Artifax

I have a special fondness for filters that give any kind of 'pseudo-artistic' effect, and spend many happy hours experimenting in search of algorithms that will give the kind of effects I like. Many of them turn out to be unusable, of course, but I'm quite pleased with this one.

	Of course, part of the appeal of 'artistic' filters is that it gives the ideal excuse to use pictures of beautiful ladies as examples. In this case, I've chosen Ms Sophie Marceau again, because as well as being a talented actress, she is also heart-stoppingly beautiful. The photograph was garnered from the web somewhere - if I'm infringing someone's copyright please let me know.
	The 'Texture' slider controls the threshold used internally - the higher the setting, the more detail will be lost. The 'Horizontal/Vertical' slider controls the mix used in the final texture; the centre-point works well for most subjects, but you may want to experiment. The 'Strength' slider allows the effect to be softened down a little.
	This is the result using moderate settings and a balance of vertical and horizontal textures. Of course, we're helped here by the fact that this is a particularly nice portrait that captures Sophie's delicate beauty to perfection.
	The fourth slider, 'Outlining', allows some additional texturing of the edges in the image with dark dots. Not to everyone's taste, perhaps, but it can be very effective on some images.