photoshop sketch

7/31/2019 Photoshop Sketch

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Photo to Pencil Sketch

[Editor's Note: Folks, we regularly get two or more requests from readers for any help using Photoshopto convert a photo to a sketch -- pencil, charcoal, conte, or other mediums. This is by far the very best

tutorial we've seen to date -- bar none! When we saw this technique in thePhotoshop Photo Effects

Cookbookwe knew at once we had to share it with you! Thanks to O'Reilly Publishingwe're able tobring the technique to you in its entirety! ]

Tim Shelbourne writes...

Ask any artist and they'll tell you that all the tubes of paint in the world cannot replace the simple pencil

when it comes to artistic potential. Through the centuries, the litmus test of an artist's ability was

demonstrated best through the medium of drawing. In days of yore, student painters spent years drawingwith graphite to hone their skills.

The so-called "Sketch Filters" in Photoshop consistently yield very disappointing results; re-creating the

quintessential sketch demands a little more inventiveness and an approach that mimics traditional

techniques. Pencil sketches work especially well when very soft leaded pencils are used on a tinted paper,with a few touches of white chalk here and there to heighten the tones. This is what we'll produce here,

digitally.

Don't worry if your drawing abilities aren't up to snuff, all that's required here is the ability to scribble!

Note: Due to the size and number of diagrams, we've made these thumbnails clickable, and should open

the actual diagram in a new, pop-up window. If they don't, be sure you have JAVA turned on, and Pop-upblocking turned off.

(1) Open youroriginal image in Photoshop.

Go to Layer > New Fill Layer > Solid Color,

call it "Gray Fill," and click OK.

In the Color Picker, choose a light gray.
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(2) Click the "Create new fill or adjustment layer" icon at the base of the Layers palette and choose

Pattern from the list.

Click in the Pattern Swatch in the dialog box, hit the right-pointing arrow, and select Grayscale Paper.

Choose Fibers 1 from the swatch.Increase the Pattern Scale to 340% and click OK. Set this layer to

Soft Light, and 35% opacity.

(3) Right-click/Ctrl-click the background layer and choose Duplicate Layer, calling the layer "Glowing

Edges."

Drag this new layer to the top of the stack and go to

Filter > Stylize > Glowing Edges.Use these values:

Edge Width 3, Edge Brightness 11, Smoothness 10.

(4) Invert the Glowing Edges layer usingImage > Adjustments > Invert (Ctrl/Cmd+I).

This layer only needs to be black and white, so go toImage > Adjustments > Desaturate (Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+U).

Set the layer's blending mode to Multiply with an opacity of 15%.

(5) Duplicate the background layer again, calling it "Sketch Layer," and drag this duplicate to the top of

the stack.

Desaturate this layer using Image> Adjustments > Desaturate (Ctrl/ Cmd+Shift+U).


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To use the layer as a base for the drawing, increase the contrast a little, by going to

Image > Adjustments > Brightness and Contrast. Drag the Contrast slider to the right to a value of 22.

Now set the layer blending mode to Darken and leave the opacity set to 100%.

(6) We need to add some Noise to this layer to break the image up a little, so go toFilter > Noise > Add Noise.

Use an Amount of 12%, choose Gaussian for Distribution, and check Monochromatic.

(7) Add a Hide All layer mask to this layer using Layer > Layer Mask > Hide All.

(8) Select the Brush tool and click in the Brush Picker.

Click the right-pointing arrow in the Picker and choose Dry Media Brushes. Scroll down the thumbnailsand double-click Pastel on Charcoal Paper.

(9) Hit F5 on the keyboard to display the Brush Options.

Click the Other Dynamics panel and set the Opacity Jitter Control box to Pen Pressure.Click Shape Dynamics and set the Size Jitter to Pen Pressure.

Set Minimum Diameter to 70%.

Remember, if you are not using a graphics tablet, you must control the opacity of the Brush using the

Opacity slider in the Options bar.


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(10) Now you can begin sketching...

Be sure that the foreground color swatch is white.

In the Options bar, increase the size of the brush to between 20 and 25 pixels. Now begin to scribble ontothe Sketch Layer's layer mask. At first, just concentrate on the main facial features within the image. Use

just a little pressure on the stylus, or a very low opacity for the brush.

Scribble loosely over all of the required parts of the image, changing direction often to create a hand-

shaded look.

(11) Use plenty of cross-hatch scribble where the strokes overlap in opposite directions. Remember, there

is no actual drawing ability whatsoever required here, we are simply scribbling to reveal the layer lying

beneath the Layer mask.

(12) Increase the size of the brush a little by using the right-facing square bracket key on the keyboard.

Continue to scribble over the image, remembering to keep the brushwork nice and loose, building up the

tones around the features of the face. In the hair, and around the outside of the image, use the brush at a

bigger size and make the strokes even moresketchy.

