Creating a stylized photograph in Photoshop. Photoshop magic: four ways to turn a photo into a painting Processing the edges of a photo

Photoshop provides a wide range of possibilities for working with photographs, as its name suggests. And although today this product is positioned much more broadly - as an application for working with raster and vector graphics, photo processing still occupies a special place here. Of the capabilities available in Photoshop, the first to be mentioned, of course, is retouching, which allows you to solve a wide range of problems, ranging from eliminating mechanical damage to a photograph and ending with all sorts of improvements in the appearance of objects, right down to “applying cosmetics” using the program. Photoshop also has tools for less significant transformations of photographs, such as stylizing them and processing borders; these will be discussed in this article.

Styling in Photoshop

Let us remember that stylization is the imitation of a particular style with full or partial reproduction of its most important features, that is, the creation of a generalized image. The most natural way of stylization is to first draw an object with all the details, and then repeat the drawing, discarding unimportant details and emphasizing the most characteristic features of this style. However, modern graphics packages, including Photoshop, can make the task much easier: you don’t have to draw anything, and you will need a photograph as the source images. The most common types of stylization using Photoshop are stylization as a pencil drawing and as an old photograph. We will talk about them in more detail.

Stylizing a photo as a drawing

An ordinary photograph can easily be turned into a drawing and, if desired, surrounded with a kind of halo. This can be done using regular channels. However, it should be noted that such a transformation can only be carried out with high-quality photographs in light colors with clear contours. You can find more than enough options for stylizing photographs on the Internet (http://www.psd.ru/, http://www.myjanee.com/, http://zanaveski.km.ru/, etc.). Let's consider one of them.

First, you will have to prepare the original photograph: the image must be on a white background and all details must be removed from it (Fig. 1, 2).

Rice. 1. Original image

Rice. 2. Image after removing unnecessary details

Convert the image to CMYK mode using the command Image→Mode→CMYK Color (Image→Mode→CMYK Color). Make a copy of the black channel by dragging it in the Channels window onto the Create new channel button. By default, the new channel will be named Black copy. Activate the created Black copy alpha channel and change the brightness and contrast settings through Image→Adjustments→Brightness/Contrast (Image→Adjustments→Brightness/Contrast). As a rule, you need to add a little brightness and a lot of contrast. In this example, the Brightness value is 5 and Contrast 35. As a result, the image in the alpha channel will look like in Fig. 3.

Rice. 3. Black copy alpha channel after changing brightness and contrast

Next, you need to create a halo around the image. To do this, make a copy of the yellow channel (by default its name will be Yellow copy), and then create a new layer, Layer1. Load the Yellow copy channel on it as a selection using the Select→Load selection command with the Invert checkbox selected in the Load selection dialog box. Then fill it with a suitable color using Edit→Fill (Edit→Fill), in this case the color green is used. Deselect and blur the halo layer using the filter Filter→Blur→Gaussian Blur (Filter→Blur→Gaussian Blur) with a blur factor of about 17 pixels (Fig. 4).

Rice. 4. Image surrounded by a halo

Create a new layer for the background of the stylized photo Layer2 and fill it with some color (light brown in the example). Then load the Black copy alpha channel on Layer2 as a selection with the Invert flag checked and fill it with a suitable dark color in this case, dark brown is selected (Fig. 5). Stop highlighting.

Rice. 5. Layer2

The last step remains - reduce the opacity of the halo layer to 60-80% and swap Layer1 and Layer2 by dragging Layer2 directly onto Layer1; Above there should be a layer with a halo (Fig. 6). After this, you should flatten all layers with the Flatten Image command.

Rice. 6. The final look of the stylized photo

Stylization for a strange photo

Let's look at how to make a modern photograph look like an old photo. Do not forget that a realistic result can only be achieved if the theme of the original photograph at least slightly corresponds to “antique”, so it is useless to try to turn, for example, a photo of a computer into an antique photograph. You can find many similar techniques on the Internet, but the most complete ones are probably given on the sites http://www.myjanee.com/ and http://www.psd.ru /.

