How to Apply a Digital Orton Effect to an Image Using Photoshop CS5

Autumn's Last Hurrah D0932 Non-Orton image. An okay image with some nice colors.

Autumn's Last Hurrah D0932 Orton image. The same image as above with a digital Orton Technique applied.

Here is the step by step procedure to give your photos the painterly look that you see on this sample.  I use Photoshop CS5 so these instructions may need to be adjusted a bit according to your system.

1. Duplicate image (image>duplicate).  Close original
   
2. Lighten the image: Image>Apply Image.  In the dialogue box that comes up, change blending mode to ‘screen’ & opacity to 100%
   
3. Duplicate this overexposed image: Image>Duplicate
   
4. Blur this 2nd image: Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blue..in the dialogue box that comes up use Radius setting of 15 to 50 pixels.  The higher the number the blurrier the photo & the more ‘painterly’ the image.  
   
5. With both image copies visible, select the move tool.  Hold down ‘Shift’ key and drag & drop the blurry image onto the sharp one.  Don’t release shift key until you release the mouse or they won’t line up.
   
6. In layers change the blend mode from ‘normal’ to ‘multiply’.  Chg opacity to alter effect
   
7. Flatten the layers and make any additional adjustments in Photoshop.          
   

This artsy touch doesn’t seem to be something for every image but works really well with scenery and some nature shots.  It certainly can make some nice images even more stunning.  Enjoy.