Filters - Adobe Photoshop Elements 11 for Photographers - page 357

Sharpen filters
Enhance >
Unlike earlier versions of Elements where
the sharpening filters were located under
the Filter menu, now all the sharpening
filters are grouped in the Enhance menu.
There are three sharpening options includ-
ing the ever-reliable Unsharp Mask fea-
ture.
Auto Sharpen - This auto only option
works in a similar way to the Quick Fix Auto
sharpen button (which is based on Unsharp
Mask) providing a single click sharpening
result.
Unsharp Mask - The Unsharp Mask filter
provides the greatest control over the
sharpening process by giving the user three
sliders to alter the way the effect is applied
to your pictures. The Amount slider con-
trols the strength of the sharpening effect.

The Radius slider value determines the
number of pixels around the edge that are
affected by the sharpening. The Threshold
slider is used to determine how different
the pixels must be before they are consid-
ered an edge and therefore sharpened.
Adjust Sharpness - The Adjust Sharpness
feature provides all the control that we
are familiar with in the Unsharp Mask dia-
log plus better edge detection abilities,
which leads to better results and in par-
ticular less apparent sharpening halos.
The feature's dialog contains a zoomable
preview, two slider controls (Amount and
Radius), a drop - down menu to choose the
sharpening approach used and a More Re-
fined option.
Example images above: Left - No sharp-
ening. Right - Unsharp Mask filter with
Amount 500, Radius 1.0 and Threshold 0.

Shear filter
Filter > Distort > Shear
The Shear filter creates a twisted and push/
pulled version of the original photo.
The filter dialog contains an interactive ef-
fect box that contains a graph and a con-
trol line. Using the mouse the user can add
control points to the line and push, pull
and twist the line within the confines of
the graph. The distortions are then reflect-
ed in the preview thumbnail at the bottom
of the screen.
Also included are two options for control-
ling the way that the undefined areas are
handled. Wrapping uses the picture parts
on the opposite side of the frame to fill the
space whereas the Repeat Edge Pixels op-
tion duplicates the color and brightness of
the detail at the edge of the distortion.

Smudge Stick filter
Filter > Artistic > Smudge Stick
The Smudge Stick filter recreates the pho-
to so that it looks like it has been drawn
with coarse pastels or crayons.
The filter dialog contains several controls
that adjust the look and feel of the effect.
The settings used for the Stroke Length
determine the strength of the effect. High
values create a coarse result.
The Highlight Area slider sets the bright-
ness of the middle and shadow areas.
The Intensity option controls how much of
the original image detail is retained. Low
values maintain much of the detail from
the original photo.

Solarize filter
Filter > Stylize > Solarize
The Solarize filter, as one of the group of
Stylize filters, simulates the look of when
a color photograph is exposed to light dur-
ing its processing. This traditional photo-
graphic effect is called solarization.
The filter contains no controls to adjust the
strength or look of the effect. The end re-
sult is based on inverting some of the hues
of the unfiltered image and then adding
them back to the picture in combination
with the original colors.

Spatter filter
Filters > Brush Strokes > Spatter
The Spatter filter repaints the colors and
tones of the photo with a spattered spray
paint effect.
The filter has two slider controls to adjust
the way that the filtered result appears.
The Spray Radius slider determines the
strength of the effect and how much of
the original photo detail is retained. Low
values retain more detail.
The Smoothness control varies the way that
the color is applied to the picture. High val-
ues create an almost watercolor- like effect,
whereas low values produce a detailed
spattered result.