As I mentioned in last week’s post about Filter Basics, Photoshop Elements (PSE) has some fantastic filters. You can create unique textures that can add depth or other effects, transforming a simple paper into something artistic.

Filters are one of the most important features in PSE which holds the potential to modify the entire look and feel of an image by adding special effects. There are a lot of things that you can do with Filters. You can create compositions that are attractive and realistic. You can create new images from scratch, perform retouching, develop unique transformations or even imitate a painting or sketch. You can add awe-inspiring effects to your images using various types of Filters which I mentioned in last week’s post.

Today I’m going to concentrate on creating special effects with the Artistic category of PSE Filters. I’ll try to cover some of the other categories next week.

Just a quick reminder…I use the current version of PSE – 2024. So, everything I show you was accomplished using that software. Some of my screen shots may look different than what you see on your screen depending on the version you are using. If you don’t use PSE, please search the internet for other tips/tutorials specific to the graphics editing software that you use.

Artistic Filters

Note: The image shown directly above was created using a paper from “Head In The Clouds” by TirAmisu and applying the Brush Stroke filter with all settings set to their minimum.

Generally speaking, not all categories of Filters will work well with paper. The ones I’ve used most often fall in the Artistic & Sketch categories. I’ll be using a different paper (also from “Head In The Clouds” by TirAmisu) to show you some more examples:

I’ve loaded this paper into a blank 12×12 file. As I mentioned last week in the discussion about Filter Basics, some filters behave differently based on the colors for the foreground & background color chips. Initially, I’m going so set my foreground/background color chips to the default of black and white (press D).

With the paper layer active I select the Filters option at the bottom of the Layers panel. The “Filters Panel” displays and the “default” Filter category (at least for me) is Artistic. I’m not 100% certain if this is the PSE default. I do know that whatever Filter category was used last is going to be what shows up there:

You can see the thumbnail examples of what each filter listed in the category does. It’s sometimes hard to get a good feel for what it will actually do to any given paper so sometimes the best thing is to just step through each of them one at a time. Which is exactly what I’m going to do for you now starting out with the above-mentioned paper.

Colored Pencil

The Colored Pencil filter redraws an image using colored pencils on a solid background. This filter retains important edges and gives them a rough crosshatch appearance; the solid background color shows through the smoother areas. As soon as I select the Colored Pencil filter PSE displays a “warning” dialog box:

I’ve talked about Smart Objects (also called Smart Layers) before. Certain modifications to a Smart Object (such as applying Filters) it must first be simplified. If you want more information about Smart Objects, you can refer back to my post about Managing File Sizes. When I click OK in response, PSE will go ahead and simplify the layer and open the settings (default values) for the Colored Pencil filter within the Filters Panel:

I can immediately see the result on my paper in the file:

I can now either accept the default settings (click the “check mark”) in the settings area or play around with them until I find a result that I like. I decided to play with the settings a bit. Here are the results I achieved using some different options:

I could save any of these as a new paper if I choose simply by confirming the filter options (click the check mark) and saving the file as a separate JPG before playing with other settings. In this particular case I chose not to confirm (or save) any of the resulting papers. For now, I’m finished with Colored Pencil so I’ll move on to showing you more Filters.

I don’t have to click the “X” in the settings area before moving on to the next Filter available. But it never hurts to do so just to ensure that no existing Filter settings are carried forward.

Cutout

The Cutout filter portrays an image as though it were 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. Now, back on the original piece of paper:

Using the Cutout filter here are the results I achieved using some different options:

Again, I could save any of these as a new paper. I did end up saving the last one (No. of Levels=6, Edge Simplicity=0 & Edge Fidelity=3). On to the next filter…

Dry Brush

The Dry Brush filter 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. Here’s the original piece of paper again:

I selected Dry Brush. In this case the default, maximum & minimum settings really didn’t result in too much change so I’m not going to bother showing those here. Truth be told…this option didn’t really do a lot for this paper. But I did land on one that was worth keeping:

The settings for this were: Brush Size = 10, Brush Detail = 4 & Texture = 3. On to the next filter.

Film Grain

The Film Grain filter applies an even, grainy pattern to an image. It 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.

At this point I’m starting to think it’s time to switch to a different kind of paper in order to have a better chance at seeing some other cool effects. I found this lovely scenic paper from “The Great Pumpkin” mini kit by Bekah E Designs:

That should give us some fun results. At least, I hope it will! With this new piece of paper (no filters). The Artistic Filter Panel is still open and this time I select Film Grain. Even with this paper the defaults results were lackluster so I’m not going to display that here. These are the results I achieved using some different options:

I really liked how the last one turned out. There really weren’t a lot of major/desirable changes with other options at least not on this paper. So, I’ll move on…

Fresco

The Fresco filter paints a layer in a coarse style using short, rounded, and hastily applied dabs. Going back to the original piece of scenic paper (no filters):

This time I select Fresco. The settings (default values) are shown within the Filters Panel and I can immediately see the result on my paper in the file:

WOW…that’s a pretty dramatic change but I really like it. I decided to play with the settings a bit and really didn’t come up with anything that I liked better than the defaults: Brush Size = 2, Brush Detail = 8 & Texture = 1. So, I’m going on to the next filter.

