Filters and History Part I

If you open an image and use Filter>Artistic>Watercolor ... you MAY get a classic beautiful watercolor effect, but then you may NOT!

Using filters is simple, but to acheive a quality effect you need to put in a bit of effort:-

Some of them have a dialog box with sliders, so try these to vary the effects.
You can apply a filter to a layer copy of the image and use the layer's blending mode.
You can blend them using the History palette & the History brush (today's lesson)

"Hang on!" (I hear you cry) "what's this History stuff?" ... well let's see ...

Here's a small image that I will use show the process, unlike previous lessons here, it is of low jpeg quality, so if you're going to follow this lesson, please use your own better quality image!

Various filters will be applied and then blended together.

This lesson will show you a process, the finished image is NOT what I would call art!

Here's the History Palette (Window>History).

There's a tiny copy of the image, with it's name. This is a snapshot that is automatically created by Photoshop. On the left of the image icon is a tiny paint brush, with an arrow.

Underneath these is text to indicate what has just occurred, THIS IS KNOWN AS A HISTORY STATE. Everything that you do in Photoshop is recorded here. BUT IS LOST WHEN YOU CLOSE THE IMAGE - REMEMBER THAT!

Finally there are 3 icons at the bottom of the History Palette. New document from current state, create snapshop, the bin.

Use Filter>Artistic>Paint Daubs... and this dialogue box will open.

Some filters have dialog boxes, some don't. As you get more experienced with filters you'll learn which one do and also what works for a given situation (and also - what you like).

Use the filter's sliders to get the effect you want.

Also you can use the small - and + buttons to zoom out and in on the image and (usefully) if you place the mouse cursor over the preview area it turns into a hand and you can do two things then.

1. click and drag to "tour the image"
2. click to quickly show before/after

When you are satisfied with the effect of the chosen filter, click on OK.

Not happy? Then either click cancel or hold down the ALT key on the keyboard and the cancel button is now a reset button - this works throughout Photoshop!

Here is the image with the filter applied, but today we're going to apply 2 filters and "mix" them too.

Sometimes you will only apply one filter and be happy, some times you can apply MANY.

But be a bit cautious, as your images can look "Photoshopped!" By judicious choice of filters and smart blending you can achieve great results.

Meanwhile, back at the History Palette ... you can see that the History Palette has recorded the application of the filter to the image.

Once the filter dialog box has closed, and the filter has been applied, you may not actually like the results (despite the preview!) ....

If you now clicked on the Open text (History state - remember?) the filter's effects are removed and you get the previous state. You can now choose which History state you want - Wow! a Photoshop time-machine (Alright-I'll take the medicine OK?)

Astute readers may already be saying "Hah CTRL-Z does that! Phooey this fellow is a charlatan!" - Yes, indeed it does, but as we shall see soon, you can step back/forward through many History states.

Now the power of the History pallete can start to be used.

Click on the tiny camera icon (as shown). This creates a "snapshot" of the current image INCLUDING ALL EFFECTS/LAYERS/FILTERS etc etc.

These snapshots aren't saved when you close/save the image. (But you can use the leftmost icon - to create a new image from the current state)

Now you can see that the upper section of the History Pallete contains two icons of the image and they can be renamed (double left click on the text to rename).

It's a good idea to get into the habit of renaming snapshots (and also layers), when you return to a piece of work after a week/month, you'll find the names useful.

The next step is to click on the topmost snapshot and then to apply the Stylize>Find Edges filter. Then create a snapshot of this state, and rename the snapshot too. See part II...