Photoshop® CS5 Bible

Chapter 20. Applying Filters

IN THIS CHAPTER

• Artistic filters

• The Filter Gallery

• Smart Filters

• Custom filters

Most of the filters in Photoshop are just for fun. They don't correct lighting or color, take out unwanted elements, or even change your photo into a black and white image—all fixes that are common to a photo correction workflow. Instead, they add fun, artistic elements to your photo, making it look like a watercolor painting, a stained-glass window, or an image embossed into metal.

Many of these filters are added to an image using the Filter Gallery, a tool that allows you to preview the filter effect, change the filter settings, and add multiple filters at once. Other filters must be added using the Filter menu.

Most of the filters can be added as Smart Filters that are non-destructive and editable. Understanding Smart Filters and how they work gives you the flexibility to add multiple filters, change the order they are applied, edit their settings, create a blending option for the filter (an option you don't have in any other way), disable their effects, or delete them.

In this chapter, I focus on the fun, artistic filters as I show you how to use these powerful tools to add them to an image and modify their effects. With dozens of creative filters that can be combined, modified, and customized, the possibilities are endless.

A Comprehensive Look at Artistic Effects Filters

Most of the filters create artistic effects; they take your image and change it in a way that enhances its ...