Anyone who uses Adobe Illustrator with any frequency will at some point come to realize that there is almost always more than one way to execute an action while working in the program. Much of the time, the method you use to generate a desired event is a matter of personal preference. There are some cases, however, in which two paths to the same apparent result will produce very different results “behind the scenes”. One such case in Illustrator is the use of the Effect and Filter tools. These two menus can be found in the main Illustrator menu bar across the the top, and provide a wide array of snazzy visual effects and custom styles that can be applied to obejcts. Although the two menus seem to contain many of the same actions, their use will bring about distinct outcomes.

Effect: Applying an effect will change the appearance of an object, but the structure of the object will remain intact. Object filters can be edited or removed using the Appearance Palette.

Filter: Applying a filter will actually alter the structure of the object to fit the specifications of the filter. Once applied, the filter cannot be edited or removed.

SAMPLE: You will see that I started with two identical circles. A Pucker Effect of -50 was applied to the circle on the left. I then applied a Pucker Filter of -50 to the shape on the right. In preview mode the two shapes appear to again be identical. However, when each shape is is selected, the frames show us that behind the scenes they are no longer the same. The shape on the left (Effect applied) has maintained the original shape. The effect can be changed or deleted in the Appearance Palette, as shown. The shape on the right (Filter applied) is now structurally different than the original ellipse.

If you know that you will need to alter the paths of the object once the visual element is applied, then using the Filter can be more functional because it eliminates the need for expanding or outlining. But, in general, it is usually more practical to use the Effect tools, so that the option for editing and removing is left open.

Restoring Color to Areas of a photo Blown white by Flash

A tutorial for intermediate level users of Photoshop.
 One of the problems we face when taking photos with a flash, or even in bright sunlight, can be that color can be washed (blown) from some areas.

Original photo, with color blown from cheeks. (Her cheeks have lost their skin tone and appear white)

This is the result we want - natural sun highlights on cheeks, but not blown.

These are the color values for the cheeks. Much too white! The flash has hit the areas and blown the color to some extent.

I have a technique for putting the color back into photos that were blown white by flash. It’s not the only way, but it can help with some difficult images.

1. I’d use the lasso tool in this instance, to select the face, like this.

2. Feather the edge, as appropriate. That means, low radius for low res image like this one (5 pixels works) but you’d use a higher setting for an image at higher resolution.

    To do this: Right Click on the selection, select Feather. Enter the appropriate setting. Click OK.

3. Bring up Levels (ctrl-L). We’re going to change the white point to fix this area.

4. There are three eyedroppers at the bottom right of the dialog box. Double-click the white dropper. This will display the Color Picker.

5. In this case, I then clicked on a skin tone that was closer to what I wanted.

    To do this: Hold the mouse pointer over the photo instead of the color picker and the eyedropper tool comes up, allowing you to take a color sample from the photo itself.

But the cheeks should be lighter, so once you have the color, you want to choose a lighter tone. Make sure “Only Web Colors” is NOT checked on the bottom left corner of the color picker.

6.  This is the color we’re going to set as the white point. So now you just click OK.

7. The color picker will close, but Levels is still open. You also still have the white eyedropper active. (If you don’t, then click it again.)

8. With the eyedropper, click in the lightest area of the cheeks.

9. This will blend the cheeks nicely into the rest of the image, giving them natural color.

Sometimes, in a portrait for example, you don’t need to select the face area to do this, but in this image we didn’t want to set the other white items - crown or the pearl earring - to flesh color, so selecting was necessary.

10. The program will ask you whether you want the new color to be the new white point. You really don’t, so remember to check it next time you open Levels.

Christine Frey is an instructor at Eclectic Academy (http://www.eclecticacademy.com)