Adobe PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 2 - Choosing a Filter

CHAPTER 10
172
Applying Filters, Effects, and Layer Styles
• Adjust filter settings to make memory-intensive
filters less complex. Memory-intensive filters
include Lighting Effects, Cutout, Stained Glass,
Chrome, Ripple, Spatter, Sprayed Strokes, and
Glass. (For example, to reduce the complexity of
the Stained Glass filter, increase cell size. To
reduce the complexity of the Cutout filter,
increase Edge Simplicity, decrease Edge Fidelity,
or both.)
Choosing a filter
The filters are grouped into categories. Any third-
party filters appear at the bottom of the Filter
menu.
Artistic filters
Choose an Artistic filter to simulate painterly
effects on traditional media, and to create unique
visual effects. For example, use the Rough Pastels
filter to simulate pastels on a painter’s canvas, or
use Plastic Wrap to give your image a plastic sheen.
Colored Pencil Redraws an image using colored
pencils on a solid background. Retains important
edges and gives them a rough crosshatch
appearance; the solid background color shows
through the smoother areas. You can set the pencil
width, stroke pressure, and paper brightness in the
filter options.
For a parchment effect, change the background
color before applying the Colored Pencil filter to
a selected area.
Cutout Portrays an image as though it is made
from roughly cut-out pieces of colored paper.
High-contrast images appear as if in silhouette,
while colored images are built up from several
layers of colored paper. You can set the tonal levels,
edge simplicity, and edge fidelity in the filter
options.
Dry Brush Paints an image using a dry brush
technique (between oil and watercolor). The filter
simplifies an image by reducing its range of colors
to areas of common color. You can set the brush
size, brush detail, and texture amount in the filter
options.
Film Grain Applies an even, grainy pattern to an
image. Adds a smoother, more saturated pattern to
the image’s lighter areas. This filter is useful for
eliminating banding in blends and visually
unifying elements from various sources. You can
set the grain amount, highlight area range, and
intensity level in the filter options.
Fresco Paints a layer in a coarse style using short,
rounded, and hastily applied dabs. You can set the
brush size, brush detail, and texture in the filter
options.
Neon Glow Uses the foreground color,
background color, and glow color to colorize an
image while softening its look. You can set the glow
size, glow brightness, and glow color in the filter
options. Lower glow size values restrict the glow
color to the shadow areas, and higher values move
the glow color to the midtones and highlight areas
of a layer. To select a glow color, click the Glow
Color box, and select a color in the color picker.