To “age” a photo (Fig. 7), at the first stage you will need to set the color of the old photo using the command Image→Adjustments→Hue/Saturation (Image→Adjustments→Color/Saturation), setting the values ​​as follows: Hue - 40, Saturation - 26, and Lightness - 35 when the Colorize parameter is turned on (Fig. 8).

Rice. 7. Original image

Rice. 8. Photo after color determination

Now you need to adjust the brightness and reduce the contrast by using the command Image→Adjustments→Levels (Image→Adjustments→Levels) and setting the parameters as in Fig. 9. The parameter values ​​for each image will be different, and they will have to be selected individually: brightness adjustment as a whole is carried out through the input parameters, and changes in contrast are adjusted through the output parameters.

Rice. 9. Level settings

For more subtle color correction, you will have to additionally use the command Image→Adjustments→Curves (Image→Adjustments→Curves) and adjust the curve as shown in Fig. 10.

Rice. 10. Curve setting window

Rice. 11. Image view after color correction is completed

At the final stage, to simulate film grain, add noise using the Filter→Artistic→Film Grain filter with Grain 1, Highlight Area 0 and Intensity - 1. The optimal Grain value is selected experimentally. In some cases, when the image is large or does not contain small details, you can increase the Grain value to 2-5. After that, blur the image using Gaussian Filter→Blur→Gaussian Blur (Filter→Blur→Gaussian Blur) with a blur factor of 0.2 to 0.8 pixels. As a result, you will get an image like in Fig. 12. To make it look more like an old photograph, you can draw a frame and cracks.

Rice. 12. The final look of the “aged” photo

Processing the edges of a photo

You will agree that a photograph in a frame looks much more impressive than without it. Interesting frames can also be created using Photoshop.

Filters and Framing

The idea of ​​using filters to process the edges of photographs apparently came from the famous Russian designer Artemy Lebedev; examples of its implementation can be found on many sites.

To work, select a photo (the original photo in the example is shown in Fig. 13) and open it. Then create a new channel Alpha1 by selecting the New Channel command, select a suitable frame (to do this you will need to select a rectangular area and make an inversion) and fill it with white (Fig. 14).

Rice. 13. Original view of the photo

Rice. 14. Rectangular frame

Discard the selection and apply the Color Halftone filter: Filter → Pixelate → Color Halfone (Filter → Design → Color Halftones) with parameters at your own discretion, the result will be an image like in Fig. 15.

Rice. 15. Channel Alpha1 after applying a filter

Go to the RGB channel and load the Alpha1 channel as a selection using the Select→Load selection command; The Invert checkbox does not need to be selected. Fill the selected area with the background color on which the photo will lie (in this case, white; Fig. 16). Original frames are also obtained when using other filters, for example: Filter → Pixelate → Crystallize (Filter → Design → Crystallization) - fig. 17, Filter→Distort→Ripple (Filter→Distort→Ripple) - fig. 18, Filter→Distort→Glass (Filter→Distort→Glass) - fig. 19, Filter→Brush Strokes→Spatter (Filter→Brush Strokes→Splashes) - fig. 20.

Rice. 16. The final look of the framed photo

Rice. 17. Crystallize filter

Rice. 18. Ripple filter

Rice. 19. Glass filter

Rice. 20. Spatter filter

The imitation of the burnt edges of a photograph also looks impressive; the most interesting implementation of this idea can be found at http://www.myjanee.com/.

To create such a “frame,” open a suitable image (Fig. 21) and reduce it while holding down the Shift key to maintain the proportions. Then move the image to the center of the canvas and fill the frame around it with a suitable color (ivory in the example; Fig. 22).

