increasing brush size of a filter beyond maximum

MR
Posted By
Michael_Ryznar
Aug 13, 2004
Views
1921
Replies
12
Status
Closed
I am experimenting with the spong filter (one of the artistic filters) in Photoshop and I would like to use a larger brush size. The trouble is Photoshop’s spong filter only has a maximum brush size of "10". I would like to use a brush size that is three or four times larger. I am using Photoshop 6.0. Does the latest version of Photoshop (Photoshop CS) have a spong filter with a larger brush? If not, what would be the best method to simulate a larger brush with the spong filter?

For now here is my solution which isn’t ideal: The Photoshop spong filter, like many of the other Photoshop filters bases its brush size in pixel units. So, the brush size of the filter will affected a larger area area with a low res image than with a higher res image. And so I will lower the resolution of my image to 25% of the original size, apply the filter on the lower res image at maximum brush size and then enlarge the image back up to the original resolution. Not ideal – I know, but is there a better way?

Can one customize the pre-packaged filters than come with photoshop? In other words, I would like to take the photoshop spong filter and increase its maximum brush size four times larger. I find sometimes I would like to do this with some of the other filters too so they have stonger effects on the higher res images.

Thanks,

Mike
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brush filter increase maximum size

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P
progress
Aug 13, 2004
in CS (and probably 7) you can have brushes with the spong(?);) up to 2500 pixels…:D

Im asuming you mean the sponge brush (saturate/desaturate)?
R
Ram
Aug 14, 2004
No, I think Michael is indeed talking about the Sponge (not spong) Artistic Filter to be found in the Filter Gallery in Photoshop 8.

You can set the Brush Size within the Sponge Filter from 0 to 10, and you can also adjust its Definition and Smoothness.

As far as I know, filters are not customizable.
BG
barry_gray
Aug 14, 2004
"I am using Photoshop 6.0."
R
Ram
Aug 14, 2004
Ooops! No Filter Gallery, then, but there were "Artistic Filters" even in Photoshop 5.0, albeit without the Gallery. I skipped 6.0, but the Sponge filter is simple enough that I would be surprised if it’s not there too.
MR
Michael_Ryznar
Aug 14, 2004
Thank you Ramón and Progress for this helpful information.

Yes, I was refering to the sponge filter rather than just the regular brushes. In the spong filter you can adjust three factors: brush size, definition and smoothness. Unfortunately the bush size factor only goes to 10. As in Spinal Tap (the movie), I would like it to go to 11. ( A joke for those who might remember the movie Spinal Tap). Actually, I would like it to go to 40. But as Ramón points out it would appear Photoshop 8 (aka CS), also only allows the spong filter to go to 10. I am therefore out of luck.

Its too bad the spong filter has that small brush size limit restriction unlike the regular brushes that may be up to 2500 pixels.

Thanks everyone for all these helpful responses 🙂

Mike
EH
Ed_Hannigan
Aug 14, 2004
Michael,

What if you apply the filter multiple times? Does that help?
R
Ram
Aug 14, 2004
Mike,

Its too bad the spong filter has that small brush size limit restriction unlike the regular brushes that may be up to 2500 pixels.

There’s a fundamental difference there. The paint brush sizes determines the area over which you are painting with the brush tool. In the case of the sponge filter, however, the filter effect is being applied to the entire image, and the "brush size" in there merely determines the size of the individual "sponge dabs" over that entire area. If you were able to go much over the 10 size limit, the effect would not look like a sponge was being repeatedly applied, but perhaps more like you were dragging a wet towel over your image.

Try it with a tiny low-resolution image (as small as the filter will allow), perhaps by cropping and saving a very small section of your image, and set the sponge filter brush to the max to give you an idea.
P
progress
Aug 14, 2004
oic 🙂
AS
Ann_Shelbourne
Aug 16, 2004
Michael:

You might be able to get the effect of bigger sponge cells this way:

Fill a new Layer (above your image) with 50% Grey; and run the Sponge filter. Set Layer Mode to Soft Light or some other suitable mode. Transform/Scale the Sponged layer so that the sponge-cells are the size that you want. Adjust opacity.
R
Ram
Aug 16, 2004
Clever!
AS
Ann_Shelbourne
Aug 16, 2004
(___

< Graceful bow to Ramón in acknowledgement >
J
jonf
Aug 16, 2004
Definitely don’t lower the resolution of your image then try to raise it again. You’ll lose so much image data that way that you will hardly recognize the image any more. Reducing the resolution to 25% of its size means you are throwing away 3 pixels for every pixel retained. When you go back up at 400% it doesn’t put them back. Those pixels are gone forever. All it can do is duplicate the remaining pixels to make a larger image file that looks no better than the low resolution stripped-down image.

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