Quick and easy way to add drama to a photo using Stained Glass Transparency

**gwpriester** · 24 July 2011, 09:15 PM

I have been meaning to cover this in one of the Workbooks and maybe some day I will remember.

I cloned the original photo, applied a Circular, Stained Glass transparency to the clone, moved the center of the transparency over the Datura blossoms, reduced the diameter, and reversed the settings.

In a few seconds I dramatically changed the photo.

I cloned the second photo of dramatic smoke from the recent wildfire, applied a vertical Linear, Stained Glass transparency to the clone, starting at the dark portion of the bottom of the cloud at 0% and ending just above the mountain tops at 100%.

Again, in less than the time it would take to open Photoshop, I had dramatically enhanced an already dramatic photo.

**Soquili** · 24 July 2011, 10:23 PM

Great effect Gary.

**Rik** · 24 July 2011, 11:06 PM

A very cool and effective, effect!
Thanks for sharing.

**David O'Neil** · 25 July 2011, 04:44 AM

It is a great effect, and heaven knows I've played with transparencies enough! I've concluded that the photo tool is generally better, though, for the time and effort. Still use PhotoShop for a lot of photo touch up, because of the additional color fiddling abilities that Xara doesn't have, but the following was done in Xtreme 4.0 in probably 1 minute for the both of them, without adjusting levels, from the originals, not the transparent overlays.

**amoore** · 25 July 2011, 04:31 PM

Good stuff, Gary. Thanks!

**wizard509** · 25 July 2011, 06:26 PM

Good one Gary thanks for the tip.
I never thought of using the stained glass transparency in that manner. I do use mostly black transparencys quite a lot with the center transparent just to darken the other parts with similar results. I think this is better.