Rice. 21. Original image

Rice. 22. Photo after initial frame filling

Select the central part of the photo that will not be captured by the frame (this part should include both the entire border and part of the photo), and make an inversion. Then, using a suitable filter or manually, form a frame and blur it with Gaussian Filter → Blur → Gaussian Blur (Filter → Blur → Gaussian Blur) with a blur factor of 2 to 3 pixels. Considering that a photo with burnt edges cannot be sharp enough, also apply a Filter→Blur→Gaussian Blur filter to its central part (Filter→Blur→Gaussian Blur) with a blur factor of 1 to 1.5 pixels. The result will be an image like in Fig. 23.

Rice. 23. Photo after decorating the frame using a filter and Gaussian blur

Now you need to blur the frame around the image with an airbrush (Fig. 24).

Rice. 24. Image after blurring the frame with an airbrush

Then use the Lasso Tool to draw a jagged border around the outer edge of the frame, invert the selection, and press the Delete key to remove the unwanted portion of the image. Invert the selection again, set a suitable fill color (brown in the example), and then run the Edit→Stroke command, setting the desired parameters. In this case, Width (Border Width) is selected at 7 pixels and Location (Position) - Inside (Inside). Now you need to add a black border to the border, which can be done using the same Edit→Stroke command, setting the required width and determining its position Outside. At the final stage, you will need to Gaussian blur the resulting multi-colored border, first selecting it completely and then applying the filter Filter→Blur→Gaussian Blur (Filter→Blur→Gaussian Blur) with a blur factor of approximately 3 pixels. The finished image should look similar to what is shown in Fig. 25.

Rice. 25. The final look of the photo with burnt edges

With this lesson we will start a new interesting topic - creating a stylized photograph in Photoshop. And on this page, links to new lessons on a given topic will appear over time.

Stylization- this is the deliberate reduction of the original photo to some other form, giving it new characteristics and a new “vision”. That is, we take an ordinary photograph and give it a new style, hence the name of the photo processing process.

To stylize photographs, a wide variety of effects are used, created both using the built-in standard filters and tools of Photoshop, and using special filters, actions (actions) and separate programs.

As a result of stylization, you can get a painting, a drawing (black and white and color), an engraving, a “cartoon” photo, a picture in the style of pop art and fantasy from an ordinary photograph...

It is almost impossible to show all the effects used to change the style of a photograph. Because when styling, you can use either one selected effect (of which there are many), or a group of different effects. And these are hundreds, or even thousands of different combinations!

But still, I will tell you about some possibilities for stylizing photographs and show you with examples. And then, knowing the basics, you can combine these possibilities according to your taste and understanding and get the results you need.

In each lesson we will consider 1-2 possible options for stylizing a photograph.

Styling a photo using RGB channels

Let's start our lesson by getting a stylized photo in the simplest way, in my opinion: using the “Channels” window.

In this lesson we will work with RGB channels, which are created automatically in Photoshop when you load an image. You can see them by selecting the Channels tab in the main menu of the Window program.
As you can see, each image is represented in the form of three channels - red, green and blue. In English – Red, Green, Blue. The first letters give the name of the channels – RGB.

By changing channels, turning them off, adding and inverting, we can get some very interesting effects.

Step 1.
A) Open a photo of a flower in the program.
B) Create a duplicate layer ( Ctrl+J), go to it. Close the Background layer.
C) Open the Channels window.
The screenshot shows simultaneously the types of all three actions described above.

Step 2.
Select any of the channels (for example, the blue channel is selected). We turn off other channels. This is what our photo looks like now.

Step 3.
Set the channel inversion. This can be done in two ways. Via the menu Image - Correction - Inversion or using shortcut keys Ctrl+I.

Step 4.
Turn on all other channels. We get this stylization effect.

Styling a photo using RGB channels. Step 1.
Styling a photo using RGB channels. Step 2.

Styling a photo using RGB channels. Step 3.
Styling a photo using RGB channels. Step 4.

You can similarly change the remaining two channels or select a combination of channels. As a result, we get the following versions of our original photo.

Changing the blue channel Changing the green channel Changing the red channel
Changing Blue and Red Channels Simultaneously Change blue and green channel at the same time Change green and red channel at the same time

If such effects suit you for the photo you have chosen, then you can stop here, go to the Layers tab and, selecting any selected picture, save it as a new photo.

And you can supplement the performed transformations, for example, with overlay effects.

To do this we do the following:

Leave visible the Background layer (the original photo) and the layer with the modified channel (in our case, Background Copy or Background Copy 1... and the like).
Go to the effect layer and apply different overlay effects to it. To do this, double-click on it with the right mouse button and experiment with blending modes. Choose the option that suits you best for your photo.

In this lesson there is not a single filter that gives away the technique, not a single style or additional plugin. There are only two modified brushes and your sense of beauty. Further on there are a lot of beech trees. But don't be alarmed, these are just detailed explanations.

Photos

So let's start with a photo of the original. The photo must be of high quality. This applies to both its resolution and the aesthetics of the photo itself. The image should not be flat (flash in the face) or grainy (photo from a mobile phone). Follow this rule: the more clearly eyelashes, wrinkles and pores are visible at the lyceum, the better. In general, any more or less normal digital camera, set to maximum resolution, produces suitable quality. I liked this shot because of the well-exposed light.

So you'll find something more artistic. Have you chosen? Great, let's move on.

Layers

The first step is to prepare all the layers necessary for work. Open our image.

1 (bottom) layer – background. This is our original, we leave it just in case. We make two copies of the original and convert them to black and white(Ctrl+Shift+U).

We call one copy “ drawing"(this will be our working layer).

The second – “ crib"and set it to transparent 40% (this is only approximately, it all depends on the tone of the photo)

And finally, put under the layer " drawing» white sheet (Layer 1).

That's it, you can start.

Cunning

To make it immediately clear to you what we will do, remember one trick from childhood. A sheet of paper is placed on the coin, and then we stroke the sheet with a pencil. And we get an image of a coin on paper. Remember?
And now we will do the same thing, only together the coins - the picture in the layer " drawing", and instead of the paper that we are shading, there is a mask of the same layer.

So that you don’t get confused, I’ll clarify right away that the layer “ Layer 1"(Layer 1) is just a substrate, a background, we will not draw on it. We only need it to see correctly what we are doing. In the end, you can replace this plain white background with a colored, textured paper or whatever your heart desires.
Now everything is clear, let's go.

Mask

Select our layer " drawing" and create a layer mask. (Layers - Vector Mask - Hide All).

Hide All means " Hide all" That is, after applying the mask, our entire layer turned into a blank sheet. But we still see the image because there is a translucent layer on top." crib».

Select the layer mask (be careful, we only work in it).

Brush No. 1. Line

Now we need a suitable brush (this will be our brush №1 , which we will call " line") white (in the mask everything is the other way around: white – draws, black – erases, remember this!)
Select the tool (), set the color to white and move on to modifications:

Take a regular round brush with hard edges.

We select the size (see screenshot; I can’t tell you the exact number of pixels, you may have a different image resolution) “ approximately"(from me 2 before 6 squeak).

Our brush should resemble a pencil stroke. If you look closely at the pencil stroke on the paper, you can see that it has a torn edge. We want the same effect.

We set it the following parameters (also by eye, but it should look similar to mine): Shape Dynamics(Shape dynamics) - Size Jitter(Size fluctuation) (I have 60% ), Scattering(Scattering) - Scatter(Scattering) (I have 43% ), Other Dynamics Opacity Jitter(Opacity Fluctuation) (I have 10% ).

Ready! Save the brush (drop-down menu in the upper right corner - New Brush Preset(New set of brush parameters)) and call it “ pencil-line».

Sketch

With this brush (the brush should be transparent, about 10-30% , but in general, depending on the circumstances), we draw the most expressive elements of the portrait - facial features, deep wrinkles, folds and outlines. It is very important to keep your hand freely and not make closed decorative contours. Imagine that you are drawing with a regular pencil on paper. The beauty of this technique is that you don’t “ drop a line» random line if your hand trembles. You don’t draw, but “ show" image. A " crib” gives us an idea of ​​where exactly we need to draw.

If we hide it, we see what we have in its pure form.

Don't get carried away, made a rough sketch (so that the face is recognizable), and move on to the next stage.

Brush No. 2. Hatching

IN separate temporary layer we draw with our " line brush» direct (holding the button Shift) a segment the length of an average pencil stroke.

Select the layer (right button on the layer - Select Pixels(Select pixels)) and save the intermediate brush ((Editing - Define Brush)). Let's call it " temporary" Let's move on to modifications.

First, we give it the same parameters as our first brush:

Shape Dynamics(Shape dynamics) - Size Jitter(Size fluctuation) (60%), Scattering(Scattering) - Scatter(Scattering) (43%), Other Dynamics(Different dynamics - Photoshop CS3 / Transfer - since CS5) - Opacity Jitter(Opacity Fluctuation) (10%). But don't forget that you might have other numbers.

This is what should happen.

Now in Other Dynamics(Other dynamics - Photoshop CS3 / Transfer - starting from CS5) add Flow Jitter(80%). So we got different strengths" pressure" on " pencil».

IN Brush Tip Shape(Brush imprint shape) change Spacing(Intervals) to 70% . So we increased the distance between strokes.

IN Shape Dynamics(Shape dynamics) add Angle Jitter(Angle fluctuation) (3%). We've crossed our strokes a bit. You're not a robot to make the perfect stroke.

And finally, in Brush Tip Shape(Brush imprint shape) change a little Angle(Angle) (scrolling the “wheel”). We made the strokes slanted.

Save the brush and name it “ pencil-shading».

Hatching

We start shading from the “ active» places

At this stage you must learn one very important point. The stroke should be light, as if you were barely touching the paper with your hand (for this, use a transparent brush, approximately 5% before 20% ). In dark areas, use the most transparent brush - we don't need " Chernukha».

Remember, it is very important to change as often as possible TILT OF HATCHING!

Ideally, you should change the angle every time you take your hand off the mouse. This also applies to its size and transparency. Try it, experiment. The more variety, the more artistic and believable you will be.

Don't try to mindlessly tear up a photograph. Highlight important and unimportant details for yourself:

FACE – important, it should be worked out well (BUT, don't overdo it, if long " fuss"in the same place, the effect will be lost " stroke».

HAIR – secondary. They are best worked on in the most contrasting places (on the border of light and shadow) and where the hairs are beautifully and clearly visible. In shadows and featureless places don't be nasty, softly, " fading away", write off the hair with the background. Sometimes, use the first brush to draw hair.

CLOTH- in my case immaterial. It can only be slightly outlined. It's another matter if you want to emphasize some detail.

Finalization

After you've finished shading (it's up to you and only you to decide when to finish), use your first brush to make a few bold strokes (a la a very soft pencil) in the active areas.

This will give the drawing life and space.

Drawing with a grater

If you have ever drawn with a (real) pencil for a very long time, then you know that the drawing sometimes begins to seem “ worn out", and in such cases an ordinary sharpened grater can act as a drawing tool. It's the same here.

Take the brush " line" Change the brush color from white to black (remember that in the mask the black brush is a grater). And we begin to draw (wip) active small highlights with it: eyelashes, eyebrows, brightly lit hairs, highlights in the eyes, on the lips.

If necessary, you can take a brush " shading"and refresh too dark smeared areas, as if you had shaded a dark spot in a real drawing a little with a grater.

