In this movie, I'll show you how to apply and blend
a smart filter.
Specifically, we'll be using Gaussian Blur
in order to create a diffusion effect
that helps to smooth out skin texture and colors
inside a portrait shot.
Now, because we're starting with a flat image,
the first step is to double-click on the background
here inside the layers panel,
and name the new layer, let's say Thinker,
and then click OK.
All right, now we need to convert the image
to a smart object,
and I've been doing that by right-clicking inside the image
and choosing Convert to Smart Object.
But there's other ways to work,
just in case you're interested.
One is to go to the Layers panel fly-out menu
W,and then choose Convert to Smart Object,
and then another is to go up to the filter menu
and choose this command right there,
FConvert for Smart Filters.
It does exactly the same thing.
A.And so notice, when I choose this command,
I get an alert message that tells me,
Hey, you're about to create a smart object."
If you never want to see this command,
then go ahead and turn on the Don't show again checkbox !
and then click OK. "
And you can see that we once again have a little page icon #
in the bottom-left corner of the layers thumbnail. $
And it tells us that we're looking at a smart object. %
T*<All right, the next step is to go up to the Filter menu &
and either, if you've been working along with me, '
choose this very first command. (
Or you can drop down to the Blur menu )
and choose Gaussian Blur. *
~1@And I'm going to go ahead and apply a whopping radius value +
of 30 pixels, ,
which is just going to absolutely blur the heck -
out of this image, .
and then I'll click OK. /
All right, now the trick to this diffusion effect 0
is to blend the Gaussian Blur effect 1
And you do that, either by right-clicking 3
on the name of the filter here inside the Layers panel 4
and then choosing Edit Smart Filter Blending Options, 5
a@<or you can just double-click on this little slider icon 6
to the right of the words "Gaussian Blur." 7
Either way, Photoshop will bring up 8
the Blending Options dialog box. 9
AAnd there's a couple of different ways you can go from here. :
You can change the blend mode if you like ;
to something like Lighten <
I>in order to create a kind of chiseled effect if you like, =
and of course you can modify the opacity value as well. >
L6You can also get a chiseled effect out of darken, ?
which is just going to save the darker pixels @
instead of the brighter ones. A
Q)All we're really looking for, though, B
is a more photographic effect. C
So let's stick with normal. D
T>And then we'll take the opacity value down to 50 percent. E
YsV1And what that's doing is blending 50 percent F
Wof the filtered effect G
CX6with 50 percent of the unfiltered, original image H
at which point you can go ahead and click OK I
in order to accept that change. J
],Now I want to apply another smart filter K
in the form of a command that lives under the Image menu L
under the Adjustment sub-menu. M
_b0And it goes by the name Shadows/Highlights. N
And of all the adjustments in this list, O
`e>only Shadows/Highlights and HDR Toning are actual filters P
as opposed to color adjustments, Q
because they make their modifications R
based on the proximity of neighboring pixels, S
as opposed to modifying all pixels in an image uniformly. T
Anyway, I'm going to go ahead and choose that command U
p(and if you're working along with me, V
you want to make sure to turn on W
dq#this Show More Options checkbox X
s"so that you have more control. Y
And as you may recall from the Fundamentals course, Z
Shadows/Highlights allows you to brighten the shadows [
and darken the highlights \
in order to reduce the contrast of an image.
And so I'm going to change the Shadows Amount value to 20. ^
g{-Then I'll tab to the Shadows Radius value _
|2and take it up to 200 so we have fewer halos. `
Then I'll tab to the Highlights Amount value a
and take it up to 30, b
and then I'll tab to its Radius value c
and take it up to 200 as well, d
which once again is going to spread out those halos. e
Now, I'll tab all the way down to the Midtone value f
and I'll raise it to 50 g
in order to produce this effect here. h
dH8And then I'll click OK in order to apply my change. i
Now, if you were to turn off the Shadows/Highlights effect j
and then turn it back on, k
of the image. m
That's not what I want to do, n
t6so I'm going to apply a blend mode to this filter o
by double-clicking on its slider icon p
}p9in order to bring up the Blending Options dialog box q
and this time I'll change the mode r
from normal to Luminosity s
and leaving the colors alone, u
at which point I'll go ahead and click OK v
to accept that change. w
Now, the wonderful advantages to working with smart filters x
as opposed to applying traditional filters to static pixels y
l:is that you can edit your settings any time you like. z
So for example, I can turn Gaussian Blur off {
to the Shadows/Highlights effect. }
Or I can turn Gaussian Blur back on ~
and turn Shadows/Highlights off 
strictly with a Gaussian Blur effect.
I can also go ahead and turn Shadows/Highlights back on
and double-click on either of these filters
to edit it.
Now, if I double-click on the words Shadows/Highlights,
then I'll bring up the Shadows/Highlights dialog box
complete with my last applied settings.
But things work a little differently,
if I double-click on any other filter in the stack.
So for example, because I applied Gaussian Blur first,
if I double click on it, I'm going to get a warning.
And this warning is telling me
that any smart filters stacked on top
of this particular filter will not preview
while the current filter is being edited.
And so in other words, if I click OK,
Photoshop is going to temporarily turn off
Shadows/Highlights
and show me the effect of just Gaussian Blur
and any other filters behind it.
And so that means that I could raise that radius value
if I wanted to, and then click OK.
Now, that doesn't happen to be what I want,
so I'll just press Control-Z, or Command-Z on the Mac,
lto undo that change.
AAnother thing you can do is change the order of the filters.
And so for example, I could grab Shadows/Highlights
and drag it down below Gaussian Blur
in order to produce a slightly different effect
as if Shadows/Highlights had been applied first
and Gaussian Blur had been applied second
at which point, if I now double-click on Gaussian Blur
I will no longer get that warning,
and I can make any sort of modification that I like.
In my case, I'm just going to escape out
and I'm going to press Control-Z or Command-Z on the Mac
to reinstate that first order of filters.
That is Gaussian Blur first and Shadows/Highlights second.
And just to see what we've been able to accomplish,
I'll click on the eye in front of all of the smart filters
right there in front of what's known as the filter mask,
in order to see the before version of the image,
and then if I press Control or Command-Z,
I will reinstate the filters and see the after version