icon to make it visible. The results for our example are shown in Figure C1.

Figure C1.

Note

The background color in the Toolbox affects the color of the Diffuse Glow filter. Check to be sure that the color swatches in the Toolbox are set to their defaults: black as the foreground color and white as the background color, unless you want the diffuse glow to take on a particular color cast, as shown in Figure C2.

Figure C2.

Try before you commit

Let's assume that the three filters together are more than this image needs.

Turn off the Eye icon next to Cutout in the layers list to see the effect of just two filters: Diffuse Glow and Texturizer. You'll see a subtle texture effect through the topmost Diffuse Glow filter. However, in our example image, it almost disappears where the glow is strongest, namely in the center portions of the snow clumps.

Drag the Texturizer layer above Diffuse Glow and notice that the texture becomes more pronounced and more evenly distributed.

This is the advantage of filter layers. Before you commit, you can do the following:

See the effect of more than one filter at one time.

Experiment with both the stacking order and the combination of filters.

Eliminate filters that don't work.

Fine-tune each individual filter until it suits your needs.

In our example, we think Diffuse Glow above Texturizer makes a charming photo illustration for note cards. And Texturizer above Cutout makes an equally interesting rendition of this wintry scene, again for note cards or for the title image for a presentation of photographs, or even a framed print from a vacation visit to the Rocky Mountain foothills.

Save your Filter Gallery settings

Can you save Filter Gallery settings? Yes and no. Photoshop saves your last combination of filters with the values and stacking order in place. So, when you open Filter Gallery in another session, your previous settings are there waiting for you. Which brings up an important suggestion: If, in your exploration of filter combinations, you find a routine that you'd like to keep for future use, you should make an action of the filters and settings and save it. (Of course, you can also take notes on the filter sequence and values and repeat the process manually, if you prefer.)

Filter Gallery remembers the last settings

As you're working with filters in the Filter Gallery, you can either choose to keep all of the filters you've added to the layer list, trash the ones you don't want, or press the [Alt] key ([option] key on the Mac), which causes the Cancel button to change to Reset. Click Reset and the layer list reverts to the state it was in when you launched Photoshop.

In Windows, pressing the [Ctrl] key changes the Cancel button to Default, which, when you click it, returns the layer list to its default condition where no filter folders are listed in the layers list. On the Mac, Photoshop apparently always retains one filter folder in its layer list, which you can't discard. To deactivate it, simply click on its Eye icon to turn it off.

NoteYou can adjust your filtering with an additional function: the Fade Filter under the Edit menu. As soon as you commit to a filter effect or, in our example, a combination of effects from the Filter Gallery, you can modify the degree of effect and/or apply any one of 23 blending modes by choosing Edit Fade Filter Gallery.

Filter layers plus one

Before we finish up, let's try one more modification routine with which you can experiment to your heart's content. We'll use the Filter Gallery layers plus an extra layer that we can't access in the Filter Gallery dialog box.

Open the file you wish to work with. We chose the image shown in Figure D1 for our example.

Figure D1.

Preserve your original by copying the Background image. Drag the Background layer onto the Create A New Layer button at the bottom of the Layers palette.

Open the Filter Gallery with the Background Copy layer active, and choose the Watercolor filter from the Artistic folder.

Set the Brush Detail slider to 3, the Shadow Intensity slider to 0, and the Texture slider to 1. This gives your image a painterly look.

Click the New Effect Layer button at the bottom of the palette to set that filter.

Next, we'll add a canvas texture to simulate the stretched cloth that painters often use for their work.

Choose Texturizer from the dropdown list of filters at the top of the right panel.

Set the Texture dropdown list to Canvas, the Scaling slider to 143, and the Relief slider to 12.

Observe the results, as shown in Figure D2. If you flip the order of the filters by placing Texturizer below Watercolor, the Texturizer filter takes over the image, so we'll keep Texturizer above Watercolor.

Figure D2.

Click the New Effect Layer button to set the Texturizer effect.

Click off the Eye icon of one of the Texturizer entries or delete it by dragging one Texturizer layer to the Delete Effect Layer button at the bottom of the palette.

Click OK in the Filter Gallery dialog box.

Adjust levels to compensate for filter effects

Using the filters, particularly Texturizer, has darkened our image, so we'll compensate by adjusting the Levels.

Choose Image Adjustments Levels, and move the midtone and highlight sliders so their values are 215 and 0.90, respectively. The black point should remain at 0.

Click OK.

Finally, we can enhance the painterly quality of this image by suggesting paint thickness: a quality of oil painting where the thickness of the paint strokes creates highlights and shadows on the canvas surface. Since we can't easily accomplish this in the Filter Gallery, we'll make a separate layer in the Layers palette.

Add a separate layer for more realism

Drag the Background layer in the Layers palette onto the Create A New Layer button.

Press [Ctrl][Right Bracket] [right bracket] on the Mac) with that layer active to move the new layer to the top of the layer stack.

Press [Ctrl][Shift]U [shift]U on the Mac) to remove all color from this layer. Alternatively, you can choose Image Adjustments Desaturate. Choose Filter Stylize Emboss.

Set the Angle text box to 135, the Height text box to 5, and the Amount text box to 500.

Click OK.

Change the blending mode for this layer to Overlay and the Fill value to 65% in the Layers palette. This final filter gives the illusion of brush strokes in addition to the texture of the canvas and the simplified rendering of the feathers and beak, as shown in Figure E.

Figure E.

Use filter layers for creative freedom

Photoshop's Filter Gallery feature offers a method of control that means easier experimentation and faster results. Prior to Photoshop CS, you were forced to use labor-intensive and time-consuming methods of combining filter effects. But, as you can see from our simple examples, both trials and results come much more easily and in a fraction of the time. The next time you're looking for that one-of-a-kind artistic treatment for your image, remember how the layers feature in the Filter Gallery can give you the creative advantage you want.