That's all, actually. But, of course, there is no limit to perfection. You don’t have to stop there, try different techniques “ drawing"(the stroke can be long, short, light, rough, active, wavy, etc.).

You can choose a beautiful paper texture and experiment with its tone, or you can leave your drawing on a white background and then print it on whatman paper. If you think the drawing is faded, just duplicate its layer. But let it still remain easy " understatement” because over-activating the image makes it look like a photograph again.

Turning a photograph into a painting is one of the most popular topics in lessons on working with graphic editors. Modern 2D applications are so advanced that they give the opportunity to try themselves as a real artist even for those who have never been able to draw well. Sliders, checkboxes and other settings work no worse than a paint palette and canvas.

One of the confirmations of the high interest of users in the topic of drawing is the appearance in the latest version of Photoshop of the Oil Paint filter, with which you can turn an image into a painting in a matter of seconds. And if you have a modern graphics adapter, you can watch the changes made in real time in the preview window. However, like any other tool, the Oil Paint filter is imperfect. In particular, it does not make it possible to separately control the size and nature of strokes in different parts of the image. Therefore, other methods for obtaining a picture from a photograph remain relevant. In this review we will look at both Oil Paint and three other ways to achieve this effect.

⇡ Using the Oil Paint filter

Oil Paint is one of the new Photoshop CS6 filters that uses the Mercury Graphics Engine (MGE). The latter uses OpenGL and OpenCL technologies and makes it possible to significantly speed up obtaining results by shifting part of the work to the GPU. However, unlike some of the other new CS6 filters, Oil Paint also works with older video cards, but in this case only processor resources are used for calculations.

For convenience, the command to call the Oil Paint filter is placed directly in the Filter menu.

The filter contains six sliders: four of them are related to brush parameters, and two are related to lighting settings. The Stylization and Bristle Detail sliders are designed to add contrast to simulated brush strokes. They create light boundaries between each curve or swirl and thereby make the effect more pronounced. The difference between these two settings is that the first adds an additional chaotic effect to the design created by the brush strokes, while the second affects mainly the contrast.

The Cleanliness slider allows you to change the detail of each brush stroke. High values ​​of this parameter correspond to painting with a new soft brush, and with low values ​​you can get the effect of painting with an already dirty brush with sticky bristles - there will be more “grain” in the image.

Using the Scale parameter, you can essentially change the size of the brush.

As for lighting-related settings, Angular Direction determines the angle at which the simulated light reaches the surface of the canvas, which in turn affects the contrast between strokes. When lighting changes, strokes may appear bright or, conversely, dark. The Shine parameter sets the overall intensity of the effect.

⇡ Turning a photo into a painting using filters

This method of creating a painting from a photograph is interesting because it allows you to get a completely acceptable result without using a virtual brush. The secret lies in the consistent application of filters, of which there are a great many in Photoshop.

Note that filter settings will differ for images with different resolutions, so you may need to adjust them. We show the settings for 1024x768 resolution.

So, after loading the original image into Photoshop, use the keyboard shortcut CTRL + U to open the Hue/Saturation window. Increase the saturation of the image to forty-five.

Open the filter gallery by selecting it from the Filter menu. Go to the Glass filter. Since we want to get the image as if it were placed on a canvas, set its settings to a texture type resembling canvas (Canvas). Other parameters should be selected depending on the image resolution. Reduce distortion by setting the Distortion to a lower value and select a low Smoothness value.

Click the New effect layer button at the bottom of the Filter Gallery window to add an additional layer to apply the filter to.

Assign the filter to Angled Strokes. It simulates brush strokes applied at a certain angle. Set the Stroke Length to 3 and the Sharpness parameter, which determines how sharp the image will be, to one.

Add another effect layer using the same New effect layer button. Set the filter to Paint Daubs. The key setting parameter here is the brush type. In this case, you need to select the Simple type, and then reduce the brush size to four and lower the Sharpness value so that the strokes are less clear.

