Tips for creating special effects

Tips for creating special effects

Try the following techniques to create special effects with filters.

Create edge effects You can use various techniques to treat the edges of an effect applied to only part of an image. To leave a distinct edge simply apply the filter For a soft edge feather the edge and then apply the filter For a transparent effect apply the filter, and then use the Fade command to adjust the selection s blending mode and opacity.

(See "Blending filter effects (Photoshop) on section 322

Apply filters to layers You can apply filters to individual layers or to several layers in succession to build up an effect For a filter to affect a layer the layer must be visible and must contain pixels-for example a neutral fill color (See "Filling new layers with a neutral color on section 296

Apply filters to individual channels You can apply a filter to an individual channel, apply a different effect to each color channel or apply the same filter but with different settings.

Create backgrounds By applying effects to solid-color or grayscale shapes you can generate a variety of backgrounds and textures. You might then blur these textures. Although some filters have little or no visible effect when applied to solid colors (for example Glass) others produce interesting effects. You might try Add Noise Chalk & Charcoal Clouds Cont Crayon Craquelure Difference Clouds Glass Grain Graphic Pen, Halftone Pattern Mezzotint Mosaic Tiles Note Paper Patchwork Pointillize Reticulation, Rough Pastels Sponge Stained Glass, Texture Fill, Texturizer and Underpainting.

Combine multiple effects with masks or with duplicate images Using masks to create selection areas gives you more control over transitions from one effect to another For example you can filter the selection created with a mask.

You can also use the history brush tool to paint a filter effect onto part of the image.

First apply the filter to an entire image Next step back in the History palette to the image state before the filter was applied and set the history brush source to the filtered state. Then paint the image (See "Reverting to a previous version of an image on section 38.) Improve image quality and consistency You can disguise faults alter or enhance or make a series of images look related by applying the same effect to each Use the Actions palette to record the process of modifying one image and then use this action on the other images (See "Using the Actions palette on section 484