The photo effects of Photoshop allow us to vary our image and give it a very different look compared to the original photograph. Let’s see some of the most prominent.
Many Photoshop photo effects are nothing more than the particular way of editing that, at some point, became popular thanks to a photographer or group of them. For example, this is the case of Dave Hill, who put into fashion a surreal image style that opted for a more typical aspect of a computer-generated design than that of a photograph.
Editing images can become a rather monotonous and boring task, since we always tend to follow the same steps when it comes to optimizing a photograph: controlling exposure, intensity, curves, contrast … etc. However, some Photoshop effects can help us break this monotony and face a new experience, both visual and practical.
We must bear in mind that to obtain a certain result, sometimes the same procedures are not followed. That is, the large number of tutorials that exist on the Internet are also subject to the subjective variation of the photographer himself. In addition, it is not necessary that we use Photoshop, there are many alternatives, but it is undeniable that the Adobe program is the most popular among fans of editing.
Dragan Effect
It is a filter based on Andrzej Dragan’s way of editing, whose portraits stand out for showing very dramatic faces. As if it were the baroque style, these images usually opt for chiaroscuro and tenebrism.
- Adjust levels (layer- new adjustment layer- levels): Bring the black tones to the white ones to create a more contrasted image.
- Lower saturation (layer- new adjustment layer- hue / saturation): It will depend on the image, but usually it is around -30.
- High Pass Filter (Filter – Other – High Pass): Select a radius of 10 and place that layer in overlay. If the effect is much exaggerated, we can vary the opacity of that layer so that it is not so extreme.
- Underexpose / overexpose tool: Use these tools to review the contours of those areas that we wish to enhance. Especially we should put enough emphasis on the eyes and wrinkles.
- Black and white (layer- new adjustment layer – Black and White): This last step is optional, but we can also test how that image would look in black and white, since the Dragan effect usually works very well with monochromatic colors.
Orton effect
This time the opposite will be achieved than in Photoshop photo effects like the previous one. Thus, we go from the dramatic to the harmonic . Therefore, it is usually used with nature landscapes where we want to highlight the beauty of the image.
- Duplicate layer (layer – duplicate layer)
- Change the blending mode to frame and duplicate that layer.
- In the previously duplicated layer, we must apply a Gaussian blur (filter – blur-Gaussian blur) with a radius around 15 pixels. Then change the blending mode to multiply.
Gretty Effect
It is one of the simplest Photoshop photo effects, but it is still useful. Broadly speaking, all we do is desaturase the image, focus it and add noise, but only with those 3 steps we get a very suitable development for urban photos.
- Duplicate the original layer
- High Pass Filter (Filter – Other – High Pass): be careful to use a radius that is too high, since then we would have some unwanted halos in our image. Therefore, it is not advisable to exceed 10 pixels. Finally, the fusion mode of the previous layer to be superimposed.
- Lower saturation (layer- new adjustment layer- hue / saturation): it will depend on the image, but is usually set around -30.
- Add noise: for this, we must create a new layer and fill it (edit – fill) with 50% gray content. Subsequently, add uniform noise (filter – noise – add noise) about 20%. Finally, set that layer with the overlay blending mode.
LOMO effect
This time it is about imitating the photo effects generated by the images resulting from lomographic cameras. Vignetting, great contrast and a shift towards a particular color are usually the most identifying features of this type of photography.
- Vignetting (filters – lens correction – custom): in vignette we must put -60 and the midpoint place it at +100.
- Vary levels: new level layer (layer- new adjustment layer – levels) and in it we will bring the black tones to the white ones to create a more contrasted image.
- Curves (layer- new adjustment layer – curves): If you look, in the same adjustment window we can click on a drop-down in which we change the RGB color to red, green or blue to modify them independently. Nor is it here that there is nothing predefined, we can simply vary the curves between to get the tack we prefer.
- Brightness and contrast (layer- new adjustment layer – brightness and contrast): it is about increasing the brightness and contrast of our image to our liking, something that will further increase the difference between black and light areas.