Create the last layer of the effect. Assign the filter to Texturizer. It adds a canvas texture to the image. In its settings, select the appropriate texture type - Canvas. Then select the texture scale (Scaling parameter) and its relief (Relief parameter).

The main work is completed. To apply filters to the image, click the OK button. All that remains is to make the strokes clearer. Create a copy of the layer using the CTRL+J command. Select the layer desaturation command Image → Adjustments → Desaturate (“Image” → “Correction” → “Desaturate”).

Now apply the Filter → Stylize → Emboss filter to the top layer. In its settings, reduce the value of the Height parameter to one, and, on the contrary, increase the value of the Amount parameter to 500.

For the current layer, change the blending type to Overlay. Ready!

⇡ “Painted” oil painting

Here's another interesting way to turn any photo into an oil painting. It's more labor-intensive than using the new Oil Paint filter, but it gives you more creative options.

Open the image.

Create a new layer and select the Fill tool and fill it with white. Select the Art History Brush tool. In the History palette, check Set the Source for History Brush.

In the tool settings, select the oil brush 63 Oil Pastel and in the Area field, set its distribution area to thirty.

Right-click on the image and reduce the brush size and paint the layer. The smaller the size, the smaller the stroke size will be and the more detailed the picture will be.

Apply Filter → Sharpen → Unsharp Mask to make the strokes more expressive. Increase the Amount value. Finally, apply the Texturizer filter to create the illusion of a canvas. In Photoshop CS6, this filter is not in the Filter menu by default, and is accessed through the Filter Gallery. Select "Texture" - "Canvas" from the list and, based on the preview window, select the values ​​for the Scaling and Relief parameters.

Now the image looks like an oil painting.

⇡ Almost real painting in Photoshop

Most methods of simulating painting in Photoshop are based on applying a specific sequence of filters. These methods have one serious drawback - they often lack the individuality of the artist. In this lesson we will talk about one method of simulating painting, which will allow you to create a unique, one-of-a-kind painting based on any photograph.

The secret of the originality of the images obtained using this method is that the user himself applies the strokes in an arbitrary manner. But in order to paint a picture in this way, it is not at all necessary to have the talent of an artist.

So, open the image that will serve as the basis for the painting. Increase the canvas size a little. To do this, execute the command Image → Canvas Size (“Image” → “Canvas Size”).

Execute the command Edit → Define pattern. Create a new layer and fill it with white using the Fill tool. Make it slightly transparent by lowering the Opacity to 80% so that the original image shows through the top layer.

Create a new layer and use the Pattern Stamp tool. From the list of patterns in the toolbar, select the pattern you saved earlier using the Define pattern command. Check the Aligned checkbox to position the strokes correctly and the Impressionist (Effect) checkbox to give them an impressionistic style.

Select one of the brushes in the Pattern Stamp tool settings. Customize its profile using the settings in the Brush palette. It is desirable that the profile should look like a stroke of a real brush - a trace of lint should be visible in it and the texture of the canvas should be visible. Start painting directly on the image, using short, small strokes. They can be applied in a completely arbitrary manner, trying to ensure that the profile of the brush is visible on each stroke.

In the process of drawing a picture, the size of the brush can and even should be changed. In areas of the image where detail is low, such as the sky or sea, you can use larger brushes. In areas where there are a lot of small details, it is better to reduce the size of the brush used so that the elements of the painting are better defined on the canvas.

The process of creating a painting takes quite a long time, since you have to pay attention to every recognizable detail in the image. However, it is this “handmade work” that makes the picture realistic. The position of the strokes cannot be described by any algorithm; this is solely the work of the artist. When there are no bright spots left in the image, you can save the result.

⇡ Conclusion

This article looked at several ways to create a painting from a photograph in Adobe Photoshop, but there are many other programs in which you can achieve a similar effect. There are many free ones among them, for example FotoSketcher. This program offers more than twenty painting styles, from watercolor paints and pencil drawing to creating a cartoon image. Each style has several settings that can be used to influence the appearance of the finished “picture”.

