Brush Strokes Filters (Exclusive Tutorial)

Filters from the group known as Brush Strokes are similar in results to artistic filters. Some of them add hatchingin to the image, others smear the image in the given direction.

Go to menu Filter>Brush Strokes, and you will see the following Brush Strokes thumbnails:



1. Accented Edges

This filter highlights the edges of the image, in other words the areas with the greatest contrast.

Now, open the image and select Filter>Brush Strokes>Accented Edges. You will see the following settings:



Edge Width - regulates the thickness of the highlighted areas (I used 2).
Edge Brightness - regulates the brightness of the highlighted areas. With low values, the highlighted areas become black, with high - white (I used 38).
Smoothness - allows you to soften the borders of the highlighted areas (I used 5).

Here's what I got:

2. Angled Strokes

This filter covers the image with strokes overlay. Light tones make strokes in one direction and dark in a different one.

All right then, open an image and select Filter>Brush Strokes>Angled Strokes. You will see the following settings:



Direction Balance - determines the borders between light and dark tones. The lighter the value, the greater the region that is considered light and is shaded on one diagonal. When increasing the value, a large portion of the area is considered dark, and shaded on a different diagonal (I used 50).
Stroke Length - defines the length of the strokes (I used 10).
Sharpness - defines the sharpness of the strokes (I used 6).

Here's what I got:



3. Crosshatch

This filter covers the image with a series of gray transverse diagonal strokes, creating the look of crosshatching with pencils.

Well, open the image and select Filter>Brush Strokes>Crosshatch. You will see the following settings:



Stroke Length - determines the length of strokes (I used 13).
Sharpness - determines the sharpness of the strokes (I used 6).
Strength - determines the degree of pressure placed on the pencil (I used 2).

Here's what I got:



4. Dark Strokes

This filter crosshatches dark areas with short dark strokes. Light areas are hatched with long, white strokes.

Open the image and select Filter>Brush Strokes>Dark Strokes. You will see the following settings:



Balance - governs the direction of hatching in dark and light areas (I used 5).
Black Intensity - governs the amount of black in shading (I used 2).
White Intensity - governs the amount of white in shading (I used 4).

Here's what I got:



5. Ink Outlines

Outline details of the original image with thin lines, as if creating a pen or ink drawing. Light areas are illuminated.

Now, open your image and select Filter>Brush Strokes>Ink Outlines. You will see the following settings:



Stroke Length - regulates the length of black lines used for the outline (I used 3).
Dark Intensity - regulates the intensity of the black lines used for the outline (I used 8).
Light Intensity - regulates the intensity of the light areas. Affects the image contrast (I used 30).

My result:



6. Spatter

This filter imitates drawing using airbrush.

Open your image and select Filter>Brush Strokes>Spatter. You will see the following settings:



Spray Radius - governs the radius of the spatter (I used 4).
Smoothness - governs the smoothness of the image (I used 2).

The result:



7. Sprayed Strokes

This filter covers the image with sprayed strokes under the given corner.

Open your image and select Filter>Brush Strokes>Sprayed Strokes. You will see the following settings:



Stroke Length - governs the length of the strokes (I used 15).
Spray Radius - governs the radius of the spray (I used 3).
Stroke Direction - gives direction to the spatter strokes (I used Left Diagonal).

Here's what I got:



8. Sumi-e

This filter imitates Japanese painting with brushes and black ink on white rice paper. The edges of the black strokes are rough, and the light areas are more luminous.

Open your image and select Filter>Brush Strokes>Sumi-e. You will see the following settings:



Stroke Width - regulates the length of the brush stroke (I used 9).
Stroke Pressure - regulates the pressure of the brush (I used 1).
Contrast - regulates the contrast of the image. When increasing the parameters light areas become lighter (I used 9).

Here's what I got as a result: