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There are many ways to add a
variety of effects to an image to add drama, flair or a
sense of softness. The use of filters makes experimenting with different looks
simple and fun.
There are many to choose from,
and one that creates excellent results, give the user the freedom to
customize, and is FREE, is Virtual
Photographer by OptikVerve Labs. There are
directions on the OptikVerve
Labs website that will
step you through
installing the filter
onto your system, and
setting it up into the filters folder of your graphics
program.
Once it is installed you can choose to run your
filter on a color or black
& white image for different
results. In particular, the preset of Dreamy and Ambience
provide soft results. In Adobe Photoshop, you can choose
to fade the filter after you run it to lessen its effect
on the photo. At right you can see several of the preset
effects built into the filter on both a color photo and
a black & white photo. As you
see, the effect is quite
intense, so add it to a
separate layer of the
photo and then decrease
the opacity of this
filtered layer for a
subtler effect. Each of these are customizable,
as well, right within
the plug-in filter.
So many wonderful looks...so many
wonderful layouts are possible!
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