Filters are a special type of Photoshop tool that let you apply automated effects to an image. Adobe uses the metaphor of a photographer's filters to give you some idea of how they function, but in fact Photoshop's filters can do much more. By using the filters, you can do everything from transforming your image to a tiled mosaic to adding Gaussian blur to a specific layer.

The filters can be accessed from the Filters menu. We won't cover every filter and its function (there are way too many), but we will tell you that there are two basic types: corrective and destructive.

• Corrective filters are typically used to "clean up" a scanned image or other document in rough form. Examples of corrective filters are Blur and Sharpen.
• Destructive filters apply more creative effects to your image. They reside in submenus like Distort, Pixelate, and Render. These filters are fun to experiment with, but if you apply one and end up changing your mind it can be difficult to disguise its effects (these filters are easily over-done).