Oct. 2001
President's
Message
Portrait of Jim & Kathy Jones
Article - "More PhotoShop Filters"
Lindsey's Digital
Notes -
More Filters
- Bill Lindsey
This month I would like to
discuss some additional Adobe Photoshop filters. These brushes can be
found in the drop down menu under FILTERS, then BRUSH STROKES. The first
sub filter is the ACCENTED EDGE filter.
This filter usually defaults to: EDGE WIDTH, 2, ANGLE BRIGHTNESS, 38;
and SMOOTHNESS, 5.
These numbers are to be experimented with by changing the slide scale
in the tool window because the effects that take place are barely noticeable
at these settings. I changed the slide scale to the right and began to
see a difference. What this filter actually does is, it finds the edges
of a photograph, for instance the different areas of the photograph that
have tonal values and accentuates the line in between. I have found this
filter to be useful if you are trying to make an image stand out from
the background or if you have a low contrast image that needs a little
punch.
The second filter is ANGLED
STROKES. This filter can be applied to a full figure study, as it does
some nice soft yet effective changes to an image. The default settings
are: DIRECTION BALANCE, 50; STROKE LENGTH, 16; SHARP NESS, 3. I tried
these settings and could not see any difference in the image. I'm sure
it was there, but I had trouble seeing the effect. Next, I tried setting
the sliders to: DIRECTION BALANCE, 99; STROKE LENGTH,50; SHARPNESS, 10.
Finally, I saw some interesting changes to my image. This filter took
a long time to convert and must take a lot of computer resources to work
properly. This filter gives the image a beautiful painterly effect, but
be aware that it is subtle and needs a lot of tweaking.
The third filter is CROSSHATCH.
The default settings for this filter is STROKE LENGTH, 9; SHARPNESS, 6;
STRENGTH, 1. These settings are deceiving because the effects are not
so apparent at first, but hold on to you hats when you increase the settings
to any higher number in the slider bars. I changed the settings to: STROKE
LENGTH, 50; SHARPNESS, 20; STRENGTH, 3 and witnessed a complete abstract
change in my image. This filter also took the most time to perform its
calculations.
The fourth filter is DARK STROKES.
The default settings for this filter are: BALANCE,5; BLACK INTENSITY.
6; WHITE INTENSITY, 2. This filter is an artistic contrast adjuster that
seems to affect the
dark areas of an image and leave the highlight areas alone. After
changing the sliders to a higher setting, for example: BALANCE, 10; BLACK
INTENSITY, 10; WHITE INTENSITY, 10; My theories were confirmed. This filter
likes to change the dark areas only. This could be a very interesting
filter for some dramatic effects.
The fifth filter is INKOUTLINES.
This filter at the very beginning is an aggressive filter, and tries to
outline the differences of tonal value in an image. The default
settings for this filter are: STROKE LENGTH, 4; DARK INTENSITY, 20; LIGHT
INTENSITY, 10. After applying this filter, I realized that this was a
filter of great potential. It dramatically affects the image even at its
lowest setting. This one should be a lot of fun.
The sixth filter is SPATTER. After using this filter I thought this would be an interesting effect to be applied to a background around a main image, to separate the tonal values from your subject to the background. All you would have to do is, mask the background and apply the SPATTER filter and then merge the two back together again. The default setting is: SPRAY RADIUS,10; SMOOTHNESS, 5. This is another filter that is subtle and needs to be increased in the slider bars to actually appreciate what it does.
The seventh filter is SPRAYED STROKES. SPRAYED STROKES has a default of STROKE LENGTH, 12; SPRAY RADIUS, 7; and is really too subtle to appreciate it's effects. I then tried a new setting of STROKE LENGTH, 20; SPRAY RADIUS, 25 and ended up with a very nice effect, somewhat like a dry brush effect on the image. You can also experiment with it's additional pull down bar within the settings box with RIGHT DIAGONAL, HORIZONTAL,LEFT DIAGONAL AND VERTICLE.
The eighth filter is SUMI-E.
This filter proved to be the most interesting of all with its effects
when set at different settings. The default is STROKE WIDTH, 3-15; STROKE
PRESSURE, 2; CONTRAST, 16. After trying out the default settings, I thought
I would give it the works and brought up the settings to STROKE WIDTH,
15; STROKE PRESSURE, 15; CONTRAST, 40. What I got was awesome! This was
the most interesting of all and I can't wait to try it out on a few images
I have sitting around that need some special effects. Remember that these
are only beginnings. The sky is the limit and if you can think it, you
can make it.