(13) Finally, reduce the size of the brush again and use it with white at full opacity to scribble

more into the main features, adding some really dark strokes.


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In this Photo Effects tutorial, we'll learn how to easily convert a portrait photo into a pencil sketch with

Photoshop. The initial sketch will appear in black and white, but at the end of the tutorial, we'll learn how

to colorize it with the photo's original colors! In the next tutorial, we'll learn a slightly different way toconvert an image into a sketch, one that's usually better suited for objects or landscape photos.

I'll be using Photoshop CS5 throughout this tutorial but the steps apply to any recent version of

Photoshop. If you're using Photoshop Elements 8 or 9, you'll find that version of the tutorial here.

Here's the photo I'll be starting with:

The original portraitimage.

Here's how it will look

when we're done:
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Let's get started!

View thePhotoshop Elements versionof this tutorial.

Step 1: Duplicate The Background Layer

The first thing we should do before starting on the effect is make a copy of the original image so we don't

harm it in case we need it later. With the photo newly opened in Photoshop, we see in the Layers panel

that the image is sitting on the Background layer:
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The Layers panel showing the photo on the Background layer.

Go up to the Layer menu in the Menu Bar along the top of the screen, choose New, then choose Layervia Copy. Or, for a faster way to run the same command, press Ctrl+J (Win) / Command+J (Mac) on

your keyboard:

Go to Layer > New > Layer via Copy, or press Ctrl+J (Win) / Command+J (Mac).

Either way tells Photoshop to make a copy of the layer, which it names "Layer 1", and place it above the

Background layer. Notice that Layer 1 is highlighted in blue, which tells us it's the active layer. Anything

we do next will happen to the copy of the image on Layer 1, leaving the original on the Background layerunharmed:

A copy of the photo appears on Layer 1.

Step 2: Desaturate The Image

Go up to the Image menu at the top of the screen, choose Adjustments, then choose Desaturate:

Go to Image > Adjustments >


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Desaturate.

The Desaturate command instantly removes all color from the image, giving us a quickblack and white

version:

The Desaturate command isn't the best way to convert an image to black and white, but it's good enoughfor our purposes here.

Step 3: Duplicate The Layer

Next, we need to make a copy of our desaturated image. Go back up to the Layer menu, choose New,

then choose Layer via Copy, or press Ctrl+J (Win) / Command+J (Mac) on your keyboard, just as wedid in Step 1. Photoshop makes a copy of Layer 1, names it "Layer 1 copy", and places it directly above

Layer 1 in the Layers panel:
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Photoshop always places copies of a layer above the original.

Step 4: Invert The Image

Go back up to the Image menu at the top of the screen, choose Adjustments, then choose Invert:

Go to Image > Adjustments > Invert.

This inverts the colors in the image, or in our case the brightness values, making light areas dark and dark

areas light, leaving us with a photo negative effect:


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The image after inverting the brightness values.

Step 5: Change The Blend Mode To Color Dodge

At the top of the Layers panel, you'll find theBlend Mode option. It doesn't actually say "Blend Mode"anywhere but it's the drop-down box that's set to Normal by default. Click on the word Normal, which

opens a list of layer blend modes, and choose Color Dodge from the list:
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Change the blend mode of the inverted layer from Normal to Color Dodge.

The document will temporarily appear filled with white. Depending on your image, there may be some

areas of black here and there, but for the most part it will be filled with white:

After changing the blend mode to Color Dodge, the document appears white.


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Step 6: Apply The Gaussian Blur Filter

This next step is where we actually create the sketch effect. Go up to the Filter menu at the top of the

screen, choose Blur, then choose Gaussian Blur:

Go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur.

This opens the Gaussian Blur filter's dialog box. We create the sketch effect by blurring the layer. Begin

dragging the Radius slider at the bottom of the dialog box towards the right to apply a slight amount ofblurring. As you drag, you'll see the sketch effect appearing in the document. The further you drag the

slider, the more blurring will be applied and the more intense the sketch effect will become. If you drag

the slider too far, though, too much of the original photo will show through and it won't look like a sketchanymore.

There's no specific Radius value to enter since the amount of blurring you use will depend on what you

think looks good for your image, so make sure you keep an eye on your document to judge the results as

you drag the slider. For my image, I'll set my Radius value to around 12 pixels or so:


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Drag the Radius slider to increase or decrease the amount of blurring.

Here's what my initial sketch effect looks like:

The initial black and white sketch.

Next, we'll learn how to darken the lines in the sketch and how to colorize it!

Step 7: Merge The Layers Onto A New Layer

Hold down the Alt (Win) / Option (Mac) key on your keyboard and with the key still held down, go upto the Layer menu at the top of the screen and choose Merge Visible:


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Hold down Alt (Win) / Option (Mac) and go to Layer > Merge Visible.

