Artistic filters and effects


    The commands in the Artistic submenu in the Filter or Effect menu apply a painterly or special effect for a fine-arts or commercial project. For example, use the Cutout filter for collages or type treatment. The Artistic effects aren't available for documents in CMYK color mode.

    Note: The Artistic effects are raster-based and use the document's raster effects settings whenever you apply the effect to a vector object. (See Specifying raster effects settings.)

    Tip iconIf you apply these commands from the Effect menu, you can use the Appearance palette to modify or remove the effects from your object. (See Modifying and removing appearance attributes.)

    Colored Pencil

    Draws an image using colored pencils on a solid background. Important edges are retained and given a rough crosshatch appearance; the solid background color shows through the smoother areas.

    Cutout

    Portrays an image as though it were made from roughly cut-out pieces of colored paper. High-contrast images appear as if in silhouette; colored images are built up as if from several layers of colored paper.

    Dry Brush

    Paints the edges of the image using a dry-brush technique (between oil and watercolor). The filter simplifies an image by reducing its range of colors.

    Film Grain

    Applies an even pattern to the shadow tones and midtones of an image. A smoother, more saturated pattern is added to the image's lighter areas. This filter is useful for eliminating banding in blends and visually unifying elements from various sources.

    Fresco

    Paints an image in a coarse manner using short, rounded strokes as if hastily applied. For more information on using this command's texturizing options, see Using texture and glass surface controls.

    Neon Glow

    Adds various types of glows to the objects in an image. This filter is useful for colorizing an image while softening its look. To select a glow color, click the glow box and select a color from the color picker.

    Paint Daubs

    Lets you choose from various brush sizes (from 1 to 50) and types for a painterly effect. Brush types include simple, light rough, light dark, wide sharp, wide blurry, and sparkle.

    Palette Knife

    Reduces detail in an image to give the effect of a thinly painted canvas that reveals the texture underneath.

    Plastic Wrap

    Coats the image as if in shiny plastic, accentuating the surface detail.

    Poster Edges

    Reduces the number of colors in an image according to the Posterization value you set, then finds the edges of the image and draws black lines on them. Broader areas of the image have simple shading, while fine, dark detail is distributed throughout the image.

    Rough Pastels

    Makes an image appear as if stroked with colored pastel chalk on a textured background. In areas of bright color, the chalk appears thick with little texture; in darker areas, the chalk appears scraped off to reveal the texture. For more information on using this command's texturizing options, see Using texture and glass surface controls.

    Smudge Stick

    Softens an image using short diagonal strokes to smudge or smear the darker areas of the images. Lighter areas become brighter and lose detail.

    Sponge

    Creates images with highly textured areas of contrasting color as if painted with a sponge.

    Underpainting

    Paints the image on a textured background, and then paints the final image over it. For more on the options for this command, see Using texture and glass surface controls.

    Watercolor

    Paints the image in a watercolor style, simplifying details and using a medium brush loaded with water and color. Where significant tonal changes occur at edges, the filter saturates the color.