Neon Glow

Before I get into this filter, I wanted to let you know one thing. In an effort to cut down on the size of this post I won’t keep repeating an image of the “scenic” paper for the remaining filters. Unless otherwise specified I will be using that particular paper and you can refer back to it in multiple places prior to this section. I hope this doesn’t present any inconvenience for you 😉

The Neon Glow filter uses the foreground color, background color, and Glow Color to colorize an image while softening its look. 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.

I know that if I leave the Foreground color chip set to black, a lot of this paper will be converted to mostly black. PSE also uses a Color for the “glow” portion of this filter. The default value of that Color chip is set to a vibrant shade of blue (#0000ff).

For right now, I’m going to leave my foreground color chip set to black and the “glow” Color set to that blue above. This is actually a filter that will allow me to select negative values for both size & brightness.

I’m fairly certain you’re expecting that if I set the Glow Brightness to the lowest negative value (or highest depending on how you tend to think of it), regardless of whatever value I use for the Glow Size, the paper will just result in a solid color based on the Foreground color chip. And you would be correct in that expectation. But here are the results I achieved using some different options:

Next, I’m going to set my Foreground color chip to a nice medium brown that I pulled out of the paper (#744728).

I select Neon Glow and with the settings at default values (keeping the “glow” Color that bright blue from above). This is the result:

And here are some examples when I set the “glow” Color to a bright orange that I pulled out of the paper (#f7912e) and keeping the brown foreground color:

One last item before I go to the next filter. I do want to show you what happens if the Foreground color chip is set to white and the “glow” Color is set to that default blue above:

This certainly offers a whole other realm of possibilities. I’ll let you play in that realm on your own 😉

Clearly you can tell by now that there are a veritable ton of options you can experiment with here. But I think you get the idea of what you could do. On to the next one.

Paint Daubs

The Paint Daubs filter is designed to make an image appear painted. I’ll still be using the original piece of scenic paper (no filters).

First things first, I reset my Foreground color chip back to black just as a precaution. This time I’m using Paint Daubs. This filter not only has two “slider” options (Brush Size & Sharpness) but also a drop down for six different Brush Type options (Simple, Light Rough, Dark Rough, Wide Sharp, Wide Blurry & Sparkle):

Simple is the default. Here are the results I ended up with by switching only the Brush Type options keeping the Brush Size & Sharpness at the defaults (8 & 7 respectively):

Most of those reflect some very subtle changes. So, I decided to play with the other settings a bit. Honestly…changing settings didn’t really change the looks for each brush type by very much (at least on this paper). But I decided to Set the Brush Size & Sharpness to their maximus (50 & 10 respectively) so you could see the differences, as minor as they may appear:

Moving on…

Palette Knife

The Palette Knife filter reduces detail in an image to give the effect of a thinly painted canvas that reveals the texture underneath.

I know this is starting to get long and I’m trying to cut back on the number of images I post. But this particular filter is going to show some interesting results. Again, I’m using the original piece of scenic paper (no filters).

For Palette Knife the settings options are Stroke Size, Stroke Detail & Softness. The default values for these settings are 25, 3 & 0 respectively. Working with Palette Knife settings, I came up with these four results:

I know the various options appear to reflect minor/subtle changes. but I do like this effect and I’m sure using it on other types of paper may give some better results. Trust me, the effect is much more noticeable in fill-size. Now, on to the next filter.

Plastic Wrap

The Plastic Wrap filter renders a layer as if it were coated in shiny plastic, accentuating the surface detail. Once more, I’ll be using the original piece of scenic paper (no filters).

For Plastic Wrap the settings options are Highlight Strength, Detail & Smoothness. The default values for these settings are 15, 9 & 7 respectively. Using the Plastic Wrap settings, I came up with these 4 results:

I think with the “right” paper, this filter could be a lot of fun! For example, look at what happens when I use a piece of embossed (solid color) paper from “The Sea Is Calling” by LDragDesigns with the defaults and 2 other setting options for Plastic Wrap: 15,3,7 then 18,14,7:

Admittedly, it may be hard to see/appreciate the details with these small images. I’d encourage you to play with this on your own and get a better idea of just how the details translate in full-size. And up next…

Poster Edges

The Poster Edges filter reduces the number of colors in an image according to the posterization option you set, finds the edges of the image, and draws black lines on them. Large broad areas of the image receive simple shading, while fine dark details are distributed throughout the image.

