define "filter heavy"

based on what ive seen, it's not using filters a lot in an image, its having an image rely on filters to make it look good. am i right or wrong?

It's both. Filter heavy is anything that makes it look like the filters are doing more design than the designer. It sends out the message that whoever made the image was just hitting filters without putting thought into the image, or they have absolutely no creativity. Filters are tricky things. You have to use just the right amounts in just the right places for it to work.

what he said

lol @ "is cybling gat?" :D

Filters are something you really should use with caution.
If you have an image that looks "good" just because of the filters used on it, it doesn´t look good.

I disagree. If an images uses filters well and it looks good, it isn't bad because filters are used.

Many magnificent textures have been created through the use of so called "heavy filtering." I do not think you can judge the quality of a piece by the number of filters used. If it looks good, it looks good.

I think it's not the *use* of filters... but the *abuse* of filters that annoys more experienced designers. Part of learning good design is knowing when you've crossed that line.

And I think it's easy for some newbies (like myself) to over-do it with filters just because they are so *powerful*. I mean, one or two clicks of the mouse and all of the sudden your basic image is transformed into something completely new, different and a lot cooler than anything you could do manually on your own!

But ultimately, if a design looks good in the end, it really doesn't matter what methods were used to get there. Good designs are good designs.

I will start from the end and work my way up.

Part of learning good design is knowing when you've crossed that line.

For me, the only thing that matters about design is not whether it is good or not. Instead, it's how much the client wants to pay. If they want to stay cheap and simple, I won't put alot of effort into something. If money is no object, no problem, I can do that too. However, I never rely on filters for anything.

Many magnificent textures have been created through the use of so called "heavy filtering." I do not think you can judge the quality of a piece by the number of filters used. If it looks good, it looks good.

More "magnificent" textures have been created through painstaken work, creativity and even just scanning in some old photos or other objects. The first time I ever did anything remotly 'grungy', I followed some steps that were posted on an old site: http://turpintine.cjb.net . Unfortunatly, this site is closed down.

What I think some of you fail to comprehend here are that if you intend on getting one of those super design jobs some of the other regulars here have, you may not see those 'trippy' filters that fill your portfolio. You may even have to take a test during a job interview. During said test, you may not be allowed to use filters at all.

So, by relying soley on clicking the mouse a couple times to get a desired effect, you have done nothing but proven that you have 'no creativity'. Now, some will argue that you do, and that may be so. You won't show it unless you stop relying on a a program to do all your work for you.

Finally, I conclude with this:

Design -
The art or practice of designing or making designs.
Something designed, especially a decorative or an artistic work.

Referring to something that is made through a few clicks of the mouse that required no though process or planning is not a design.

bottom line is that filter heavy means using too many filters on an image

ha-ha, very funny Zyc, or should i call you Ma-Shen?

About the filters, i just cant stand an image with only filters...Photoshop was so named because the best results are achieved by altering photo's by using these chisels called fillters. i like seeing those gel buttons and such, but what i think you get the most out of is introducing a photograph..