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- Thread starter kiwi
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I am a bit of a butterfly and cannot stay faithful to one. At this moment I'm in love with layer masks and adjustment layers.
Layer masks because they open vista's of unforeseen possibilities, and adjustment layers because they do everything the Image>Adjust menu does, but without increasing your file, without making changes definitive and with the possibility to attach them to the layer(s) you choose.
A filter I don't like for example is the Solarize filter. If you open any RGB image, copy your background layer and invert the copy, you can use for example the Difference and the Luminosity blend mode to get far better results.
Of third-party plug-ins, I love to play with the Kai's Powertools I have (5, and 3 were on the same CD) but I rarely see real use for them.
Layer masks because they open vista's of unforeseen possibilities, and adjustment layers because they do everything the Image>Adjust menu does, but without increasing your file, without making changes definitive and with the possibility to attach them to the layer(s) you choose.
A filter I don't like for example is the Solarize filter. If you open any RGB image, copy your background layer and invert the copy, you can use for example the Difference and the Luminosity blend mode to get far better results.
Of third-party plug-ins, I love to play with the Kai's Powertools I have (5, and 3 were on the same CD) but I rarely see real use for them.
Erik if your a butterfly then I am a helicopter
I love the blur filters but then the lighting can be so cool or the distort filters now lots of fun can be had there
but I can't forget the noise filter it is a must for some groovy effects[oops]
my outside filters that I use a bit is eyecandy 4000 or ICNet sometimes the toadies and sometimes the flaming pear
but the more that I learn and use PS filters the less I am finding that I am using outsiders[slick]
sfm
I love the blur filters but then the lighting can be so cool or the distort filters now lots of fun can be had there
but I can't forget the noise filter it is a must for some groovy effects[oops] my outside filters that I use a bit is eyecandy 4000 or ICNet sometimes the toadies and sometimes the flaming pear
but the more that I learn and use PS filters the less I am finding that I am using outsiders[slick]
sfm
Tron
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Wow Hard to pick a favorite. I use the clouds quite a lot and I really like the lighting effects filter.
[slick]
I use the curves for quite a few effects, haven't found much use for any of the filters in the sketch menu. [confused]
I get a lot of use from the blur filters
I don't use any outside filters
I would have to say of all of them I use the Distort and Blur filters the most
[slick]
I use the curves for quite a few effects, haven't found much use for any of the filters in the sketch menu. [confused]
I get a lot of use from the blur filters
I don't use any outside filters
I would have to say of all of them I use the Distort and Blur filters the most
Blur, noise, clouds are the main staples. I like the displacement filter and the artistic and texture ones.
The ones that really bring out the 3 year old in me are the Find Edges and the Glowing Edges. Can't help myself, enjoy the wow! moments there.
Anyone knows what you CAN do with the solarize filter?
I have eye candy but don't care for them all that much and never use them.
The ones that really bring out the 3 year old in me are the Find Edges and the Glowing Edges. Can't help myself, enjoy the wow! moments there.
Anyone knows what you CAN do with the solarize filter?
I have eye candy but don't care for them all that much and never use them.
That's one of the least interesting of them all... Solarization was great in the darkroom days (remember Man Ray's photographs) and colour solarization was extremely difficult to do with a predictable result, so the filter will be from those days. But with layer blendmodes and sandwiches you can do much more. (a sandwich is a series of three layers and you apply the effect to the upper one and the bottom one).
So as far as I'm concerned: I never use solarize.
So as far as I'm concerned: I never use solarize.
Yesterday had a look at the Photo techniques forum. Someone had just posted there about the Find Edges filter as well. What he did was just put a pixel dot on the canvas and then started hitting Find Edges (control F) 40 times or so. He came up with very interesting patterns.
So, i played with that for a while and tried a dot, box, and other simple shapes and you end up with fascinating stuff.
After reading the posts here, worked with the wave filter and that randomizer does make it interesting.
So, i played with that for a while and tried a dot, box, and other simple shapes and you end up with fascinating stuff.
