Snow Drift

Snow Drift adds piles of snow to horizontal sections of a selection. You can pile snow on the top or bottom of the selection. You can also control the thickness and lumpiness of the snow. Optionally, you can dust the surfaces of your entire selection, or entire image, with light snow. By adding more dust to bright spots you can simulate snow piling on rooftops, trees, or any other bright surface.

### Basic Tab

Create Output on New Layer Above Current

Creates a layer above the working layer (in Photoshop and Elements only) and renders the effect to it.

If you switch filters from within a filter window, the new layer feature will be disabled in the filter you’ve switched to. If you want to apply a filter in a new layer, make sure you start with the filter you plan to apply.

Create Output In New Layer Above Current is unavailble when recording actions in Photoshop. Clear this checkbox when recording actions.

Drift Height

Specifies the maximum drift height. Higher values make taller piles.

Note: The selection edge limits the maximum attainable snow height.

Clumping

Controls the lumpiness of the snow. Higher values create more lumps of increasingly random size and height.

Top to bottom: Increased Clumping.

Surface Roughness

Adds a rough texture to the surface. Low values render a shiny surface. High values yield a textured surface, like snow that has melted and refrozen.

Droop

Expands the bottom edge of the snow below the selection. Higher values increase the distance that the snow sags beneath the selection.

Top to bottom: Increasing Droop.

Start Snow Drift from Selection Bottom

Select this option to place the snow on the lower, horizontal areas the selection.

Dust on All Features

Covers the entire selection with a uniform dusting of light snow. Higher values increase the dust density.

Dust on Bright Features

Places a thicker coating of dust on bright areas within your selection. Higher values amplify the effect.

Note: Dust on All Features and Dust on Bright Features are disabled when Create Output In New Layer Above Current is selected.

Bright Features Threshold

Adjusts the level of brightness that the filter recognizes as "bright enough" to receive additional dusting. Low values specify that only the brightest features get extra dust. High values extend the added dusting into darker areas.

Random Seed:

Controls the random elements of this filter. Click it until you get a result you like.

### Lighting Tab

Light Direction

Controls the direction from which the light falls on the snow surface. Click and drag within the lighting control box to change the direction, or enter a value between 0 and 360 degrees.

Shadow Strength

Controls the shadow darkness. Higher values render darker shadows.

Shadow Color

Choose any color for the shadows. For more information on selecting colors, see Color Selection Tools.

### Tip

When adding dust to bright surfaces in your selection, use an extremely low Dust on All Features amount. A value of zero typically works best.