For Poster Edges the settings options are Edge Thickness, Edge Intensity & Posterization. The default values for these settings are 2, 1 & 2 respectively. Working with Poster Edges, I came up with these 4 results:

Again, it may be hard to see/appreciate the details with these small images. Working with Filters on your own will give you a better idea of just how the details translate in full-size.

Here’s one quick example that will not only give a clearer demonstration of Poster Edges, it will also show you how applying filters to only portions of an image can work.

I have a cute daisy paper in my stash that I’m going to use for this example:

If I set the Edge Thickness = 10, Edge Intensity = 9 & Posterization = 3 here is the result:

That’s not very attractive. Do you know why? Because the white background of that paper has a slight texture to it and PSE picked up on that and “drew” edges around it. If I use the Quick Selection tool to select only the flowers on that paper:

Note: If you need a fresher on how to make this kind of selection, please refer back to my post about making The Right Selection.

When I apply the Poster Edges filter with the same settings I used above on the entire paper, this is what happens:

See how that filter made the flowers so much more distinct on that plain white background? I really like the way it looks. Definitely shows you how the posterization can work differently from one paper to another. Now, I’ll be moving on to the next filter…

Rough Pastels

The Rough Pastels filter makes an image appear as if it were made with rough strokes of pastel chalk on a textured background. In areas of bright color, the chalk appears thick with little texture; in darker areas, the chalk appears scraped off to reveal the texture.

A quick note here…unless you’re planning on using the Advance Options to apply a texture, this filter will have little to no effect on most any solid color paper.

Now, I’m going back to the original piece of scenic paper again (no filters).

For the Rough Pastels filter, the settings options are bit different than anything I’ve shown you before. When PSE opens the settings (default values) from within the Filters Panel there’s now a button for “Advance Options”:

A lot of tutorials will suggest that you work with the Advance Options first but I’ll get to that in a bit. First, I’m just going to show you the “less advanced” 😉 options.

For Rough Pastels the setting options are Stroke Length & Stroke Detail. The default values for these settings are 6 & 4 respectively. After several attempts, I came up with these results:

Now I’m going to walk you through the Advance Options.

Note: If you do nothing with the Advance Options, be aware that PSE will use what it has set as the defaults for all of the settings in this area. Specifically, Texture will be set to Canvas with a Scaling of 100% and a relief of 20. Light will be set to Bottom.

When I click on the “Advance Options” button in the settings options PSE opens a completely new window:

Here I still see the original options (Stroke Length & Stroke Details) but they’ve now been joined by several other settings: Texture, Scaling, Relief, Light & Invert. Texture options make images appear as if they were painted onto textures, such as canvas, brick, burlap, or sandstone.

Note: You can load other Textures if you choose. You should be able to see the four lines with a down arrow to the right of the Texture drop down. If you click the down arrow, you will be able to load other textures that you may have on hand.

Let’s look at the Light options first:

Light coming from the Bottom of your paper is the default option here. I would suggest that you make a selection based on any obvious lighting direction in the image/paper with which you’re working. In the case of this scenic paper, it’s fairly easy to see that the light source is coming from the upper left. Given that I will select Top Left. It is important to understand that this Light selection will also have an impact on any Texture selection I make.

If your paper doesn’t have an obvious lighting source/angle take into consideration how/where this paper will be used and what lighting angle may be obvious on other elements within your layout. If you’re just experimenting, the Top left tends to be a familiar lighting angle setting in PSE. But you can play around with all the options and see what works best for you.

Next, I’m going to look at Texture:

Canvas is the default option here. And I already know what that looks like from the previous Rough Pastel examples. After trying all of the options I found that Sandstone made the biggest impact (at least for this paper). I then set the Scaling & relief to their maximums (200% & 50 respectively).

Next, I’ll change the Stroke Length to 40 & the Stroke Detail to 10. These are values used in the “basic” settings examples from above. Once satisfied with the settings all I have to do is click OK and I get back to the normal working area. This is the result:

I think this is one of my favorites so far. Let’s go to the next filter…

Note: In my experience the option to Invert the filter has never made a noticeable difference…at least not for any of the papers with which I’ve worked. That doesn’t mean it won’t be noticeable for you. Please do experiment with this option to see if you find interesting results even though I haven’t 😉 And if you do…PLEASE let me know!

Smudge Stick

The Smudge Stick filter softens an image using short diagonal strokes to smudge or smear the darker areas of the images. Lighter areas become brighter and lose detail.

For Smudge Stick the settings options are Stroke Length, Highlight Area & Intensity. The default values for these settings are 2, 0 & 10 respectively. Working with this filter I came up with these results:

On to the next filter!

