Artistic and other creative effects can be applied to all or parts of a digital image using filters. Filters are part of many image editing programs.

Filters effects can make a photo look like a oil painting, water colour or pencil sketch. Add a canvas, burlap or other textured background if you would like. There are filters to blur, sharpen, distort and add or remove noise.

By applying different filters, you can change the color of an image to a single one, converted it to black and white or a sepia tone. The possibilities for adding and varying creative filter effects are virtually endless.

To change the intensity of a filter, some programs let you "fade" the effect directly after it is applied. If you use layers, the transparency of the layer where the filter was applied can be reduced.

Most, if not all, photo editing program contain filter effects.  If you dont have photo editing of your own, you can always try a free program such as Picasa.