Photoshop effects for your photos

Taking pictures with a camera or mobile phone is a hobby that many enjoy today. Likewise, the development of digital tools for retouching photographs is increasingly advanced. Photoshop for photos stands out among them, especially thanks to all the accesses and tools provided for editing.

Photoshop is one of those programs that a lot of people know about, but not everyone knows how to use properly. It is capable of taking photos with very interesting effects and it is worth studying it, at least briefly, to be aware of its full potential.

Sometimes it may seem more attractive to pay for an app that does the work for you, but learning how to use free Photoshop filters will help you increase your creativity and get better photos without costing you more money.

Consequently, here we offer you a small guide with the steps to follow to learn how to edit photos in Photoshop by applying various simple filters that will help you become familiar with the program’s tools, in order to get the most out of it:

1. Black and white in Photoshop

Learning how to do Photoshop can start with mastering the tools to change the color tone in a photograph and what better way to start than with classic black and white.

Putting a black and white image in Photoshop gives it much more character, since the contrasts of the photograph are accentuated by marking each of the lines and this gives it a mysterious and dramatic touch.

1) Open your image in the program from File – Open and duplicate it by right clicking on Background – Duplicate Layer or also by pressing the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + J.

2) Now right click on the duplicate layer and select Convert to Smart Object option.

3) Go to Image and in the drop-down menu enter the Adjustments section, and then select Black and white, which will change the hue of your image automatically.

4) A dialog box will also open with tools to adjust the tones, color and saturation, as well as an Ok button in case you are comfortable with the automatic change.

2. Bokeh effect

If you are interested in learning how to take a photo with special effects; One of the most popular Photoshop filters is the Bokeh effect. This one can look quite good in portraits as it adds a different and delicate style in a way that is almost magical.

With this filter you can easily make a photo with effects that is striking in a discreet way and without looking too edited or loaded, so it is a good alternative to start mastering the application’s tools.

1) Start by finding a bokeh image on the internet, there are all colors and types, but we advise you to use a dark one.

2) With your photo already in Photoshop, go to the Background layer and place the image you downloaded on top.

3) In Mode select the Multiply option and adjust the opacity to your liking.

3. vintage effect

A good trick to make original portrait photos is applying an aged effect and for this we have the vintage filter in Photoshop , which can be generated in a few steps.

This type of photographic effects manages to convey feelings in the viewer and even evoke nostalgia in those who look at them, mainly due to the desaturation of colors that makes the image appear to be from a bygone era and, if you decide to add grain in Photoshop, you can even look like an analog photograph.

1) With the image ready in Photoshop, go on to create a new layer by clicking on Layer – New – Layer which should be a deep blue color, with an Exclusion blending mode and with the opacity lowered.

2) To add noise in Photoshop, go to the Filters section and click on it to access a menu of options within the program.

3) Choose Noise – Add Noise and this will bring up a dialog, where you can adjust the parameters . Press Ok when you are satisfied.

4) To change the hue select Settings in the left box of the screen and then Hue/Saturation, where you can change the Preset to Sepia for desaturation.

4. Gingham Effect

If you are looking for good ideas for Photoshop, we can recommend the Gingham filter. Among the photo effects, this one was previously mostly used in videos, but nowadays it is popular in all kinds of photography.

After inserting the image into Photoshop and applying the filter, you’ll get a smooth style result , which is very effective if you’re aiming to decrease color saturation in a photo.

1) After opening your image in Photoshop, go to the top toolbar and select Layer – New Adjustment Layer – Exposure.

2) A layer will be created where you can modify the parameters and you will have to increase the Offset and Gamma Correction until you get muted dark tones.

3) Go back to the Layer section and now choose New Adjustment Layer – Levels, to now generate Levels 1 which, when selected, will let you increase the contrast by moving the slider to the right.

4) Repeat the Adjustment Layer process, but this time select Hue/Saturation, to proceed to decrease it.

5) To finish, create a new layer in the image and within the dialog box decrease the opacity, select the blue color and put it in Soft Light mode before pressing Ok.

5. Orton Effect

The Orton effect is considered one of the classics when you want to create backgrounds for Photoshop, since it looks great in landscape images , especially natural photography.

Mastering this effect will help you learn to use basic tools, so you can reap its benefits in other styles and create stunning photos of all kinds on your PC.

1) Open the image you want to edit and duplicate its layer by choosing Layer – Duplicate Layer changing the blend mode to Screen.

2) Now duplicate the new layer.

3) On the previous layer, now select Filter – Blur – Gaussian Blur by altering the radius to 15 pixels and change the blending mode to Multiply.