Sponge

The Sponge filter paints a layer with highly textured areas of contrasting color. This filter is primarily used to depict sponge painting with color blotches blending onto each other. Highly texture and contrasting color areas can be created, as well as textural overlay colors.

For Sponge the settings options are Brush Size, Definition & Smoothness. The default values for these settings are 2, 12 & 5 respectively. After some fiddling here are my results:

We’re in the homestretch now…

Underpainting

The Underpainting filter paints a layer as if it were on a textured background. Texture options make images appear as if they were painted onto textures, such as canvas, brick, burlap, or sandstone.

Just as with the Rough Pastels filter, Underpainting also has a button for “Advance Options”. A quick note here…unless you’re planning on using the Advance Options to apply a texture, this filter will have little to no effect on most any solid color paper.

First, I’m just going to show you the “less advanced” 😉 options.

Note: If you do nothing with the Advance Options, be aware that PSE will use what it has set as the defaults for all of the settings in this area. Specifically, Texture will be set to Canvas with a Scaling of 100% and a relief of 4. Light will be set to Top.

For Underpainting the setting options are Brush Size & Texture Coverage. The default values for these settings are 6 & 16 respectively. After several attempts, I came up with these results:

Now I’m going back to the original paper (no filters). When I click on the “Advance Options” button in the settings options PSE opens a completely new window just as we saw under Rough Pastels. Again, I still see the original options (Brush Size & Texture Coverage) but they’ve now been joined by the same advanced settings as under Rough Pastels: Texture, Scaling, Relief, Light & Invert.

The Light options are the same as what we saw under Rough Pastels but the default this time is Top. Just as with the Rough Pastels filter it’s fairly easy to see that the light source for this paper is coming from the upper left. Given that I again selected Top Left.

For Texture, Canvas is again the default option here. And I already know what that looks like from the previous Underpainting examples. After trying all of the options I found that this time, Burlap made the biggest impact (at least for this paper). I then set the Scaling & Relief to their maximums (200% & 50 respectively).

Next, I changed the Brush Size to 20 & the Texture Coverage to 20. These are values used in the “basic” settings examples from above. Once satisfied with the settings all I have to do is click OK and I get back to the normal working area. This is the result:

Again, no real noticeable difference when I tried Invert ☹ And finally, the last Artistic Filter option…

Watercolor

The Watercolor filter paints an image in a watercolor style, simplifying details in an image as if using a medium brush loaded with water and color. Where significant tonal changes occur at edges, the filter saturates colors.

The Watercolor settings are: Brush Detail, Shadow Intensity & Texture with values of 19, 1 & 1 respectively. Working with the Watercolor filter options I came up with these results:

So that’s it on the artistic options and I’m so sorry that this got entirely too long again.

Before I end this for today, I did want to explain one other thing. I’ll going back to that first paper I used from “Head In The Clouds” by TirAmisu to show you some examples:

It is also possible to apply a Filter over top of one that has already been applied. This is yet another thing that benefits from simply a lot of experimentation. All you have to do is apply one Filter, confirm that action (if necessary) & then apply the second Filter.

First, I’m going to apply the Artistic Watercolor filter at the default settings (Brush Detail = 14, Shadow Intensity = 1 & Texture = 1 respectively. Here is the result:

I now immediately select the Artistic Colored Pencil option using the following settings: Pencil Width = 1, Stroke Pressure = 8 & Paper Brightness = 28. Here is the resulting paper:

So, here we are with countless different papers all by using the original paper(s) & some filters. And I didn’t even hit all the various settings. Imagine all the possibilities if you start playing with some of the others!

A few interesting effects can also be achieved using filters in Brushstrokes, Distort, Sketch Stylize & Texture categories. I’ll try to cover some of them next week but you’re welcome to experiment with those (and others) in the meantime.

More Paper Filtering Tips

Creating textures and backgrounds can be fun but also time consuming. It’s really easy to “go down a rabbit hole” once you get started. It’s definitely worth experimenting as long as you have the time.

Don’t forget that applying Filters to solid-color or grayscale images will work differently than on a patterned paper.

If sliders are in the settings dialog box, you can hold down Alt while dragging a slider for real-time rendering.

The best tip I have is really just to enjoy playing with all of these Filters to see what kind of unique paper you can create. I mean really, who EVER has enough paper…right?!?!?

As always, if you have any questions or want to make a suggestion about a topic you’d like me to cover, please don’t ever hesitate to “Message Me”.

Thanks for reading this week’s Tuesday Tip. Be sure to check back next week for some fun tips on using Sketch filters (and others) with paper. And if you want to stay informed about other new posts, just click “Follow Me” to stay in touch. I hope you have a wonderful week!