 Filters are applied to the active, visible layer or a selection.

 For 8-bits per-channel images, most filters can be applied cumulatively through the Filter Gallery. All filters can be
applied individually.
 Filters cannot be applied to Bitmap-mode or indexed-color images.
 Some filters work only on RGB images.
 All filters can be applied to 8-bit images.
 The following filters can be applied to 16-bit images: Liquify, Vanishing Point, Average Blur, Blur, Blur More, Box
Blur, Gaussian Blur, Lens Blur, Motion Blur, Radial Blur, Surface Blur, Shape Blur, Lens Correction, Add Noise,
Despeckle, Dust & Scratches, Median, Reduce Noise, Fibers, Clouds, Difference Clouds, Lens Flare, Sharpen, Sharpen
Edges, Sharpen More, Smart Sharpen, Unsharp Mask, Emboss, Find Edges, Solarize, De-Interlace, NTSC Colors,
Custom, High Pass, Maximum, Minimum, and Offset.
 The following filters can be applied to 32-bit images: Average Blur, Box Blur, Gaussian Blur, Motion Blur, Radial
Blur, Shape Blur, Surface Blur, Add Noise, Clouds, Lens Flare, Smart Sharpen, Unsharp Mask, De-Interlace, NTSC
Colors, Emboss, High Pass, Maximum, Minimum, and Offset.
 Some filters are processed entirely in RAM. If you don’t have enough available RAM to process a filter effect, you
may get an error message.
Blur Averages the pixels next to hard lines and defined edges, effectively smoothing the transition and reducing
noise.
Blur More Same effect as Blur except stronger.
Box Blur Every pixel is softened by the average color of its neighboring pixels. The larger the blur radius, the
stronger the effect.
Gaussian Blur A quick blur that uses a weighted color average of all pixels in the selection. The resulting effect is
similar to looking at the original image through a hazy but translucent screen. Used in our soft focus effect tutorial.
Lens Blur Replicates the depth-of-field effect that one gets when using a camera. Some objects stay in focus while
others are blurred out, as if at a distance.
Motion Blur Blurs in a particular direction at a given intensity. Think of it as taking a photo with a long exposure
time.
Radial Blur Blurs in a circular direction, either in Spin mode (as if the image were spun around a given point) or in
Zoom mode (as if the image were rushing at you).
Shape Blur Blurs according to a custom shape. Several custom shape presets are available out of the box.

Smart Blur Blends similar pixels together according to a given threshold, often creating a pastel effect that flattens
the image. The larger the threshold, the flatter the image.

Surface Blur Blends pixels together but avoids edges. Great for smoothing an object’s appearance without losing
its shape or definition.

Distort

The Distort category contains filters that provide a reshaping effect to the image. These take the actual image and
“move” the pixels around without any kind of blending or blurring.

Displace Shifts the pixels according to a displacement map, which is a special kind of image that dictates the
movement of each pixel
Pinch Squeezes the outside of an image towards the center of the image. Can be used negatively to expand the
image away from the center, too.

Polar Coordinates Converts the positions of pixels from rectangular coordinates to polar coordinates, which
makes the image look like it’s being reflected off a metal sphere.

Ripple Alters the selection so that it looks like it’s rippling along the surface of a body of water.

Wave A more advanced version of the Ripple filter that provides greater control.

Shear Distorts the image along a hand-drawn curve.

Spherize Makes the selection look as if it’s bulging out of the screen in a spherical shape.

Twirl Spins the selection around its center, but more intensely towards the center and less intensely as distance
from center increases.

ZigZag Distorts a selection radially around its center, but using a zigzag pattern instead of straight circles.

Noise

In image processing, noise refers to pixels that have incongruous color values — and in many cases, this means
colors that are randomly distributed. Think of it as the child of television static and a kaleidoscope.
Add Noise Creates pixels of random color at random locations across the image. Pixel distribution can be Uniform
(strictly random) or Gaussian (according to a bell curve).

Despeckle Removes noise by blurring the image everywhere except where edges are detected. Edges include any
areas that have significant changes in color.

Dust & Scratches Reduces noise across an image by finding areas with dissimilar pixels and adjusting them to be
more similar.

Median Looks for pixels of similar brightness within the selection area, discards pixels that are too dissimilar, then
applies the median brightness.

Reduce Noise Preserves edges while reducing noise across an image.

Pixelate

Filters in the Pixelate category take groups of pixels and turn their colors all the same, effectively turning them into
one bigger pixel. The different filters take different approaches to determining which pixel groupings should be
combined.

Color Halftone Replicates the halftone effect by converting the image into a series of dots of varying sizes. Dot size
is proportional to the brightness of that area of the image.

Crystallize Combines pixels in areas to form a pattern of large single-colored polygons, imitating a crystallization
effect.

Facet Groups similar-colored pixels together while retaining the general shape and form of the image.

Fragment Takes every pixel in the selection, multiplies it four times, takes the average color value, then offsets it
from the original pixel position. The result is something similar to a double-vision effect.
Mezzotint Roughens up the image according to one of several patterns that you choose. Black and white are used
in grayscale images while saturated colors are used in color images.

Mosaic Groups similar-colored pixels together into square blocks. Each block becomes one color that represents
all of the pixels that were joined to form that block.

Pointillize Fills the image with the current background color, then recreates the image using dots all over — but
not enough to fill up the whole canvas. The result resembles a pointillist painting.

Render

Unlike the filters above, Render filters generate entirely new effects from scratch that are independent from the
image itself. These randomly generated images are great when you need a starting point for a particular kind of
visual effect.

Clouds Creates a cloud-like pattern using the current foreground and background colors.

Difference Clouds Does the same thing as the Clouds filter, but follows up by applying the resulting cloud pattern
to the current selection using the Difference blending mode.

Fibers Creates a fibers-woven-together pattern using the current foreground and background colors.

Lens Flare Creates a circular lens flare effect that simulates what happens when a light is shined into a camera
lens.

Lighting Effects Transforms the image as if different kinds of lights were shined on it. Comes with 17 different
presets, but you can also create your own.

Sharpen

The Sharpen category is the opposite of the Blur category. When an image is sharpened, pixels of similar color are
altered to improve contrast, which reduces the look of softness.

Sharpen Improves clarity by reducing blur and increasing contrast.

Sharpen More Same effect as Sharpen except stronger.

Sharpen Edges Detects edges, which are areas in the image where the color changes significantly, and sharpens
them by increasing contrast. Non-edges are left untouched.

Unsharp Mask Similar to Sharpen Edges, except it also provides variables that you can adjust for more precise
control over the contrast adjustment of edges.

Smart Sharpen More advanced algorithm for sharpening that grants you more control by letting you adjust the
different variables involved.