Orton Treatment in PS

[Fabs Forns]

Michael Orton developed this technique with slides, making one small aperture image, the next wide open and slightly out of focus, and making them into a "slide sandwich".
We can obtain a similar effect in PS with a few simple steps. The "glow" of the subject is the main feature in this technique. It's great for flowers, landscapes, and why not, macro!

Get your image and Image>Image Apply>, setting the blending mode to Screen and the opacity to 100%
Duplicate the image/ Image>duplicate
Go to Filter>Blur>gausian blur, and use from 40 to 50.
Select all, copy and paste over the screened image.
Set the blending mode to Multiply.

Edit as you would any other picture.
Enjoy!!!!

 

[Lisa Gimber]

Thanks very much for the directions!

Lisa

 

[John Robuck]

Thank you for this, Fabs -- the first couple of drab images I've tried it on are now worth putting in my portfolio.

 

[Michael Pancier]

fabs, think you can create a PS action that does this?

 

[Fabs Forns]

fabs, think you can create a PS action that does this?

Yes, it can

 

[Robert Amoruso]

Interesting technique Fabs. Thanks for posting it.

 

[Michael Pancier]

Yes, it can

hint hint, can you create one or show us how to create one? an action that is?

 

[Tom Robbins]

This is a great tip, Fabs!

The treatment is simple enough, but I imagine identifying images that might benefit by its use may be a bit trickier. After that, figuring out where it fits in the work flow will take some experimentation.

Thanks,

Tom

 

[Dieter Schaefer]

Thanks, Fabs, never tried it that way. Here is one that gives you a bit more control by having the effect on two layers whose opacity can be adjusted to taste - one with the blur on it and one for brightness:

Open Image
Duplicate Image
Duplicate Image
Select screen mode
Merge down the two layers (it seems counterintuitive to duplicate twice just to merge again but it makes a subtle difference over just duplicating and setting screen mode)
Duplicate the top layer again
Select Filter --> Blur --> Gaussian Blur - I usually do around 5-25 points, you may want to experiment here - it depends on the size of the image - the larger, the more pixels you may want to use.
Set mode of top layer to Multiply
Now adjust the opacity of the two layers - I find that I usually have to back both off to around 60-80%

Hope this helps.

The attached - if approved - was done on a 1024 pixel file with 5 pixels Gaussian blur.

 

[Jim Poor]

Dieter, when you say duplicate image, do you mean duplicate layer?

 

[Gus Hallgren]

Hi Fabs;

Love your Orton effect . . . though I love your original as well . . .

Thanks for the tutorial, and sharing it with us.

You're "The Lady."

Keep smiling

Uncle Gus

 

[Julie Kenward]

There already IS an Orton Effect action if anyone is interested - it's free to download off the web at www.atncentral.com. You have to go to the page where the downloads are and scroll down the page until you see the one called "Dave's Orton Effect."

This one allows you to adjust the amount of gaussian blur and also let's you tweak the end results. I have found that it tends to pull the colors to the yellow tones a bit too much so I'll do a color balance on most images when it is done running.

There are a ton of other free actions on this site as well - have at it!

 

[Jim Poor]

There are lots of different Orton Effect actions out and about.

Some area better than others. My favorite is Glam Blur V.1, but for the life of me, I can't find the source I got it from at the moment.

There is Also Orton Effect DJR as well as quite a few others out there.