Photo Filter Example using Photoshop
CS
Photoshop Elements does not support Photo Filters and
Curves, so this example will use Photoshop CS to extend the example in
the Layers page and the Clone
page. The result from the Layers
page yielded the image shown in Fig. 1 below. The Clone
page eliminated the edge artifact where the sky meets the land.
We will first apply a warming Photo Filter layer to the land, but not to
the sky, in order to remove blue cast haze over the canyon. We will
also replace the sky Levels layer to a Curves layer adjustment. The
resulting image is shown in Fig. 2. At the end of this page, we will
give some close-up views.
Fig. 1. Before (from Layers page)
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Fig. 2. After all of the changes below
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Select the Land
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Select > Load Selection and then select the Sky option from
the drop down menu. Click OK. Note that we saved that selection in
the Layers page.
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Select > Inverse. This inverts the selection so that
we now have the land selected.
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Select > Feather and then input a number. I used
2. Click OK.
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Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Photo Filter. The defaults
are fine for the first dialog box, so click OK.
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The dialog box in Fig. 3 appears with the default Density
of 25% and the default Warming Filter (85). I increased the Density
to 34% for no good reason at all, other than to change something.
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Click OK. The resulting image is displayed in Fig.
2 above by looking only at the land part of the image, not the sky.
The change is subtle, but the canyon at a distance looks much nicer without
the blue cast.
Notes: Warming filters are commonly used in film photography,
particularly in southwestern landscapes. The filter was not applied
to the sky because I have other plans, and blue skies are generally nicer
than brown skies. If you click on the Filter selection in Fig. 3,
you will see about 18 other filters to choose from.
A VIP note for applications where the image has near white
regions is to click OFF the Preserve Luminosity check box. With it
checked on, the near white regions will remain white because the high luminosity
is preserved. With it checked off, the area will become darker and
pick up more of the filter color. This is an option when you have
blown out highlights and you would probably use it only on a selection
of the highlights.
Curves Layer adjustment to the sky:
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Before adjusting the sky, go to the Layers window and uncheck
the Layer for the Sky Levels adjustment done on the Layers
page.
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Select > Load Selection and then select the Sky option from
the drop down menu. Click OK.
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Select > Feather. Input a very small number, such as
1 or 2. I used 2 in this example.
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Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Curves. In the dialog
box, I left the default Mode of Normal. Click OK.
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The dialog box in Fig. 4 appears, except that there is a
45 degree straight line drawn. I first dragged the curve downward
on the left side (dark side), and then I dragged the curve upward a little
on the right side (light side). With all adjustments, toggle the
Preview to see what is going on.
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Click OK. The resulting image is displayed in Fig.
2 above by looking only at the top part of the image.
Notes: In the Curves dialog box, you might want to
change the Mode to Luminosity (from the default value of Normal).
This is very important if you like the current colors. We do this
in the page on Simulating Velvia Film
Using the Channel Mixer. That page also has additional information
on what the Curves adjustment actually does to the intensities.
Fig. 3 Photo Filter dialog
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Fig. 4 Curves dialog
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The following three figures show a portion of the images
at full pixel resolution (of this old 2MP image). Fig. 4 is the original
image, Fig. 2 is the image after the adjustments in the Layers
page, and Fig. 3 shows the results of this page, together with the
Clone page that removed the edge artifacts.
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Tom's home page] -[Glendale Comm.
College]
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email: tom.foley@gcmail.maricopa.edu