The new Photoshop 2021 has a very nice set of ‘neural filters’ on board. Especially the beta filters offer a lot of fun!
Neural networks are perfectly capable of performing true works of art. This is also evident with the new neural filters that you will find in Photoshop 2021; the most recent version that you have already been offered within your subscription. Once installed, the fun can begin. The neural filters are mainly for adjusting faces. Give a grumpy person a spontaneous smile, or make him or her look in a different direction. Admittedly, these kinds of tricks make it even easier to launch deep fake photos into the world. But with a little caution, an in itself beautiful picture of a grumpy looking person can still be ‘saved’ now.
Look a little more cheerful!
As an example, let’s take a picture of it Mona take. Her mysterious smile has captured the imagination for centuries. But suppose Da Vinci just lived in the present day and had a photo studio on the corner of the street? Then there were probably also failed photos in a portrait series. Thanks to Photoshop, we can now take a look at those never published copies! Open the said photo in Photoshop and click on the menu Filters on Neural filters. The standard copies accessible under the sliders are not very exciting (skin smoothing and the like). It will be really fun with the beta copies. Click on the Erlenmeyer for this. To turn on a set of beta filters, use the switch with it.
To begin with, we put Smart portrait Once on. With Mona open, we can finally make her laugh spontaneously! Use the slider at the back for this Luck; the more to the right the happier. You can also use the viewing direction Can change, or even the direction of the head. As you can see, all the calculations in this filter take place online for the time being, which means that certainly with hi-res photos some time is lost due to data transfer. But that should not spoil the fun!
Moderation
The results of the filter group Smart portrait can be eerily convincing, as you can see for yourself. However, this depends on the source photo. Some photos will be more customizable than others. Also, subtlety often works better than exaggeration, but that is just about the rule of thumb with any form of photo editing. In any case, Mona had a lot of fun during her painting session, which explains the mysterious smile of course.
Fog
If Da Vinci had a bad day, he would undoubtedly encounter fog from time to time. This becomes clear once again when we look at an intermediate result of one of his experiments. click on Depth mist and turn on the corresponding switch. Then use the controller at the rear Haze to add background mist. In normal photos, a little bit of that artificial mist can add depth to a photo.
Firmly magnify
If you want to enlarge small parts (considerably) without loss of quality, then there is the experimental filter Super zoom. As you may have noticed, you have to download some filters separately. As far as we can see, this filter is executed locally. Using the magnifying glass buttons you can zoom in or out on a specific part of your photo. Framing is done by simply moving the image in the preview. Make use of the available options and corresponding sliders to fine-tune the case. This way of enlarging can sometimes work out better than regular enlargement, a matter of experimentation and comparison.
From black and white to color
If you still have a shoe box at home with old black-and-white photos, Photoshop 2021 can now color them for you if desired. Again, you will pay a visit to the Neural Filters. This time, flip the switch at the beta filter Fill with color On. Photoshop quickly makes up colors, using the sliders you can adjust shades if necessary. It is often worthwhile after applying this filter via the menu Image, Modifications and Liveliness the controls behind Liveliness and Saturation a little higher. Furthermore, the end result also depends on the source photo. You can of course edit the whole thing manually, but at least you have a quick starting point now.
Remove JPEG artifacts
A final beta filter we like is jpegartifacts. If you have picked a photo from the web that you want to use on your site or as an illustration for some report, of course after having checked the permissions, then you may be out of luck and heavy jpeg compression has been used. Provides small files, but also fidgeting around sharp edges and corners or blockiness. The jpeg artifact filter provides – after switching on – for improvements in that area. Choose from three strengths from the selection menu.
Not everything available yet
Unfortunately, not all beta filters are available yet. For example, the option was missing at the time of writing Face to caricature yet. That can be a godsend for anyone looking for a catchy profile picture for a social media account or something similar. Also the interesting sounding filter Dust and scratches was not yet available. A filter like this can of course come in handy when restoring old scanned photos or negatives. There are also more ‘laborious’ filters in the new Neural Filters. By laborious we mean that more interaction is needed with this, in the form of, for example, selecting source photos of which colors or other things are used in the target photo.
More of this, please!
In short, the new Neural Filters in Photoshop 2021 provide more than enough room for experimentation. It is hoped that each of these filters will actually leave the beta phase and simply become a permanent part of the software. Now, of course, you always run the risk of one or more experimental filters being withdrawn. And that would be a shame, because we just got the hang of it! .