Applying Photoshop Effects


The effects that we have discussed to this point are considered Illustrator effects, and for the most part, they are vector in nature and make adjustments to vector paths (with the obvious exception of the Rasterize effect and most of the Stylize effects).

However, Illustrator also has the ability to apply a variety of purely pixel-based effects to any object, group, or layer. These effects are grouped together under the Photoshop Effects section of the Effect menu. The same rules as to how effects are applied through the Effect menu and edited via the Appearance palette apply to these effects as well.

In truth, the Photoshop effects that are found at the bottom portion of the Effect menu are really Photoshop filters. You can copy Photoshop filters and plugins into the Illustrator Plug-ins folder (found in the same folder in which the Illustrator application file appears), and those appear listed in the Effect menu as well.

At first, it may seem unnatural to find that you can apply a Gaussian Blur or an Unsharp Mask in Illustrator, but you'll quickly find that you can achieve wonderful designs and cool effects by employing Photoshop filters like Crystallize and Mezzotint. Some of the Graphic Styles libraries that ship with Illustrator employ a variety of these effects, and by reverse engineering them, you can learn how to use them.

Featured Match-Up: Illustrator Effects vs. Photoshop Effects

At first glance, it may appear that the Illustrator effects are purely vector in nature and the Photoshop effects are raster-based ones, but this isn't true. Effects like Feather and Drop Shadow, which appear in the Stylize submenu, are listed as Illustrator effects and they produce raster content. So what then is the distinction between Illustrator and Photoshop effects?

The difference is relatively simple, yet absolutely critical: resolution.

At the beginning of the chapter, we learned how the Document Raster Effects Settings dialog determines the resolution at which effects are rasterized when the document is either flattened or printed. But the setting is also important for determining the appearance of some effects. Let's take a look at an example.

1.

Open the Document Raster Effects Settings dialog and set the resolution to 72 ppi and Click OK.

2.

Draw two identical circles.

3.

Apply a Feather effect to one circle (an Illustrator effect) and a Gaussian Blur effect to the other (a Photoshop effect) and then observe the results (Figure 7.88).

Figure 7.88. Shown is a circle with a Feather effect applied (left), and a circle with a Gaussian Blur effect applied (right). Both appear similar.


4.

Now open the Document Raster Effects Settings dialog, change the resolution to 300 ppi, and click OK. Observe the results of the effects (Figure 7.89).

Figure 7.89. The circle with the Feather (left) remains unchanged in appearance, but the circle with the Gaussian Blur (right) now displays differently than it did before the change in resolution.


You'll notice that the appearance of the Gaussian Blur effect has changed, but the Feather effect remained the same. This happens because the Gaussian Blur effect (and all Photoshop effects, for that matter) uses absolute measurements to calculate the effect. You'll notice the Gaussian Blur effect dialog specifies the blur value in pixels (Figure 7.90, next page). Changing the resolutionthe number of pixels in your filechanges the appearance of your effect. In contrast, the Feather effectand all Illustrator effectsuses relative units to calculate the effect (Figure 7.91, next page). The Feather dialog specifies the feather value in inches (or whatever measurement system you've chosen in preferences), so when you change the resolution setting, Illustrator simply adjusts the number of pixels it uses in the effect, as needed.

Figure 7.90. The Gaussian Blur effect uses pixels to calculate the effect.


Figure 7.91. The Feather effect uses relative units (in this case, inches) to calculate the effect.


Overall, we refer to Photoshop effects as below-the-line effects because they appear below the divider line in the Effect menu (Figure 7.92). When using below-the-line effects, it's best to ensure that your Document Raster Effects Setting is correct before you begin working on your design. Otherwise, the appearance of your artwork will change when you adjust it later (or if your printer adjusts it). If you use above-the-line effects (Illustrator effects), you can get better performance by leaving the Document Raster Effects Setting at a lower resolution until you are about the send the file out for high-end output.

Figure 7.92. All effects that appear below the line are considered Photoshop Effects and are resolution dependent.



A Gallery of Effects

Going through each Photoshop Effect listed in the Effect menu is beyond the scope of this book, but one feature that really makes it easy to experiment with a wide range of Photoshop effects is the Effects Gallery. If you're familiar with Photoshop's Filter Gallery feature, you'll find that the Effects Gallery is the same. To use this feature, you have to be in an RGB document (see "CMYK Need Not Apply," on the next page). Once you've targeted an object, group, or layer, choose Effect > Effects Gallery, which opens the Filter Gallery dialog. The dialog is split into three main sections: a preview on the left; a list of the different effects that you can apply in the center; and the parameters for the selected effect on the right (Figure 7.93).

Figure 7.93. You can literally spend hours going through all the kinds of effects that are in the Filter Gallery dialog.


Be aware that copying objects with below-the-line effects from one document to another may cause the appearance to change if the two files have different resolution settings.



To preview different effects, click an effect in the center area (expand the folders to see the individual effects), and adjust the settings at the upper right of the dialog. Once you've found the effect you like, click the OK button to apply it.

CMYK Need Not Apply

Don't freak out if you find that many of the Photoshop effects are grayed out in your menu. Many of the Photoshop effects are only available when your document color mode is set to RGB. This is because these effects, which come from Photoshop, are designed to work only in RGB mode, and the algorithms used for these effects do not work in four channels (they are usually grayed out in CMYK Photoshop files as well).

Press the Option (Alt) button to change the Cancel button to a Reset button.



If you're working in a CMYK document but want to apply a Photoshop effect that only works in RGB mode, you can do the following:

1.

Choose File > Document Color Mode > RGB Color to change the color mode of the document from CMYK to RGB.

2.

Apply the desired Photoshop effect from the Effect menu.

3.

Select the object and choose Object > Expand Appearance.

This step is necessary because if you leave the effect as a Live Effect, when you switch the document back to CMYK, the appearance of the effect disappears (it will still be listed in the Appearance palette for that object, but the effect won't be visible and won't print). By expanding the appearance, you are rasterizing the effect so that it effectively becomes an embedded image that can be converted back to CMYK.

4.

Choose File > Document Color Mode > CMYK Color to change the color mode of the document back to CMYK.

It's important to note that this method can result in colors shifting or changing in value, but if you really want to apply a certain effect that only works in RGB mode, this is a way to accomplish that. If there are many other objects in your file, you might consider performing the color conversion in a separate file and simply copying the converted art back into your original file when you are done.

Additionally, because you've expanded the effect, the effect is no longer live and any editing would require you to rebuild the object and to repeat the steps outlined here.




Real World Adobe Illustrator CS2
Real World Adobe Illustrator CS2
ISBN: 0321337026
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2003
Pages: 147
Authors: Mordy Golding

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