Quick Photoshop Secrets 7: How To Create a Dreamy Orton Effect

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How To Create a Dreamy Orton Effect

In today’s tutorial, we are going to look at how to easily make an Orton effect in your images, which in recent years has become popular once again, especially in landscape photography. This will create a  beautiful dreamy effect on your photos.

We’ll also look at how to add certain effects to the Orton effect layer, and also how to protect our highlights from becoming overexposed when applying the Orton Effect.


How to Create a Dreamy Orton Effect in Photoshop

1. Duplicate your background image by pressing Ctrl+J on a PC or Cmd+J on a Mac. Or, go to Layer>Duplicate Layer.

Orton Duplicate layer

2. Then go to Image>Apply Image and Click OK.

orton apply image

3. Change the Blend Mode to Screen.

4. Go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur. As you adjust your radius you will immediately see the effect on the image.

orton screen blend mode

5. When you’re happy with the strength of the effect click OK to apply it. 

apply orton effect


Create an Orton Effect Using Raya Pro.

In older versions of Raya Pro the Orton Effect feature can be found under the Enhancements section.

Raya Pro Orton

In newer versions of Raya Pro the Orton Effect can be found in the Dodge and Burn panel.  

Raya Pro Orton Effect


How To Further Enhance Your Orton Effects.

Adding a Colour Balance Layer

1. Either click on the Colour Balance layer icon in the Adjustment Panel or, go to Layer>New Adjustment Layer>Colour Balance.

colour balance layer

2. Right-click on the colour balance layer and select Create Clipping Mask. You can also do this by going to Layer>Create Clipping Mask or by pressing Crtl+Alt+G on a  PC or Cmd+Opt+G on a Mac.

clipping mask

3. Select which tone you wish to change. Shadows, Midtones, or Highlights can be selected.

colour balance tone

4. Adjust the sliders to change the colour tints within the selected tone.

tint image in photoshop

5. If the colour effect is too strong you can correct this by reducing the opacity of the Colour Balance Layer.

layer opacity

NOTE. When you create an Orton Effect Cold or Warm using Raya Pro a colour layer is applied which can be painted over with whichever colour you like.


Preserving the Highlights In An Orton Effect

1. If your Otron Effect layer doesn’t have a mask you will need to add one. Go to Layer>Layer Mask>Reveal All or, click not he Mask icon at the bottom of the layers panel.

2. With the mask selected go to Image>Apply Image.

Apply image to orton effect

3. When the Apply Image Dialog box appears make sure you tick the box next to ‘Invert’ then click OK.

Invert apply image

NOTE. Raya Pro users, with the white mask selected, choose Apply to Shadows in older versions. In newer versions in the Raya Pro Hub select Shadows.

restore orton effect dreamy orton effect


Thank you for reading our article. If you would like to create easy Orton Effect and don’t have Raya Pro, don’t worry. We’ve updated our FREE Easy Panel to now include a FREE Orton Effect. You can download our FREE Photoshop Extension “Easy Panel” HERE.

I found this great article which will answer exactly, What is the Orton Effect?


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Quick Photoshop Secrets 7: How To Create a Dreamy Orton Effect
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