How to Use Photo Filter Adjustment in Photoshop?
Back in the days of film photography, if we wanted to change the color tone, we had to attach a colored filter in front of the lens (since the film had a fixed color temperature).
If you started photography 20 years ago, you might still have many similar accessories in your gear bag.
Of course, now we can easily add filters to our photos in post-processing, which is much simpler and more precise than attaching filters during shooting.
In Photoshop's adjustment layers, there is a feature for adjusting photo filters, and it's super easy to use. Let's delve into how Photoshop photo filters can give your images a uniform and consistent tone.
In this article, you will learn:
- How to Create a Photo Filter Adjustment in Photoshop?
- How to Use Photo Filter Adjustment in Photoshop?
- Specific Example of Using Photoshop Photo Filter
How to Create a Photo Filter Adjustment in Photoshop?
When you want to give your photo a cohesive and natural tone in Photoshop and find it challenging to achieve with other adjustment layers, Photo Filter is your best bet.
Open your photo in Photoshop, then in the bottom toolbar of the Layers panel, click on the icon "Create a new fill or adjustment layer."
From the menu that appears, create a Photo Filter adjustment layer.
This will bring up the properties panel for the Photo Filter adjustment layer. You can conveniently make all your Photo Filter settings and adjustments within this panel.
How to Use Photo Filter Adjustment in Photoshop?
In the Properties panel of the Photo Filter adjustment layer, there are four sections where you can make adjustments:
- Filter: Allows you to apply a color filter directly, quickly changing the overall color tone of the image.
- Color: This opens a Color Picker, giving you more freedom to add any tone to your photo.
- Density Slider: Adjusts the intensity of this tone, with a default value of 25%.
- Preserve Luminosity: Photo filters can impact the image's luminosity. Checking this box preserves the original luminosity of the photo, which is recommended to keep checked.
Filters are essentially specific colors, acting as color presets. Clicking on the filter dropdown menu reveals 21 filter options. Some filters are named Warming or Cooling, while others directly represent the filter's color.
Warming filters typically appear orange, while Cooling filters tend to be blue.
You can select a suitable filter and adjust the density slider for the best effect.
If you don't find a color you like among the presets, you have more options! Click on the color square next to the Color name to open the Color Picker panel and choose any color you desire.
In the Color Picker panel, you can adjust the hue using the rainbow strip in the middle, and find the appropriate saturation and brightness in the square area on the left. The color you select will be displayed in the Color Picker.
Compared to filters, the Color Picker is more helpful for your detailed adjustments.
If you're struggling to find the color you like, look at the string of numbers and letters after the "#" at the bottom center of the Color Picker.
You can search for a "color chart" online to find many colors and their corresponding hexadecimal color codes. Copy the values and paste them here to get the desired color.
Specific Example of Using Photoshop Photo Filter
In this section, we'll walk through a photo color adjustment case using Photo Filter. We believe that through this simple walkthrough, you'll fall in love with this efficient color adjustment tool.
Step 1: Create an Adjustment Layer
Open your photo in Photoshop and create a Photo Filter adjustment layer, similar to adding a layer of flavored cheese on a slice of bread.
It's important to note that adjustment layers affect all layers below them. If you want the adjustment layer to only affect the layer directly below it, you'll need to create a clipping mask.
Step 2: Adjust Colors and Density
Let's say our imported photo has warm tones, but we want to give it a different vibe, maybe a cooler tone.
We didn't find a perfect option in the "Filter" dropdown menu, so we clicked on "Color" and chose a deep blue shade. Then, we adjusted the density to 100% to enhance the effect.
Adjustment complete! Compared to the original photo, the photo after using the Photo Filter adjustment now has a completely different feel.
When using adjustment layers for color grading in Photoshop, two processes can significantly slow down your efficiency. One is the repetitive creation of adjustment layers, and the other is the difficulty in making precise adjustments using the parameter sliders within the adjustment layers.
TourBox can greatly enhance your workflow efficiency and improve your creative process when using Photoshop or any other digital software.
For instance, with just a press of a button on TourBox, you can swiftly create a commonly used adjustment layer. When it comes to tweaking color parameters, turning TourBox's Knob enables you to efficiently and precisely adjust values by increments of +1 and -1.
Photoshop Photo Filter is perfect for quickly adding a specific atmosphere to your photos or correcting color casts. If you're looking to give your photos a new style, why not give this adjustment tool a try?
