Canon EOS 60D For Dummies
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Creative filters are distinctive software effects designed to change how a photo looks, and they provide a fun and easy way to process photos in your Canon EOS 60D. You can apply these filters to photos you’ve taken in the large Raw and any-sized JPEG file format. You don’t need a computer, and you don’t need to run sophisticated photo editing software.

To use these built-in creative filters, follow these steps:

  1. Press the Menu button and select Playback Menu 1.

  2. Scroll down and select Creative Filters.

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  3. Press Set.

    This starts the fun. You see the first photo on your camera’s memory card. Don’t panic; you can change the photo if you want to. In fact, that’s the next step.

  4. Select the photo you want to apply the filter to.

    Use the multicontroller to move back and forth between photos, or use the Index button to show thumbnails.

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  5. Press Set.

  6. Select one of the following filters with the Quick Control dial or multicontroller:

    • Grainy B/W: This miniature “way-back” machine turns your photos into old-fashioned, grainy, black-and-white photos.

    • Soft Focus: This filter softens the photo’s focus (in other words, it blurs it) so it looks all soft and cuddly. It’s great to use on photos of brides, babies, kittens, and teddy bears.

    • Toy Camera Effect: Creates an image with dark corners (vignetting). Vignetting is caused by poor-quality lenses not letting enough light in to expose the entire frame of film (like in toy cameras).

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    • Miniature Effect: This is a depth of field effect, designed to simulate a macro photo taken with a very shallow area that is in focus. Contrast is also enhanced. To create the effect, identify a vertical or horizontal band that will remain sharp after processing. All other areas will be blurred.

  7. Vary the strength or effect of the filter with the Quick Control dial or multicontroller.

    Each filter has a unique property that you can alter:

    • Grainy B/W: Increase or reduce contrast.

    • Soft Focus: Increase or reduce to adjust the focus.

    • Toy Camera Effect: Choose from three color tones: Cool, Standard, or Warm. Cool makes the photo look bluer, and Warm makes it look redder.

    • Miniature Effect: Move a sharpness rectangle up or down, or press Info to change its orientation from horizontal to vertical.

  8. Select Set to lock in changes and then OK to save the photo.

    You don’t have to worry about overwriting your original. The camera saves your photo and gives it the next open number in sequence.

If you’re saving a combination of Raw and JPEG photos, the camera will apply the filter to the Raw photo only if the largest Raw is selected. Any other combination of smaller Raw or JPEG-only, and the camera uses the JPEG photo as the source image.

About This Article

This article is from the book:

About the book authors:

Julie Adair King has written numerous books on Nikon and Canon cameras as well as digital photography. She also conducts digital photography classes at the Palm Beach Photographic Centre. Robert Correll is a creative professional and the author of High Dynamic Range Digital Photography For Dummies.

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