- Move High Pass to the bottom of the stack. High Pass appears
at the top of the filter entries in the Layers panel because it was
the last one applied. Under normal conditions, however, you’re
generally better off enhancing the contrast of an image before
sharpening the edge detail and applying softening effects such as
Median. To make it the first command in the smart filter peck-
ing order, drag High Pass to the bottom of the Smart Filters
list, as in Figure 7-32. After a moment’s delay—as I mentioned
earlier, smart filters are computationally intensive (which is to
say, slow)—you should see a subtle shift on screen. As minor
as this adjustment turns out to be, the simple act of reordering
filters was not possible prior to smart filters.
Figure 7-32.
Edit the settings of Median and High Pass. Given the relative
newness of smart filters in Photoshop (they first sprung up in
CS3), it’s not surprising that they have their limitations. One
example is the way Photoshop previews smart filter adjustments.
Suppose you want to modify the blend settings associated with
the Median (yes, again) and High Pass filters:
- Double-click the icon for the Median entry to display the
Blending Options dialog box, and raise the Opacity value
to 65 percent. The image window and dialog box preview
update to reflect your edit, just as you’d expect them to.
Click OK to accept the revised setting. - Now double-click the for the High Pass item. Photoshop
displays a warning, telling you that any filters on top of this
Nondestructively Editing a Photo with Smart Filters 243
- Double-click the icon for the Median entry to display the