Photoshop Special Effects

By David Peters

You might find it helpful to apply a masking on your photo to choose which areas you want to change and leave untouched before you apply any of these special effects. You can create a soft fade between the areas with effects added and those without. This is called masking and can be done in a variety of ways. One method is called the 'quick mask mode'. This is quick and easy to do and results are typically acceptable.

Quick masking: In Adobe Photoshop find the button called 'edit in quick mask mode'. It's located near the bottom of the main tool bar and looks like a circle in a rectangle. There's also a short-cut key: Q. Once in quick mask mode, you can select and deselect areas simply by painting them with white and black respectively, using the standard brush tool. Zoom to 100 or 200 % for best accuracy. You might want to use a soft-edged brush to avoid hard edges. Alternatively, when you're done, exit the masking mode and go to 'Select > Feather' and set the feather radius to 5-10 pixels or so. A nice option is that you can set the opacity to anywhere between 0 and 100%, allowing you to apply the effect stronger or weaker in one part of the image that another.

Layer masking: Slightly more complicated, you can add a layer mask. This allows you to apply any effect gradually from any point in your photo. Follow these steps in Photoshop:

Layer masking: Only a bit more complicated, you can add a layer mask. This lets you to apply any effect gradually from any point in your photo. Follow these steps to achieve this:

2. Right click on your layer and choose 'Duplicate layer'.

3. Click on the little icon in the bottom of the layer box called 'Add layer mask'.

4. Choose the 'Gradient tool' on the main tool box.

4. Choose the 'Gradient tool' on the main tool box.

6. Click on your image on the point you don't want to change, and drag the mouse away to the point where you want the full effect to take place. The effect will be applied gradually more and more along this line you've now created.

6. Click on your image on the point you don't want to change, dragging the mouse away to the point where you want the full effect to take place. The effect will be applied gradually more and more along this line you've now created.

Lens-like effects: Using the layer masking described above, you can apply 'Gaussian blur' which will make the selected areas appear soft-focused, a bit like if you had used a large-aperture lens. With 'Curves' you can make your corners darker than the center, replicating the lens effect called vignetting. Technically, vignetting is considered a lens dysfunction, but subjectively it can add an extra feeling to your photo, a kind of frame that will have a 'sucking' effect, bringing more attention into the centre of your photo. You can also just lower the contrast and/or colour-saturation around your main subject, helping to separate it from the background clutter. There's many other options, be creative!

Soft glow effect: Creates a 'romantic' look for portraits. Here's what you have to do:

1. Duplicate layer.

1. Duplicate layer.

2. Apply 'Gaussian blur' to the new (top) layer. Make it blurry, but leave some detail.

'Darken' or 'Multiply' blends darkens image details while softening features and adding a halo. Good for soft, expressive shadows.

'Darken' or 'Multiply' blends: darkens image details while also softening features and adding a halo. Good for soft, expressive shadows.

'Soft Light' and 'Overlay' adds contrast and saturation. Especially useful for landscapes and still life photos.

Black-and-white-ish: Creates a metallic black-and-white'ish look, great for for documentary work and subdued portraits, and is achieved by setting the contrast high (curves) and color saturation low.

Black-and-white-ish: By setting the contrast high (curves) and color saturation low, you create a metallic black and white'ish look many times seen in documentaries and subdues portraits. Do this through Photoshop's 'layers' to be able to most accurately adjust your setting in place.

One example: To give your image a cool green-blue color tone, first create two duplicate layers. Use 'Edit > Fill' to make the first one green and the second one blue. Set opacities to 30 and 60% respectively and select the 'Multiply' blending mode for the top (blue) layer. Adjust levels to get it exactly like you want. Also try adding a soft glow, as described above.

Micro contrast: This is a really neat trick to enhance your contrast and draw out texture details in your photos. You can even use it when your overall contrast is already maxed out, using all tonal ranges from pure black to pure white. The procedure is similar to the normal 'Unsharpen Mask', but with some special settings. Go to 'Filter > Sharpen > Unsharpen Mask' and set the 'Amount' to around 20-30%, the 'Radius' to 50-100 pixels and zero on the 'Threshold'. You will get a subtle contrast enhancement that, for some pictures at least, works really well.

Using any of the above outline effects can enhance your photos and make them works of art. Knowing when to use them however, and when not to use them is just as important as learning how to use them. When to use special effects in your photos is a matter of personal taste and opinion. Many times less is best, so just make sure not to over-do what you do.

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