Image editing programs such as Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Photoshop Elements, Gimp and Microsoft Digital Image Suite offer a wide range of tools that can be used to create beautiful photographs, many of those tools and the effects they crete originated in the world of film photography. One such tool effect is the Orton Effect.
The Orton Effect is named after Michael Orton who first used the technique is a sandwich of two images, one in focus the other out of focus. Freeman Patterson and Andre Gallant have both used the technique successfully in their work as well.
The Orton image has traditionally been done using slide film with the first, sharp, image overexposed by two stops and the second, out of focus image, over exposed by one stop. It is important to use a tripod for this type of work to ensure your photographic elements remain in register on the film. The shots were then sandwiched together in single slide mount to produce a beautiful, impressionistic image. We are beyond that now and with so many things in the world of digital photography, we can now duplicate the same effect in multiple ways.
For purists, you can use the same technique as with film, two images, overexposed the same way, and in your image editing program place your out of focus image on tip of your in focus image as a layer and choose multiply as your blending mode. Of course this means always taking at least two images of your scene and always using a tripod. Another method is to use a single image a create a layer, now opening up the effect to any image you have in your collection.
I will be using the new Adobe Elements 5 for this tutorial and a photo of a Wake-Robin I shot this past spring..
- Open your image (Image 1)
- Duplicate the background layer (Right click on the background layer and choose duplicate) and name that layer Sharp
- Create another duplicate of the background layer.
- Change the Blending mode of the Sharp Copy to screen
- With the Sharp Copy layer selected, right click and choose Merge Down (Image 2)
- Right click on the Sharp layer, choose Duplicate and name this layer Out of Focus
- On the Filter Menu, choose Blur - Gaussian Blur (Image 3)
Depending on the resolution of the image you are using, the amount of blue needed will change. Use enough that the shapes are still visible, but detail is not. For this 6.1 Megapixel image, a value of 15.9 was sufficient. - Change the blending mode of the Out Of Focus layer to Multiply. (Image 4)
Image 1
Image 2
Image 3
Image 4
Final image including levels adjustment and cropping
Once you are complete, you may find it necessary to adjust the opacity of your Out of Focus layer and/or apply a levels (or curves) adjustment layer to the Sharp layer if some tweaking is necessary.You can also adjust the amount of blur you apply to the out of focus image, as well as adjustments such as level, brightness and contrast and it is good practice to apply sharpening to your image Sharp layer. (Image 5)
Not all images work well with this effect, but digital photography makes it easier to try it out on wide range of photos. I have included a few examples here of other photos with the Orton Effect applied, though the effect is lost on the small images. You can view another on my personal site, or view the Orton flickr.com group.
Until next time, happy shooting.
The digital photography tip of the week is written by the PCIN Assistant Editor, Chris Empey. Chris is a long time photographer and is currently the President of the Niagara Falls Camera Club. You can see more of his photography at his Photo of the Day website.
If you have a tip to send Chris, or a question about digital photography he can address in the newsletter, send it to chris@pcin.net.
thanks very much for this tip!! very useful. walt
Thank you so much for this great info. Very cool!
Very interesting effect. Used it on a prtrait and I got a very beautiful edge effect for this particular picture. I had oversharpened the image in teh past, but now it particularly glows.
Thank you for this tip, Ive been looking at ways of digitaly achieving this effect for ages. It reminds me of the result gained by using a dark softener (black nylon) under an enlarger to bleed the shadows into the highlights rather than the other way, with the softener on the lens which bled the highlights into the shadows. Hey I’m probably trying to teach a granny to suck eggs, but whatever thanks once again.
Regards
Dave Peckham
how do you do this in Microsoft Digital Image Suite
i cant seem to figure it ouut
Just followed the tutorial on an HDR pic I had done. Very nice. Like the effect. Thanks.
but can you do this in photoshop elements 4? i tried but there is o blending mode
How do you make the “overexposed” effect of both the sharp and the blurred layers ?
Found your site through photojojo…
The article was a nice one. But i am using Gimp. Please can you tell how to achieve this in Gimp?
Thanks for the tutorial! I could see this being a very nice effect for portraits and whatnot.
I’ll give it a whirl at the next wedding I shoot.
love this! thanks for this tip
Absolutely love it! Can’t wait to give it a “shot”!
Thanks again and again!
