The "Cubism" Filter
Located under Filters Artistic Cubism..., this plug-in modifies your image so that it appears to be constructed of small squares of semitransparent tissue paper. It is very useful for things such a background images. The level of distortion makes it less useful for a photograph.
The Cubism Dialog
When you select Cubism... from the menu, the Cubism Dialog is opened. It contains three options that allow you to control the effect of the filter.
- Use Background Color
This select box determines whether or not the background color displayed in the Toolbox should be used when applying the filter. If it is not checked, black will be used instead.
- Tile Size
This variable determines the size, in pixels, of the squares to be used. This is, in effect, the size of the little squares of tissue paper to used in generating the new image. The slider can be used or the exact pixel size can be entered into the text box, or the arrow buttons can be used.
- Tile Saturation
This variable specifies how intense the color of the squares should be. This is, in effect, the opacity of the little squares of tissue paper. A high number makes the squares very strongly defined and doesn't allow lower squares to show through. A low number allows the lower squares to be more visible through the higher ones and causes a little more blending in the colors. If this is set to 0 and Use Background Color is not checked, the entire area will be black. If it is checked and the value here is zero, the background color will fill the entire area.
A little experimentation will enable you to find the result you desire. It is possible to undo this process either from the menu or with the undo shortcut, so experiment freely.
 | If you are using this to generate background images for webpages and the like, work with a small range of colors painted randomly on a small square. Then apply the Cubism filter with the desired settings. As a last step, try Filters Map Make Seamless to make the image so it will tile seamlessly in your background. |