Smart filtering with the Lens blur filter
In Chapter 1 of my Adobe Photoshop CS3 for Photographers book, I provided a brief example of how one might apply the Lens Blur filter to a Smart Object in Photoshop CS3 and keep the background blur settings editable. However, it was pointed out to me just recently that the Lens Blur filter is actually disabled in CS3 when you seek to apply it to a Smart Object. This is one of those things that I failed to notice as I was finalizing the book and it seems that I am not the only author who got caught out by this late change to the program. Fortunately there is an easy remedy for accessing Lens Blur as a Smart Filter.
At first, disabling Lens Blur for Smart Objects seems like an odd thing to have done, because if you can use the Lens Blur to make a background go out of focus, you might well want the opportunity to re-edit those settings at a later date and work from an original, unblurred image – an ideal case for using Smart Filters. But then it was explained to me that one of the key features of the Lens Blur filter is its ability to reference an alpha channel and use this as a depth map to control the level of blurring across different parts of the image. This is indeed a useful feature, but it did have the potential to cause confusion when working with Smart Filters. Imagine you had applied the Lens Blur filter to a Smart Object layer and had referenced an alpha channel in the source document. If you were to later edit the alpha channel in the source document, the Smart Object layer would not register any change, no change that is until the next time you double-clicked to open the Lens Blur filter. Doing that would cause the smart filter to reference the alpha channel again and if the channel had been edited, you would only then see a new rendering of the Lens Blur filter. Figure 1 has a summary taken from chapter 1 of my book that shows the Lens Blur being used as a smart filter to blur the background in a photo.
Figure 1. In this example I opened a raw DNG image as a Smart Object and added a normal pixel layer of a backdrop image, which I then converted to become a Smart Object layer. I then added a layer mask to reveal the model on the layer below. Once a layer or group of layers have been converted to a Smart Object, one can then apply Smart Filters. Here, you can see how I applied a Lens Blur filter to the Smart Object and applied a gradient to the Smart Filters mask to reveal some of the unsharpened detail in the original pixel layer.
Now to be honest, if you are the type of person who is inclined to use the Lens Blur filter with depth maps, you are probably going to be OK coping with anomalies like this. The good news is that although the Lens Blur has been disabled to get around Photoshop’s inability to ‘paramertize’ the depth map settings, there is a simple way to override this behavior.
How to enable the Lens Blur filter
Help is at hand though in the form of a script that you will find inside your Adobe Photoshop CS3 application folder. Here are the instructions you need to enable all filters:
1. To enable Smart Filters for all plug-ins, go to the File ➯ Scripts menu in Photoshop CS3 and choose Browse…
2. This will open a system navigation window and from there you will want to use the following directory path: Adobe Photoshop CS3 folder/Scripting Guide/Sample Scripts/Javascript and select: EnableAllPluginsforSmartFilters.jsx (shown here is the Macintosh navigation window, but the PC directory path is exactly the same).
3. Once you have located the EnableAllPluginsforSmartFilters.jsx script, you can click Load or double-click to run it, which will then show the Script Alert dialog. If you wish to proceed, click ‘Yes’ and the Lens Blur including all other filters will now be accessible for use as smart filters. If you want to turn off this behavior, run through the same steps described here and click ‘No’ when the Script Alert dialog shows.
The benefits and pitfalls of enabling all filters
Now that you can see how simple it is to enable all filters, it is tempting to leave this as the new default. Which you can do of course, but it is worth bearing in mind that it is not just the Lens Blur you are gaining access to, but all filters that were previously unavailable for use as smart filters. However, unlike the Lens Blur, some of these do not fit in well with a smart filter workflow.
Basically, smart filters are intended for use with value based filters only: things like the Add Noise or Unsharp mask filter. They do not work well with filters that use brushes, such as ‘Liquify’. With ‘all filters enabled’ you can add Liquify as a smart filter, but the usefulness of doing so is restricted to turning an applied Liquify filter on or off. For example, you won’t be able to tweak the Liquify settings. If you double-click a Liquify filter in a filter stack it will cancel the current liquify settings and reopen the Liquify dialog with it reset to show no adjustments. This is not exactly what you would expect to happen here, but it does at least allow you to experiment with various liquify treatments and use the History palette to compare different liquified versions of an image. Likewise, if you adjust any filters in a smart filter stack, these too will force the Liquify dialog to reopen, with everything reset again.
