Learning Adobe Photoshop CS4

By Greg Bowden

Chapter 19

Applying Artistic
Filters

Guided Computer Tutorials

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© Greg Bowden

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 Chapter

19
Applying Artistic Filters
You can use the filters that Photoshop provides to create artistic sketches. To illustrate
this the following sketch of a shipwreck viewed through the porthole of another ship will
be created. There are more applications of Photoshop like this in Module 3.

Starting a New Document

1 Load Photoshop or close the current files then display the FILE menu and select
NEW.

2 Set the NAME to PORTHOLE, the

WIDTH to 800 pixels, the HEIGHT to
600 pixels and the BACKGROUND
COLOUR to WHITE.

3 Select OK to start the document.

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Learning Adobe Photoshop CS4

Setting the Background

The CLOUDS filter will be used to create the sky for the sketch.

1 Create a NEW LAYER in the LAYERS

panel then set the FOREGROUND
COLOUR to WHITE and the
BACKGROUND COLOUR to BLACK.

2 Display the FILTER menu, highlight RENDER and select CLOUDS to fill the layer with
black and white clouds.

3 The clouds can be coloured to make them look more natural. Display the IMAGE
menu, highlight ADJUSTMENTS and select HUE/SATURATION.

4 Turn on COLOURIZE then set the
HUE to 209, the SATURATION to 30,
the LIGHTNESS to -10.

5 Select OK to colourise the clouds.

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 Applying Artistic Filters 19

6 Rename the layer: Sky

Creating the Ocean

The ocean can be created by combining the CLOUDS and BAS RELIEF filters.

1 Start a new layer and call it: Ocean

2 Select the RECTANGULAR MARQUEE

TOOL and drag a frame around the
bottom half of the sky.

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Learning Adobe Photoshop CS4

3 Display the FILTER menu, highlight

RENDER and select CLOUDS to fill
the selection with clouds.

4 Display the FILTER menu again, highlight SKETCH and select BAS RELIEF.

5 Set the DETAIL to 10, the

SMOOTHNESS to 4 and the LIGHT to
BOTTOM.

6 Select OK to set the filter.

7 The colour of the ocean needs to be adjusted. Display the IMAGE menu, highlight
ADJUSTMENTS and select HUE/SATURATION.

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 Applying Artistic Filters 19
8 Turn on COLOURIZE, set the HUE to
200, the SATURATION to 50 and the
LIGHTNESS to -15.

9 Select OK to complete the filter.

Adding Perspective to the Ocean

To make the ocean look more realistic its perspective can be altered.

1 Set the screen view to 50% so that you can see more of the area around the canvas.

2 Display the EDIT menu, highlight TRANSFORM and select PERSPECTIVE.

3 Drag the bottom right ‘handle’ of the

perspective frame to the right and the
bottom line of the selection will be
increased.

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Learning Adobe Photoshop CS4

4 Drag the top ‘handles’ down then

move them to the edges of the
canvas.

5 Use the DOWN ARROW key to nudge

the ocean past the base of the
canvas.

6 Press <enter> or <return> to accept the transformation then press CTRL+D or

COMMAND+D to deselect the frame around the ocean.

7 Save the document in your STORAGE folder as a PHOTOSHOP file under the file
name:
Porthole

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 Applying Artistic Filters 19

Adding the Ship

A photo of a ship has been prepared for you and it needs to be added to the sketch.
1 Display the FILE menu and select OPEN.
2 Access the PScs4 SUPPORT FILES, open the CHAPTER 19 folder and open the SHIP
file.
3 Drag the SHIP file tab onto the
canvas so that both files are visible.

4 Drag the ship layer into the OCEAN

document.

5 Close the SHIP file.

Resizing the Ship

The ship needs to be resized so that it complements the backdrops.
1 Set the screen view to FIT ON SCREEN (CTRL+0 or COMMAND+0).

2 Press CTRL+T or COMMAND+T to

display the FREE TRANSFORM frame,
hold down the SHIFT key and use
the ‘handles’ to adjust the size of the
ship.

© Guided Computer Tutorials 2009 19-7