Applying Filters for Special Effects

Applying Filters for Special Effects

About plug-in filters

You can install plug-in filters developed by non-Adobe software developers. Once installed, the plug-in filters appear at the bottom of the Filter menu and work in the same way as built-in filters.

If you are interested in creating plug-in modules, contact Adobe Systems Developer Support. (See “Using plug-in modules” on page 58.)

Note: If you have problems or questions about a third-party plug-in, contact the plug-in’s manufacturer for support.

Using filters

To use a filter, choose the appropriate submenu command from the Filter menu. These guidelines can help you in choosing filters:

•The last filter chosen appears at the top of the menu.

•Filters are applied to the active, visible layer.

•Filters cannot be applied to Bitmap-mode or indexed-color images.

•Some filters only work on RGB images.

•Some filters are processed entirely in RAM.

•Gaussian Blur, Add Noise, Dust & Scratches, Median, Unsharp Mask, Solarize, and High Pass filters can be used with 16-bit-per-channel images, as well as 8-bit-per-channel images.

Previewing and applying filters

Applying filters—especially to large images—can be time-consuming. Some filters let you preview the effect before applying it.

To save time when trying various filters, experiment on a small, representative part of your image.

To preview and apply a filter:

1To apply a filter to an area of a layer, select that area. To apply a filter to the entire layer, leave the image unselected.

2Choose a filter from the submenus in the Filter menu. If a filter name is followed by ellipses (…), a dialog box appears.

3If a dialog box appears, enter values or select options.

4 If the dialog box contains a preview window, use the following methods to preview the effect:

•If the dialog box contains sliders, hold down Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS) while dragging a slider to see a real-time preview (real-time rendering) of the effect.

•Click in the image window to center a specific area of the image in the preview window.

Note: This does not work with all preview windows.

•Drag in the preview window to center a specific area of the image in the window.

•Use the + or – button under the preview window to zoom in or zoom out on the preview.

A flashing line beneath the preview size indicates that the preview is still being rendered.

5 If available, select the Preview option to preview the filter effect on the entire image.

A progress indicator in the status bar (Windows) or progress bar (Mac OS) lets you gauge the time remaining until the filter is applied.

Blending filter effects (Photoshop)

The Fade command changes the opacity and blending mode of any filter, painting tool, erasing tool, or color adjustment. The Fade command blending modes are a subset of those in the painting and editing tools options (excluding the Behind and Clear modes).

Applying the Fade command is similar to applying the filter effect on a separate layer and then using the layer opacity and blending mode controls. (See “Using adjustment layers and fill layers (Photoshop)” on page 311.)

Note: The Fade command can also modify the effects of using the Extract command, Liquefy command, and Brush Strokes filters.

To fade the effect of a filter, painting tool, or color adjustment:

1Apply a filter, painting tool, or color adjustment to an image or selection.

2With the affected area still selected, choose Edit > Fade.

3Select the Preview option to preview the effect.

4Drag the slider to adjust the opacity, from 0% (transparent) to 100%. (See “Specifying opacity, flow, strength, or exposure” on page 243.)

5For Mode, choose a blending mode. (See “Selecting a blending mode” on page 241.)

6Click OK.

Note: The Color Dodge, Color Burn, Lighten, Darken, Difference, and Exclusion modes do not work on Lab images.

Loading images and textures

To produce their effects, some filters load and use other images, such as textures and displacement maps. These filters include the Conté Crayon, Displace, Glass, Lighting Effects, Rough Pastels, Texture Fill, Texturizer, Underpainting, and Custom filters.

Not all of these filters load images or textures in the same way. (See “Using the Lighting Effects filter” on page 338.)