Get creative with the Filter Gallery
Master the control centre for a variety of colourful looks and eye-catching patterns.
The Filter Gallery is a creative hub for an abundance of effects in Photoshop. If you’re looking for a different look or a fun treatment, you’ll find plenty of vibrant options here that let you take your image in all kinds of interesting directions.
Broadly speaking, these are creative effects filters rather than the more pragmatic filters found in the Blur Gallery or the Liquify Filter. They can be used, for example, to give your image a pencil sketch look, a painterly finish or a pattern-like texture.
However, its versatility can also be a negative. All the filters in the Filter
Gallery work by altering pixels using universal algorithms, so the effect isn’t tailored towards the content of the image, but rather the make-up of the pixel values. As such, a filter effect, while fun, can sometimes seem tacky or generic. One way you can combat this is by combining several filters into one, as I’ve done here by using the Cutout, Texturizer and Diffuse Glow filters in combination.
Your image needs to be in 8-bit format before you open it in the Filter Gallery so, if necessary, go to Image > Mode> 8-Bit to alter the bit-depth.
If you’re looking for a different look or a fun treatment, you’ll find plenty of vibrant options here...
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FILTER THUMBNAILS Go to Filter > Filter Gallery to start. The column here lists all the filters available to you, divided into sets. Several filters here will sample from your current foreground and background colours to create an effect, including all the Sketch filters (except Chrome) and the Diffuse Glow filter. As such, for these you’d need to choose the colours beforehand.
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FILTER SETTINGS After choosing a filter, the next step is to use the context-sensitive settings to finetune parameters and control the strength of the effect. With Diffuse Glow here, you can set the strength of the glow and the amount of grain. To reset the sliders to their starting values hold Alt/Option and the Cancel button switches to Reset (this handy shortcut works for all dialog boxes in Photoshop).
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COMBINE FILTERS This box lets you combine several filters into one effect. After applying your first filter, click the plus icon at the bottom to add a second, then choose another filter. You can add multiple filters to craft a unique look for your image. The order of the filters in the list is important. The top filter is applied first, then the one below and so on. You can drag the filters up or down the list to change the position.
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PREVIEW BOX The Preview box gives you a chance to assess the effect as you work through the filters and settings to fine-tune the image. You can press Ctrl/Cmd and plus or minus to zoom in or out, or press Ctrl/Cmd-0 to fit the image to the preview box. A progress bar in the bottom-left corner tells you how long the command needs to process a change. High-res images or involved effects can be slow to update.
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CONVERT FOR SMART FILTERS Before you enter the Filter Gallery it’s worth going to the Filter menu at the top here to choose Convert To Smart Filters (or right-click your layer in the Layers Panel and choose Convert To Smart Object). By making the layer a smart object, any filters you add to it will show as Smart Filters beneath the layer name. You can double-click the filters to change the settings at any time, so nothing is set in stone.
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MY FAVOURITE FILTERS There are lots of filters to play with, and we all have our favourites. One of the best is the Diffuse Glow filter, which blows out highlights and lets you add a grainy finish. It’s great for black and whites. Texturizer lets you add different textures, control the strength and even change the angle of light falling on the texture. Halftone Pattern is another fun one to try, as are Graphic Pen and Glowing Edges.