Choosing a filter effect

Choosing a filter effect

The built-in filters are grouped into 14 submenus In addition any third-party filters installed appear at the bottom of the Filter menu.

Artistic filters Achieve a painterly or special effect for a fine arts or commercial project. For example use the Cutout filter for collages or type treatment. These filters replicate natural or traditional media effects For more information about Artistic filters see Artistic filters on section 326 For more on the Rough Pastels and Underpainting filters see "Using texture and glass surface controls on section 323

Blur filters Soften a selection or an image Blur filters are useful for retouching. They smooth transitions by averaging the pixels next to the hard edges of defined lines and shaded areas in an image For more information about Blur filters see "Blur filters on section 327

Note: To apply a Blur filter to the edges of a layer be sure to deselect the Preser ve Trans- parency option in the Layers palette.

Brush Stroke filters Like the Artistic filters the Brush Stroke filters give a painterly or fine-arts look using different brush and ink stroke effects Some of the filters add grain, paint noise edge detail or texture to an image for a pointillist effect For more infor- mation about Brush Stroke filters see "Brush Stroke filters on section 328

Distort filters Geometrically distort an image creating 3D or other reshaping effects. Note that these filters can be very memory intensive For more information about Distort filters see "Distort filters on section 329 For more about the Displace filter see "Defining undistorted areas on section 323 For more on Glass filter controls see "Using texture and glass surface controls on section 323

Noise filters (Photoshop) Add or remove noise, or pixels with randomly distributed color levels. This helps to blend a selection into the surrounding pixels Noise filters can create unusual textures or remove problem areas such as dust and scratches from an image.

The Add Noise filter can be used to reduce banding in feathered selections or graduated fills or to give a more realistic look to heavily retouched areas For more information on Noise filters see "Noise filters (Photoshop) on section 330

Pixelate filters Sharply define a selection by clumping pixels of similar color values in cells For more information on Pixelate filters see "Pixelate filters on section 331

Render filters Create 3D shapes cloud patterns refraction patterns and simulated light reflections in an image. You can also manipulate objects in 3D space create 3D objects

(cubes spheres and cylinders) and create texture fills from grayscale files to produce

3D-like effects for lighting For more information on the Render filters see "Render filters" on section 332 For information on the 3D Transform filter see Transforming objects in three dimensions on section 186

When using the Clouds filter generate a more stark cloud pattern by holding down

Alt ( Windows) or Option (Mac OS) as you choose Filter> Render > Clouds.

Sharpen filters Focus blurry images by increasing the contrast of adjacent pixels. They include the Sharpen Edges (Photoshop) and Unsharp Mask filters which find and sharpen areas where significant color changes occur (such as the edges). The Unsharp Mask filter is commonly used for high-end color correction (See "Sharpening images on section 155.) For more information on the Sharpen filters see

Sketch filters Add texture to images often for a 3D effect. The filters also are useful for creating a fine-arts or hand-drawn look Many of the Sketch filters use the foreground and background color as they redraw the image For more information on Sketch filters see

"Sketch filters on section 333 For information on the Cont Crayon filter see "Using texture and glass surface controls on section 323

For a truer effect change the foreground color to one of the common Cont Crayon colors (black sepia sanguine) before applying the filter.

Stylize filters Produce a painted or impressionistic effect on a selection by displacing pixels and by finding and heightening contrast in an image After using filters such as Find Edges and Trace Contour (Photoshop) that highlight edges you can apply the Invert

command to outline the edges of a color image with colored lines or to outline the edges of a grayscale image with white lines (See "Using the Invert command on section 153

For more information on Stylize filters see "Stylize filters on section 334

Texture filters Give images the appearance of depth or substance or add an organic look (See "Using texture and glass surface controls on section 323.) For more information on Texture filters see "Texture filters on section 336

Video filters Include the NTSC (National Television Standards Committee) Color filter, which restricts the gamut of colors to those acceptable for television reproduction and the De-Interlace filter which smooths moving images captured on video For more infor- mation on Video filters see "Video filters on section 336

Other filters Let you create your own filters use filters to modify masks offset a selection within an image and make quick color adjustments For more information about Other filters see "Other filters on section 336 For more on the Offset filter see "Defining undis- torted areas on section 323

Digimarc filters Embed a digital watermark into an image to store copyright information. For more information about Digimarc filters see "Digimarc filters on section 337