How to Use the Rough Pastels Filter in Adobe Photoshop

Original Image

Adobe Photoshop has over 15 Artistic Filters that allow the user to turn their photographic images into simulated artwork. For those of us that can't paint, these filters are ways for us to manipulate images to achieve specific effects. The effects can be enhanced when the images are printed on linen or canvas stocks. Previously, we published articles on the watercolor and paint daubs technique. This article focuses on using the ROUGH PASTELS effect tool.

Things You'll Need

• Adobe Photoshop 6.0 or later running on a MAC or PC computer
• A copy of an image for experimentation

Instructions

1. 

   Open your image copy in Adobe Photoshop and select FILTERS/ARTISTIC/ROUGH PASTELS to open the control panel. Use the PLUS and MINUS controls to look at your image in detail and in full view. Choose your subject carefully. I choose images that "don't work well" as photographs and ones that will be improved by an artistic technique. This photograph is a still life of a door knocker in Amsterdam. I chose the rough pastels tool to accent the age of this object.

2. 

   First change the light direction to the direction the light is striking the object. This will make the strokes flow in the right direction and appear more natural. In this case, the light is coming from the top right part of the image. Chose your texture and preview the changes. For this image, I thought burlap gave the best aged appearance.

3. 

   Adjust the stroke detail and stroke length until you have achieved the desired effect. Make sure you view the image detail and full view to determine the impact of the effect. When you are finished, hit OK to re-render the image. It is easy to UNDO and select new parameters if you don't like your choices. Print on a linen or canvas stock to heighten the artistic effect.

4. 

   You can chose another texture to create a different effect. This one was made using the BRICK texture. I like the canvas texture better, but it is all a matter of taste.

Tips & Warnings

• If you don't like your results click UNDO or step backwards using the HISTORY PALETTE.

• Print on a canvas or linen stock to heighten the effect. Click on resources below to check the prices.

• Always use a copy of an image preserving the original for your photo archives.