You can get pretty much the same effect using a noise reduction filter without all the hassles of layering … here’s an example:
or find it here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/leafy/274291092/in/set-72157594392851833
good luck!
Thanks.
So the “Sharp layer” stays “normal”? It’s not “screen”? So the original (”background”) layer is not use any more?
Thanks,
Tomas
neicee,
I have photoshop elements 2 and it has a blending mode. I’d be more than surprised if they had it in elements 2, removed it in elements 4 and re-added it in elements 5. So you ain’t lookin’ in the right place.
a less complicated way to create a close match to this effect in Photoshop is to duplicate the image layer and place it above the image layer, apply the gaussian blur filter to it and reduce the opacity to about 50%. Sometimes I’ll make it selective focus by making the opacity of the blur layer 80% then erase parts of the blur layer with a soft, weak eraser (works nice to make portrait eyes pop.
Neicee: I have Photoshop Elements 2 and there is the “Multiply” blending mode. Be sure to have the “Layers” window open and follow the settings on picture 4.
ooooh it worked perfectly in elements 2. what a great easy effect to do. thank you for sharing!!! i’m so excited.
This is very similar to the “dooce effect.” (http://www.dooce.com/archives/photos/01_31_2003.html)
thank you for niticing me!!!!!!!!!
thank you for noticing me!!!!!!!!!
I’m very new to manipulating images to create the Orton effect. Well, not so much new at creating the effect but actually finding out what I have been doing for a while has a name.
Some time ago I was working with Picasa, the free Google program, to create false HDR images. After some trial and error, I was able to create some nice images and in a way that is quick and easy using this free program.
Hopefully you can add Picasa to the mix of other programs that allow Ortonizers to have fun with digital images.
Here is a link to my simple tutorial on flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/photogopher/sets/72157594492849351/
Thanks so very much for posting how to do this, I’d seen other people’s images with “Orton effect” on the lable, but I wanted to know how to. This was a great piece and I can’t wait to try it for myself!!!
This is pretty good, it gets a nice glow inside the soft effect that doesn’t appear with Photoshop’s stock actions, or with just throwing a gaussian blur on. Thanks to Photojojo for the link.
I really like the “glow” effect. Flexible. Very nice for artistic effects.
A similar effect can be achieved in photoshop (maybe it’s even the same effect, via a different path) - Simply duplicate the sharp layer, set the blending mode to ‘Soft light’ and apply the blur.
I use an old version of Kai’s power tools plugin - it includes a ‘camera optics’ blur mode which gives a more realistic ‘out of focus’ effect, including blown out highlights and nice interaction between colours. There’s sure to be other plugins to do this too.
Yummy!
interesting - I do this on my drawings too…
Very cool tutorial; this technique reminds me a bit of the Nik Software “Monday Morning” filter. I posted an example here: http://blog.rrdphoto.com/2007/01/orton-effect.html
GIMP users may be interested in the Lomo2 script-fu script.
This works very well for party pix too… everyone looks much prettier. Requires lighter/high-contrast pix. In essence this is similar to a diffusion filter.
PS - Interesting effects along these lines can also be obtained by layering two nearly similar images/offsets
I used photogopher’s Picasa tutorial to achieve my Orton interpretation.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sscornelius/sets/72157594499606772/show/
Brilliant!! Thank you for the tutorial, it’s really started to open my eyes to what I’m able to do.
q mierda es esto :S
Paint.NET -> Glow effect, much faster and easier.
http://www.getpaint.net/index2.html
I am using Digital Image Suite but I am unabe to achieve the Orton Effect can You Help
This is a beautiful example of everything is easy once you know. Fabulous instructions. Following this example exactly enough times will make this process easy. It’s amazing the artistic difference in the beginning and the end. An artistic eye probably does help the outcome. You definitely have that.
Good tips. I’ve always wondered how to get a decent “soft focus.”
Works like a dream. I use Serif Photoplus btw.
Nice article. The Orton effect can, indeed, produce beautiful effects. However, if no one has pointed it out before, you have to remember that a Gaussian Blur is not the same as an out of focus shot. This can affect matters. For example, if there is a highlight in your image then a Gaussian Blur will diffuse that highlight in a general way. An out-of focus shot creates a fringe around it as well as a different diffusion blur. My advice is to take the two shots if possible and try both methods.
Have you a discription for ulead photoimpact12 too?
Thx Bertram
interesting that it is called the “Orton effect”
This is an old technique going back before Photoshop even existed.
I’ve been doing this since 1990 in the darkroom. I then figured out how to do it in Photoshopin 93′
what ever
Travis
http://imdb.com/name/nm0004075/
woo love it, very nice on portraits
Nice tutorial, thank you for sharing. Do you mind if I translate it in Romanian for my readers (credits to you, of course)?
Amazing tutorial. Thanks for this
Thanks for this and I hope all my friends on Flickr enjoy using it.
Thank you for this, it also works on Serif Photoplus as well, great tut. Thanks again.
Excellent tutorial, thank you very much. This is a lot simpler than I had thought.
You can also do this as an in-camera effect if you’re shooting traditional film. Do a double exposure with one out of focus image and one in focus image.
To the point tutorial. Amazing work.
Thanx a lot!!!
I prefer setting the blend mode Multiply before applying the Blur.
If so, the final result is more easy to figure out.
http://www.photoshopelementsuser.com/forum/showthread.php?p=254325#post254325
Step 5 is not clear, otherwise great tutorial.
THANX for the tip!!
Thanks Chris, for the great tutorial! Your explanation made it super easy!
New to the forum family, terrific tut’s, everyone seems to be
so helpfull & patient in giving of their time
Norm
thanx a lot !
A friend of mine showed me a feature on his camera that allows him to automatically take a picture with -3 stops up to 3 stops exposure for a total of 7 photos for one button push.
Then he has an Adobe plugin that will automatically combine the photos. Is this the same as this technique or does it have another name?
I’m wondering because this technique is talking about an out of focus shot and my friend’s camera was just changing the exposer.
Hi Joe, I believe your friend’s camera is capturing an HDR-type image. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_dynamic_range_imaging ).
It is combining shots exposed for different parts of the same scene. E.g. with a very bright sky contrasting with a dark landscape, you will either get a blown-out white sky, or a silloutted/black landscape if you shoot with one exposure. His camera is capturing an image of the same scene exposed for the sky and then the landscape, and also points in between.
And it’s automatic? Wow, that’s cool! What camera is he using?
I’m sorry … PS, Chris, this is a great tip and I love it! One of the first tutorials I found when I started out to improve my Photoshop skills. Thanks!
OMG!!!!! This tutorial rocks!!!!! Very well explained…!!! Even a begginer like me can do it..!!
xoxox
Shaindel (Venezuela)
This is great, I’ve been trying to create this effect for awhile now but I have a problem. Im using Fauxto and I got everything going the way it should be but when I try to save it to my computer, the orton effect are gone! Leaving a blurry image..what happened?
anyone figure this one out in microsoft digital image?? I would love to see a tutorial if so! thanks!
Thanks for this simple, yet effective tutorial in PS Elements 5. I’ll try it out as soon as I get home.
BTW, I think you mean “blur” here? Or are you suggesting we increase the blue saturation?
> Depending on the resolution of the image you are using,
> the amount of blue needed will change.
This is the best tutorial I have ever used. Simple, beautiful. And the effect is perfection. Thank you.
I’ve been doing this for 8 years without knowing what it was. Now i’m dissappointed! Orton Shmorton.
Nice effect but it has been done to death.
I like this tip and it is easy to use. Regardless of how much one thinks a tip may be of value, any and all tips should be reviewed and remembered for that one occasion that you find yourself suddenly able to benefit from it. I plan on starting my own newsletter about photography tips by January of 2008 and you can view a sample of it at http://www.PhotoTipOfTheWeek.com/Downloads/FreeNewsletter.pdf . Please feel free to let me know what you think about it. Thanks.
Joseph Tremain
http://www.PhotoTipOfTheWeek.com/Downloads/FreeNewsletter.pdf
I was so surprised to discover that the technique I am using since I abandoned the the”double exposure”I used with the old slides( 6 years ago ),has a name!
and this name is not mine!
when this Orton “discovered”this?
I am really upset!
it should be called vladi’s effect!
vladi alon, tel-aviv,israel
Thanks — found this on Flickr and it is a great quick guide. Thanks!
The orton effect is like using the diffuse glow effect, dont break your heads using to much steps, try diffuse glow
Great - I followed step by step and got an awesome result.. I then added a bit of an S curve for more contrats…
many thanks - appreciate the sharing of knowledge.
now i’m going to try it out.