After reading the posts here, worked with the wave filter and that randomizer does make it interesting.
do blending modes count?.... I use a lot of them...
the Gaussian Blur, Motion Blur, Add Noise and Polar Coordinates.... they are the only true Filters I use now... when I hear the word 'Filter' ... my head thinks 'shortcut' ... which inturn makes me uneasy. perhaps I just can't use them effectively?... It's almost and art by themselves.
the Gaussian Blur, Motion Blur, Add Noise and Polar Coordinates.... they are the only true Filters I use now... when I hear the word 'Filter' ... my head thinks 'shortcut' ... which inturn makes me uneasy. perhaps I just can't use them effectively?... It's almost and art by themselves.
P
phi
Guest
iono about you guys but i like gaussian blur.. can't live without it 
Until I discovered the Magic Eraser I was always pulling my hair out as how to eliminate backgrounds from images. You can get the same results using Knock-Out and Quick Mask, but with the Magic Eraser I can eliminate almost all of the background with one click.
A great filter is Mac's Remove White. Got an image you want to remove from a white background? No problem. One click of Mac's Remove White and viloa' ! After you remove the white just create another layer below your image, fill with your background color, then merge the two layers together. Save your image a transparent GIF and your done.
Another feature of the Selection Tool that I find cool is when you are making a selection of any kind you can hold the spacebar down and move the selection around until it is positioned where you want it. After using Paint Shop Pro for a while I came to really appreciate this feature.
A great filter is Mac's Remove White. Got an image you want to remove from a white background? No problem. One click of Mac's Remove White and viloa' ! After you remove the white just create another layer below your image, fill with your background color, then merge the two layers together. Save your image a transparent GIF and your done.
Another feature of the Selection Tool that I find cool is when you are making a selection of any kind you can hold the spacebar down and move the selection around until it is positioned where you want it. After using Paint Shop Pro for a while I came to really appreciate this feature.
Just to add: you can also use the blending sliders to remove white and much more...:
1/ open or make the image you want to use as background
2/ open the image of which you want to remove the white (or black or...) and drag it on the background. It will open as a new layer.
3/ double click the name of layer1 so as to open the layer styles palette.
4/ drag the slider(s) of the New Layer Slider. The left one makes the black towards grey areas disappear, the right one will make the white towards grey disappear.
The advantage of this slider is that you can avoid the jaggies: Alt dragging/Option dragging causes the slider triangle to split in two, and all shades that are between the two halves will become partially transparant.
Don't forget though that any colour is composed of the three basics R,G and B and that these individually behave as greyscale images. This means that some colours may really shift. PS gives you the option to choose between Grey and your channels to give you more control.
The other slider will make parts of the underluing image visible. Its slider triangles can also be split in two in the same manner.
1/ open or make the image you want to use as background
2/ open the image of which you want to remove the white (or black or...) and drag it on the background. It will open as a new layer.
3/ double click the name of layer1 so as to open the layer styles palette.
4/ drag the slider(s) of the New Layer Slider. The left one makes the black towards grey areas disappear, the right one will make the white towards grey disappear.
The advantage of this slider is that you can avoid the jaggies: Alt dragging/Option dragging causes the slider triangle to split in two, and all shades that are between the two halves will become partially transparant.
Don't forget though that any colour is composed of the three basics R,G and B and that these individually behave as greyscale images. This means that some colours may really shift. PS gives you the option to choose between Grey and your channels to give you more control.
The other slider will make parts of the underluing image visible. Its slider triangles can also be split in two in the same manner.
Another one I find invaluable for retouching is hit the return key with your airbrush/paintbrush or other tool selected which uses the brushes palette and your brush palette appears,move your cursor to the right hand side of your monitor and hit return and voila the brush palette appears just where you place your cursor .
It can be very useful sometimes having your brush palette on the right hand side of your monitor instead of in its default position
Stu.
.It can be very useful sometimes having your brush palette on the right hand side of your monitor instead of in its default position
Stu.
G
Guest
Guest
The Gaussian blur of course 