Third-party plug-ins
With third-party plug-ins, the same rules apply, except you will find that those plug-ins that have been recently updated for CS3 should have an embedded smart filter marker that will automatically make them compatible with Smart Filters in CS3. If that is not the case, then enabling all filters in the way I describe here will help your get around such restrictions. But again, with the same provisos as before. Any filter you apply as a smart filter must be a ‘value based’ filter if it is to fit in successfully with a smart filter workflow.
My thanks to Uwe Steinmuelller for pointing out the ‘enable all filters’ script to me.
Adobe Photoshop CS3 for Photographers is published by Focal Press and can be purchased directly from Focal plus all the usual book publishing outlets.
This latest edition is 704 pages and comes with a DVD disk containing a CS3 Help Guide plus movie tutorials.
As a special perk for PhotoshopNews readers, Martin has made his Chapter 1: What’s New in Photoshop CS3 available for free download.
The 24 page PDF, outlines all the new features of Photoshop CS3 and Bridge 2, written from a user’s perspective. It offers an honest appraisal of what is on offer in Photoshop CS3.
Click here to download the PDF (4.05 MB)
You can also access a Photoshop News story on the latest Camera Raw 4.1 update and download a printable PDF supplement the book: Camera Raw 4.1 Update (2.5 MB)
Original post by Martin Evening
Written by PhotoShop News.Photoshop for Photographers: ACR 4.1 update
Martin Evening, author of Adobe Photoshop CS3 for Photographers has published an update to working with Adobe Camera Raw 4.1. This feature story is being published exclusively on PhotoshopNews and is an adaptation of some of the Lightroom-News stories that were published earlier in the summer to coincide with the announcement of the Lightroom 1.1 update.
ACR 4.1 update contents
This featured story contains information about working with all the new tools found in the Adobe Camera Raw 4.1 update. The topics covered are:
Clarity slider
Capture Sharpening for a sharp start
Sharpening presets
Sharpening portraits
Sharpening landscapes
How to save Sharpen settings as presets
Getting to know what the sharpening sliders do
How to download the sample sharpening image
Evaluating at a 1:1 view
Luminance targeted sharpening
Sharpening effect sliders:
Amount slider
Radius slider
The suppression controls
Detail slider
Interpreting the grayscale sharpening preview
Quick summary of the grayscale sharpening
Masking slider
Applying manual sharpening adjustments
Noise reduction
Lens Corrections panel
All Edges corrections
Synchronized spotting with Adobe Camera Raw
This feature story is provided […]
Original post by PSN Editorial Staff
Written by PhotoShop News.Photoshop CS3 VM Buffering Optional Extensions-MAC Only
Adobe has released optional plug-in extensions for the purpose of altering Photoshop CS3 and Photoshop CS3 Extended’s method of caching when a Macintosh computer has over 4 gigs of ram installed.
From the Read Me:
(note, the Read Me is not included in the download and is available only from the download location)
VM BUFFERING IN PHOTOSHOP CS3
On Macintosh computers, Photoshop can directly access up to about 3.5GB. When there is more than 3.5GB of document data, Photoshop writes data to its scratch files as necessary. On a computer with 4GB or less of RAM, the data is transferred directly between the scratch files on disk and the Photoshop RAM. On a computer with more than 4GB of RAM, Photoshop tells the operating system to use the extra RAM as a buffer for the Photoshop scratch file. In this case, when document data no longer fits in the 3.5GB of Photoshop RAM […]
Original post by PSN Editorial Staff
Written by PhotoShop News.NAPP Releases New Training for Adobe Photoshop CS3
Available as Online Courses or Instructional DVD Featuring Dave Cross, Matt Kloskowski, and Corey Barker
Press Release: TAMPA, Fla.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–As the foremost training and educational authority on Adobe® Photoshop®, the National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP) is proud to announce the release of three new Photoshop® CS3 training classes: Adobe® Photoshop® CS3 for Beginners, Adobe® Photoshop® CS3 Power Session and Adobe® Photoshop® CS3 Channels.