Despite the fact that you can quickly achieve a number of interesting artistic effects using FotoSketcher, programs of this kind still lack the freedom to realize creative ideas. Many operations are done according to a template, and therefore the result, to a greater or lesser extent, repeats the previously obtained patterns. So Photoshop was, is and remains the main tool for an artist working with digital painting.

It takes years to achieve mastery in the art of drawing. But you can easily create your masterpiece in Photoshop. In this tutorial you will learn how to create a drawing from a photograph using brushes in combination with a graphics tablet or using them separately, it's your choice. So let's get started!

Final result:

1. Setting up the Image

Step 1

Open the original image in Photoshop. To create the effect of a pencil drawing, I use a beautiful image of a tiger. Double click on the layer The background(background layer) to unlock it, name this layer Layer 1(Layer 1). Set the Foreground color to a white tint and then use the Fill(Paint Bucket Tool (G)), fill it with white. Make sure that the white fill layer is positioned below the original image layer.

If your original image is in color, then convert it to black and white. To do this, go to the photo layer, and then go Image - Adjustments - Hue/Saturation(Image > Adjustments > Hue & Saturation) and in the settings window for this correction that appears, reduce the value Saturation(Saturation) to -100.

2. Create a Picture Effect

Step 1

Now it's time to create the pattern effect! Add a layer mask to the photo layer. Click on the layer mask thumbnail and then fill the layer mask with black using the tool Fill(Paint Bucket Tool (G)).

Next, set the Foreground color to a white tint and the Background color to a black tint. Using your graphics tablet, select a tool Brush(Brush Tool (B)). Start painting strokes with a white brush over the black layer mask. . For a traditional drawing, use a brush that imitates a pencil or brush strokes. In this case, we are using a brush Flat, blunt with short, stiff bristles(Flat Blunt Short Stiff Brush) from the Photoshop Brush Set .

Step 2

Continue applying white brush strokes to the layer mask. Using a white brush, you will restore the image below, giving it the texture of a painting. Try to make your brush strokes resemble hatching or cross-hatching, imitating traditional painting techniques. If necessary, study the pencil drawings to recreate them in your work.

Step 3

Clean specific areas with the tool Eraser(Eraser (E)). You can apply strokes all over the canvas or leave white areas in the image to achieve the desired effect. Center the tiger image using the tool Moving(Move Tool (V)). Keep adding touches until you are happy with the result. When you're done, press Ctrl+J to duplicate the layer.

Step 4

Let's enhance the drawing. Let's go Image - Correction - Levels(Image > Adjustments > Levels), set the settings for RGB channel(RGB Channel), which are listed below to enhance contrast and highlight strokes . Now merge all the layers together.

Translator's note: To merge all layers, press the keys (Ctrl+Alt+Shift+E).

Input values(Input Level) for:

• Shadows(Shadow): 0
• Midtones(Mid tone): 0.79
• Light glare(Highlight): 255

Step 5

At this stage, if you want, you can leave the drawing as it is or make the drawing look a little like a drawing made on paper. To do this, we will add a slight gradient effect to make the painting look like a photograph of the drawing.

Right-click on the merged layer with the picture and select the option from the menu that appears Blending Options(Blending Options). Next, choose a layer style Overlaygradient(Gradient Overlay), set Lineargradient(Linear Gradient), gradient color from dark blue to light blue, blending mode Exception(Exclusion) Opacity(Opacity) 40%, Scale(Scale) 150%.

The result should be like the screenshot below.

Step 6

Finally, add one more correction Levels(Levels). This time for RGB channel(RGB Channel), set the following settings to 18, 0.73, and 248. Add a signature and your drawing is complete!

If you never thought that you could do this before, then think again! I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and have a lot of fun turning your photos into drawings! See you again!

Final result: