Photoshop Filter Fun

Chalkboard Background

I'll admit it- I use Instagram and my iPhone a lot to take pictures. What could be more convenient than taking pictures with the one object that you always have with you? And what's better than convenience is quality. Sure, nothing beats a big 'ole DSLR on Manual, but for most everyday shots, iPhone does the trick. And with Instagram, who needs Photoshop? The good news: we can all be "photographers". The bad news: sometimes the premade Insta photo filters don't give you what you need.

By taking a photo and putting it into Photoshop and making a few quick changes, you can not only have great looking pictures, but they don't have to be square, and you can control the options!

Everyone loves a good, simple photoshop filter! So here I am to give you one. I'm going to play around with them a little more to bring a few different ones here for you guys. (Or probably gals.)

Behold: my beautiful baby. Who has been less than an angel this week due to a fever, being lethargic, and super cranky. Lets hope all he needs is a restful weekend.

Anyways.

Ok, so my photography skills (or was this taken by my sister...) aren't great. We were on our way out for a walk so the backdrop is less than to be desired. But those eyes!!

Here are the steps I took to go from "Before" to "After". Feel free to change numbers liberally to find the right settings for your image.

1. Open your image and do any necessary preliminary edits (retouching, a little lightening, ect). Keep in mind that we will be editing Levels throughout this, so don't go crazy at the start.
2. Select "New Adjustment Layer" from your Layers dropdown menu. Put your cursor on "Levels". On the menu that appears, you'll want to select where it says "RGB" and change that option to "Blue". Slide the Black Output Level arrow to the right until you're happy with the amount of Blue. I have it around 60 in the image above.
3. Next, select "New Fill Layer" from the Layers menu. You'll click Ok, and then the color picker will appear. For the purpose of this tutorial, we're going to fill it with an almost-white pink color. The code for the color I used is #feeaea.
4. WOAH your image disappeared. That's ok. With your fill layer still selected, you'll select "Multiply" from the drop down menu in your Layers window on the right side of the screen. Now you have a nice, rosy color over the whole image.
5. Select "New Adjustment Layer" again from your Layers drop down menu, and this time click "Curves". This is going to adjust some exposure in the image, so if you have one that's already super exposed, you could consider skipping this step. This step is all about preference, so you'll have to play with the curve to get the look you want. Keep in mind that moving the line to the left will saturate/expose the image, while moving it to the right will desaturate/dull the image. I clicked the line about 1/2 of the way up and moved it slightly left, since my image was exposed to begin with.
6. Lastly, we're going to add another "Adjustment Layer", click "Levels", and set "RGB" to "Green". Change your black Output arrow to somewhere around 50 (depending on preference).
7. Flatten your image when you're happy with your results, "Save for Web", and Facebook away!

Your friends will be jealous of your Instagram-like abilities, and even more impressed when you told them you did it in Photoshop!

Good luck in your future Filter endeavors, and look for more Filter Fun coming soon! And, don't forget to Pin this if it was helpful for you!