Photoshop Filter Guide
Click on a Filter Category to view a sample of the Filters

Artistic

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.
For a parchment effect, change the background color just before applying the Colored Pencil filter to a selected area.

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

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 to areas of common color.

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.

Works great with Vintage photos.

Fresco

Paints an image in a coarse style using short, rounded, and hastily applied dabs.

Adds various types of glows to the objects in an image and 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.

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.

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

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

Make your own Scotch Tape or other plastic looking textures

Reduces the number of colors in an image (posterizes) according to the posterization option you set, and finds the edges of the image and draws black lines on them. Large broad areas of the image have simple shading, while fine dark detail is distributed throughout the image.

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.

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

Creates images with highly textured areas of contrasting color, appearing to have been painted with a sponge.

Paints the image on a textured background, and then paints the final image over it.

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