Normally, the Merge Visible command would essentially flatten our image by merging all of our existing

layers down onto a single layer, but by holding down Alt (Win) / Option (Mac) while choosing Merge

Visible, we told Photoshop to keep all of our initial layer intact, merging them on to a new layer (Layer 2)above the originals:

The three original layers are combined onto a fourth layer above them.

Step 8: Change The Blend Mode To Multiply And Adjust The Layer Opacity

Go up to the Blend Mode option at the top of the Layers panel and change the blend mode for the mergedlayer from Normal to Multiply. This will darken the lines in the sketch effect. If you find the effect is

now too dark, lower the Opacity value, which is to the right of the Blend Mode option. Keep an eye on

the image as you adjust the opacity to fine tune the results. I'm going to lower mine down to 50%:


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Change the blend mode to Multiply, then adjust the result with the Opacity option.

Here's my result after darkening the effect:

The sketch now appears darker against the white background.


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Step 9: Duplicate The Background Layer

At this point, the sketch effect is complete and if you're happy with it in black and white, you can stop

here. If you want to add color to the sketch, continue on with these last few steps. We're going to colorize

the sketch using the colors from the original photo. Our original photo is on the Background layer, sowe'll need to make a copy of it. Click on the Background layer in the Layers panel to select it:

Select the Background layer to make it active.

With the Background layer selected, go up to the Layer menu, choose New, then choose Layer via

Copy, or press Ctrl+J (Win) / Command+J (Mac). Photoshop makes a copy of the layer, names it

"Background copy" and places it directly above the original:

The copy appears above the original Background layer.


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Step 10: Move The Background Copy Above The Other Layers

To use this Background copy layer to colorize our sketch, we need to move it above the other layers. We

can jump it straight to the top of the layer stack by pressing the keyboard shortcut Shift+Ctrl+] (Win) /

Shift+Command+] (Mac). The ] is the right bracket key. With the Background copy layer now at the top,the original image will once again appear in the document window:

The Background copy layer has been jumped to the top of the layer stack.

Step 11: Change The Blend Mode To Color

To mix the colors of the original image in with the sketch effect, change the blend mode for the

Background copy layer from Normal to Color:


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Change the layer blend mode to Color.

The Color blend mode mixes the colors from the current layer with the brightness values of the layersbelow it, giving us our colorized sketch effect:

The result after changing the blend mode to Color.

Step 12: Lower The Opacity

Finally, if you find the color looks too intense, simply lower the Opacity value at the top of the Layers

panel to fine-tune the results. I'll lower mine down to 65%:


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Lower the layer opacity to reduce the amount of color in the sketch.

With the opacity lowered, here is my final result:

The final color sketch effect.


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Heres the original photo.To convert to into a sketch you have to do the following steps:

Create two desaturated duplicates of thebackground layer

Invert the top desaturated layer and set its blending mode toColorDodge

Apply Gaussian Blur to the top layer

Paint over the image using soft brush with black color and very low opacity to reveal the details

Add texture using Texturizer filter

Below are these steps explained in detail

Duplicate the background layer. Select Layer Duplicate Layer or press CTRL-J. The new will be

automatically given a name layer 1.Desaturate layer 1. Make sure that layer 1 (not theBackground!) is active and select Image Adjustments Desaturate or press CTRL-SHIFT-U.
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Duplicate layer 1. Press CTRL-J and rename the created layer to layer 2.Invert layer 2 . Select

Image Adjustments Invert or press CTRL-I.

Now you should have the original Background layer and two layers on top of it: layer 1 and inverted

layer 2.

Set the blending mode of layer 2 to Color Dodge. If everything is ok, the image will turn completely

white.

Apply the Gaussian Blur to layer 2.Select Filter Blur Gaussian Blur. It will reveal the lines thatwill be the base for the sketch. Adjust the radius. The smaller the radius, the thinner the lines of the

sketch will be. For my image, I set the radius 2.


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Paint over the image with a brush tool to reveal the details.Select the black foreground color, and set

the brush opacity to the very low value, like 2 or 3%. Paint over the areas where you want to reveal

additional details.

Accentuate most important areas likeeyes.Zoom in, increase the brush opacity to 5% or more andpaint over the most important areas of the image to give them additional detail.

Remove the background with a white brush.Set foreground color to white, increase the brush opacity

to 25-50% or more and paint over the background to remove the unnecessary details.
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Create a texture.Select Filter Texture Texturizer, select the sandstone texture and adjust Scale and

Relief values.

The final result .Now you should have the image that looks like a black and white pastel sketch. You

may continue working with it add some contrast using curves, for example.

After some excercise it will take you only 2 or 3 minutes to convert a photo into a sketch using this

classical sketch workflow.


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photoshop sketch

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