Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
than vice versa. The Gallery makes it easy to play around and see which order gives you the
look you want. This layer-like behavior of the filters in the Gallery is only for previewing,
though—your document doesn't include any new layers after you apply the filter(s).
The Gallery is more for artistic filters than for corrective ones. You can't apply filters in the
Adjustments and Noise categories from here, for instance. All the Gallery filters are in the
artistic, brushstroke, distort, sketch, stylize, and texture categories. (The next section includes
an overview of all the filter categories.)
The Filter Gallery window is divided into three panes. On the left is a preview of what your
image will look like when you apply the filter(s). The center pane holds thumbnails of the
different filters, and the right side contains the settings for the current filter. Your
filter layers
(which, technically, Adobe calls “Effects layers”) are at the bottom of the settings pane,
where you can see what filters you've applied, add or subtract filters, and change their order.
NOTE
As noted above, you don't create any new, permanent layers when you use the Filter
Gallery. Filter layers work something like regular layers (see
Chapter 6
), but they're just
what you might call “working layers”: They're only to help you figure out which order to
apply filters in; they don't actually become new layers in your image. In other words, you
have separate filter layers only until you click OK in the Filter Gallery; then all your
chosen filters get applied to the image in the order you specified. You can't apply various
filters via the Filter Gallery, close your photo, come back later, and still see the filters as
individual, changeable layers in the Gallery. And most important, the filters become part
of the regular layer to which you apply them.
Also, if you've used a recent version of the full-featured Photoshop, be aware that Ele-
ments doesn't create editable smart filters the way Photoshop does—it handles filters the
way
early
versions of Photoshop (CS2 and below) did. Keep this in mind if you're trying
to do something based on instructions written for Photoshop (directions you found online,
say).
In addition to letting you adjust the settings for a given filter, the Filter Gallery lets you per-
form a few other tricks:
▪
Adjust your view of the image
. In the Gallery's lower-left corner, click the percentage
or the up/down triangles (you see only one triangle in Windows) next to it to bring up a
list of preset views to choose from. You can also click the + and - buttons to zoom in or
