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Try using an image you normally wouldn’t bother using — and apply a filter such as the Glass filter to it. You may be surprised at how readily you can rescue normal “throwaways” and turn them into works of art. The image shown in Figure 14-8 (in the Glass filter window preview) is typical of an

Image I normally wouldn’t bother using in my portfolio. But after I apply effects such as the Glass filter (FilterODistortOGlass), a relatively uninterest­ing or plain photo takes on new life!

Glass texture Distortion slider Smoothness slider Click to save

Figure 14-8: The Glass filter.

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Figure 14-9 shows an original image (which I was never crazy about as just a straight photo), and the same image processed using the Glass filter with its Frosted texture option. The filter gives the image an entirely new look; it has become an image I’d be proud to print, matte, and frame.

Figure 14-9: Original image (left) and the final image with the Glass filter applied.

Caught Reticulating

The Photoshop Reticulation filter recalls the days of the chemical darkroom; we used to get this effect when develop­ing black-and-white film. We’d develop the film nor­mally, and then soak the film in ice water for 10 minutes. The ice water would cause a small pat­tern of cracks in the film emulsion; when the film was printed, the images

Figure 14-10: Reticulation filter.

Would show a pattern of cracks that could suggest (say) age or wear. The Reticulation filter (see Figure 14-10) does the same thing, only digitally, with­out any physical cracking of your image!

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You can get to the Reticulation filter by choosing FilterOSketchOReticulation. Using the Density setting, you can control how much of this filter’s distinctive texture to apply to the image. The example shown in Figure 14-10 has a density setting of 10 — a grainy look that’s much like what you’d get with black-and-white film. You can experiment with reticulation by using the Density Foreground, and Background sliders. The effect isn’t to everyone’s taste, but it’s appropriate for those who want to produce images with a fine-art or old-fashioned look.

To add additional effects to get some really stunning graphic images, experi­ment with using the different blending modes and opacity adjustments for the layer you have applied the filter to. These settings are available to you on the top portion of the Layer palette.

Figure 14-11 shows an original color image, and the same image with the Reticulation filter applied.

Figure 14-11: Original color image (left) and the same image with reticulation added.

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Another Sketch filter that transforms a digital image into something that looks more handmade is the Graphic Pen. Like the Chalk & Charcoal filter, it converts the image to black and white, but the Graphic Pen gives your image more of the look of an old-fashioned ink drawing. You can access the Graphic Pen filter by choosing FilterOSketchOGraphic Pen. Figure 14-6 shows the Graphic Pen filter window.

For this image, I moved the Stroke Length slider all the way to the right to a setting of 15, and then increased contrast by moving the Light/Dark balance slider slightly to the right. You can choose the stroke direction by clicking Stroke Direction and choosing one of its four options.

Figure 14-7 shows the original image and the image with the Graphic Pen filter applied.

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Stroke direction Light/Dark balance Stroke length Click to save

Figure 14-6: Graphic Pen filter window.

Figure 14-7: Original image (left) and the image with the Graphic Pen filter applied.

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