Hello! My name is Liz Staley and I’m a long-time user of Clip Studio Paint (I started using the program back when it was known as Manga Studio 4!). I was a beta-tester on the Manga Studio 5 program and for Clip Studio Paint, and I have written three books and several video courses about the program. Many of you probably know my name from those books, in fact. I write weekly posts on Graphixly.com and on CSP Tips, so be sure to come back every week to learn more Clip Studio Tips and Tricks from me!

This week we’ll be continuing talking about the new features that were released as of the end of July 2026. This week we will cover the other two new filters: the Glow and the Inflate filters.

In this article we will cover the following topics:

Using the Glow Filter

Using the Inflate Filter

Let’s dive right in!

Using the Glow Filter

The Glow filter is a way to adjust your colors to give them a beautiful glow effect. While I was playing around with it to see how it worked I found that it doesn’t really make an object look like it’s glowing but more a way to do color correction to an entire image and make the highlights brighter. It can also give your illustration a softer look.

You will want to either have all the elements you wish to apply the Glow filter to on one layer already or have all the elements visible with any you do not want the effect applied to set to hidden. Then click on Filter - Quick Effects. Then choose either “Apply to current layer” if you want to apply the effect to only the currently active layer or “Apply to all” if you want CSP to create a merged layer from all the currently visible layers. Because my character art is on a merged layer already I will be choosing “Apply to current layer”.

In the Quick Effects window click on “Glow” to show the glow settings. 

The Strength slider adjusts the intensity of the effect. By making the value larger the colors will be made much brighter, while lowering the strength gives a much more subtle effect.

The Glow Range refers to the range of colors the glow effect is applied to. In the example below, the Glow Range is high so the effect is applying to even the darker shadow colors.

However, turning the glow range down keeps the darker colors dark, as shown below.

Finally, the Blur Range controls the blur of the light effect. Making the blur range larger gives a softer glow over a larger area instead of intense highlights.

Below you can see the glow effect on the left and the image we started with on the right!

Using the Inflate Filter

The inflate filter can add a 3D or Embossed look to text and other elements of your illustration. 

As with the other filters, you will want any elements that you wish to apply this effect to either on their own layer or have all other layers hidden. Then click on Filter - Quick Effects and then either Apply to current filter (if you are only applying the effect to one filter) or Apply to all (will create a merged layer of the visible layers).

In the Quick Effects window, click on the Inflate thumbnail to bring up the effect settings. 

The Shadow Intensity slider controls how light or dark the shadow color is. You can use this to make the contrast more or less intense or to make sure the shadow shows when using this effect on darker colors. 

The Shine slider controls the strength of the highlights of this effect. Increasing the slider value makes the highlight sharper and brighter, making the object look more reflective, while a lower value will give a more matte look.

The Height slider controls the height of the rounded area of the inflate effect. A high value makes the rounded parts of the effect look smoother and more inflated.

While a lower value on the Height slider creates a more stamped on embossed look.

This effect, especially when combined with the Drop Shadow that we covered last week, can make text pop from your illustrations!

Conclusion

These three new filters we’ve covered over last week and this week are very welcome additions to Clip Studio Paint - especially the Drop Shadow and Inflate! These are filters that users have been asking for for a long time and I know that I am very excited to see them added to this ever-improving software!

For more information on CLIP Studio Paint, please visit https://www.clipstudio.net/en or https://graphixly.com