Created by NAPP education and curriculum developers Dave Cross, Matt Kloskowski, and Corey Barker, these new courses are available in either DVD format at www.photoshopvideos.com or as a 21-day online course at www.photoshoptraining.com, giving Photoshop users of all skill levels the opportunity to customize their Photoshop CS3 curriculum, as well as the freedom to choose the most convenient and effective method to learn to master the newest Photoshop.
Adobe Photoshop CS3 for Beginners a perfect jumping-on point for new and relatively inexperienced Photoshop users. Dave Cross goes over a […]
Original post by PSN Editorial Staff
Written by PhotoShop News.New Photoshop CS3 tutorials on photoshopforphotographers.com
First copies of Martin Evening’s new book: Adobe Photoshop CS3 for Photographers have just come off the press and are about to go on sale soon.
In preparation for the launch of this latest edition to the Adobe Photoshop for Photographers series, Martin has updated the book website to provide some sample pages and chapter extracts that you can download for free.
Adobe Photoshop CS3 for Photographers is published by Focal Press and will be available from most major bookstores and the usual online booksellers such as Amazon US, Amazon UK and Barnes & Noble.
The following sample page extracts are made available in PDF form and you can also click on the links to download some of the images that have been used so that you can try some of the tips and tricks out for yourself.
What’s New in Adobe Photoshop CS3
This is the most recent version of the introduction […]
Original post by PSN Editorial Staff
Written by PhotoShop News.Bought Photoshop, but really want Extended?
John Nack on his Adobe blog posts about “Buyer’s Remorse” (or that sinking feeling you get when you think you’ve bought the wrong version) that some people are feeling after opting not to get the Photoshop CS3 Extended upgrade.
Says John:
In the last few days, a couple of people have remarked that they’ve purchased Photoshop CS3, only to realize later that they really want Photoshop Extended. There’s no upgrade path that lets you go CS3->CS3 Extended for less than the price of the CS2->Extended upgrade, but you do have another option: Adobe Customer Service can work with you to return your standard license, then purchase an upgrade to Extended instead.
They point out that only customers within the 30-day money back guarantee window can return/swap product; more details on that.
Read the original post
Original post by Jeff Schewe
Written by PhotoShop News.CS3: Switching platforms, free upgrades
From John Nack’s Adobe blog comes this bit of info regarding upgrades and platform switches…
Q. Can I switch my product from Windows to Mac or vice-versa?
A. Yes. Just call Adobe Customer Service (800-833-6687 in the US; 020 7365 0733 in the UK; more country-by-country numbers here) for assistance. The process, as I understand it, involves signing an agreement stating that you’ve destroyed the product on one platform, and in return Adobe will send you the product for the other platform. According to the service folks, there may be a cost involved; verification of product is required; and restrictions apply.
Q. Why are Customer Service hold times so long?
A. The CS3 launch is far and away the single biggest in Adobe’s history, and during the first week or so I heard many stories of long waits on hold. I’m not surprised that the phone lines were slammed, and although I’m not hearing […]
Original post by PSN Editorial Staff
Written by PhotoShop News.Adobe Creative Suite 3 Video Workshop
The elves at Adobe have been busy…producing video tutorials about all the various products in the Creative Suite 3 including a ton of “tuts” for Photoshop CS3 and Photoshop CS3 Extended. Broadband net connections suggested.
Direct Creative Suite 3 Video Workshop link
We particularly like John Nack’s videos and his snazzy new headshot for this tutorial about Photoshop CS3’s new Auto-Align feature. Nice shot John…
Written by PhotoShop News.
Original post by PSN Editorial Staff
Written by PhotoShop News.On the fence about CS3? Demos now available
If you aren’t sure yet if Photoshop CS3 Extended (or any of the Creative Suites) are for you, you can now download the demos (30 day trials) from Adobe.com. English versions only so far…click here for the download link.
Original post by PSN Editorial Staff
Written by PhotoShop News.PictureCode Releases UB Version of Noise Ninja for Mac Photoshop CS3
The Noise Ninja plug-in is now available for the Photoshop CS3 running natively on Intel Mac. This offers a significant speedup compared to the emulated execution that was necessary for Photoshop CS2 running on Intel Mac. The official release is available on the download page. The Windows version (v2.1.3) is already compatible with CS3.
Original post by PSN Editorial Staff
Written by PhotoShop News.