Get the Image You Want: Essential Photoshop Editing Techniques

Combining filter layers

You aren't alone if you've tried an artistic effect—such as watercolor—only 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 us—and 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 ...