Multimedia Today

Multimedia - Tuesday the 15th

Today we'll play with filters. They're pretty cheesy, and are definitely a relic from when the reason to do something to a photo with a computer was just because it was new and we could. However, they're still kind of fun to play with, and are an easy way to start getting more acquainted with photoshop.

It is important for me to state that they are not entirely useless. When combined artistically and effectively with other techniques they still have their uses. However, to use them well, it requires a lot more than just applying the effect. We'll play with them (and the hue & saturation) to create something somewhat akin to artist Andy Warhol's widely known Marilyn Monroe screen prints.

Dont forget, you can click on any of the images in the post to enlarge them. If you need help, ask me or one of your peers.

First things first:

Find a stock-free or public-domain photo you can play with. Red pandas are probably my favorite little critters, so here's my photo of choice.

Giving credit to where credit is due:

(you should do this too!)

Roberts, Torli. "Stock.xchng - Red Panda (stock Photo by Torli)." Stock.xchng - the Leading Free Stock Photography Site. HAAP Media Ltd, a Subsidiary of Getty Images, 25 July 2006. Web. 08 Nov. 2011.

We're going to turn him into a pop-esque art styled piece. Once you find a photo you like, save it to your desktop.

Second: Right click on the photo and click open with > Adobe Photoshop CS4

Third: Your photo is probably bigger than we want it. I decided to crop mine into a square, as I felt it'd work better that way. Use the Rectangular Marque Tool in your Tools Window. we're going to use it to select the part we want to keep. With Marque Tool selected, click and hold down where ever you want the top left of your picture to begin. While still holding down on your mouse clicker, drag the Marque Tool down to where you want the bottom right corner of your photo to be. If you hold the shift key as you do this, Photoshop will keep the proportions of your selection as a perfect square.

If you are happy with your selection, in the overhead menu at the top of your screen, click Image, then click Crop within the drop down menu. If you aren't happy with your selection, you can try again. To get cancel your current selection, in the overhead menu at the top of your screen click Select, then Deselect in the drop down menu (the hotkey for this is command + d).

Forth: Despite this, your photo may still be too big to work with easily. To print something professionally at high quality, you need big files. However, since we're just going to be uploading this to our blog lets make it smaller and easier to work with. At the very top of your screen, click Image and then Image Size from the drop down menu. Lets make it around 250 x 250 pixels.

Fifth: Now we have a nice size for our image, but we need multiple copies of them, and we need a bigger canvas so we have more space for them. It's easier if we make the copies first, then increase our canvas size next. In your Layers Window (open your layers window if it isn't already open), right click on your image and tell it to Duplicate Layer. Tell it to Duplicate Layer eight (8) times. Eight!

Sixth: Now it's time to increase our canvas area. Click on Image in the overhead menu again. This time, click Canvas Size in the drop down menu. The difference between Canvas Size and Image Size is that Image Size changes the size of EVERYTHING in your picture, where as canvas size just changes the size of your work area. Lets make our Canvas three times the size of the image we are using. If you made the image 250 x 250 pixels earlier, then the size of your canvas will be 750 x 750 pixels.

Seventh: Our canvas is a nice size, and we've got 9 pictures to arrange around the space (original + 8 copies). Now it's time to move them to the different sections of the canvas. You'll need to use the Move Tool and the Layers Window. Wheres the Move Tool? Don't panic, that's just the official name for the black pointer arrow in the Tools Window. In your Layers Window, you'll need to select a layer and move the image on it to where you want it. You'll need to do this for each layer separately, one at a time.

Eighth: We now have the image setup the way we want it, and can now start playing with different filters and the hue and saturation. Lets play with Hue & Saturation first. In the overhead menu, click Image then hover your pointer over Adjustments, and finally click Hue/Saturation. You can use this to play with the coloring of each layer. Just like everything in photoshop, your changes only affect the layer you currently have selected, so to adjust the other layers, you'll need to select them then reopen the Hue/Saturation tool.

Ninth: When your happy with the different colored variants across your image, then lets play with Filters. They can do lots of interesting things. With how long photoshop has been around, and with how novel and cool they were when photoshop was young, they've been way over used. When not used subtly and artistically, they often feel tacky or cliche now days. Don't worry about that for now though. Just play with them and see what they can do.

In my example, I have Accented Edges under the Brush Strokes category highlighted. You don't have to use this one. There's quite a few, so explore and see what they can do. Apply a different filter to each of the 9 images. Some of the filters are effected by what colors you currently have selected in your Color Window. Some filters will also change the Hue & Saturation, feel free to readjust hue & saturation if you'd like to. Upload your finished image to your blog.

Andy Warhol also created a lot of self-portraits (although most of them weren't multiple screen prints in different colors, like the Monroes), some with very high prices. Can you do this again, but with a distorted photo of yourself (Use the distortion filters in Photobooth)?

Not exactly Warhol, but amusing.