Photoshop Basics
Displacement Filter
By Force
Apr 3, 2007, 16:53

Ever wondered what the displacement filter in photoshop did? Well I did. Most filters directly affect the document at hand... but the displacement filter is slightly different. It is used to apply texture to whatever layer you use the filter. This can be very handy for blending in images. So anyway the best way to explain the filter is by showing you the results and how to use it... so here I go. Open a image into photoshop. I am using this one -

Then save it as a psd. Call the psd displace or whatever you want... as long as you remember. This will be the file that the filter will use to add texture. Now to this picture... Adding water onto the leaves would be nice. So go try out the Water Layer Style tutorial. If you already have it done and saved as a Layer Style then draw up your water droplets and apply the layer style

Now go to Filter>Distort>Displace... Something like this will come up -

Experiment with the values. I am going to keep the settings the same.

That's what I got... sometimes if things get too wild you can use layer masks to control the effect. hmm Anyway... If you still find it unclear what displacement filters do then the following example should help clear things up. Here's tech image I am using (make sure you save it is a psd before you do anything since you need it to apply the displacement filter with the backgrounds texture) -

Then I add some text and set the blending mode to soft light and added a inner shadow in the blending options. So I have this -

Now use the displacement filter. I set my horizontal and vertical values as 20 this time and this is what I got -

As you can see... the displacement filter applies the texture of the background to the text. This can be useful for blending in things or making them suit their environment. I guess my examples I used didn't demonstrate this too well but the 2nd example demonstrated the filter applying the texture really well. Hmm... I'll show you lot another example just incase you still don't get it. My image to start with -

Added text -

After Displacement filter -

Remember you can use layer masks and fade away bits of the layer to help it seem a bit faded out or ... well just make it however you want.

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