A fun way to give your old photographs a new look is to use Photoshop to make them look like they've been sketched in pencil. It's a nice effect, and it only takes a few steps to make it happen. We will show you how!
Steps
Step 1. Choose a photo
If you want to turn one of your old photos into a sketch you will need to scan it. For best results, make sure you do a high resolution scan. 300 DPI is suitable for printing, and gives you enough flexibility for your edits.
- If the photo is from a digital camera, upload it to your computer.
- For a good result, high contrast images are preferable. If necessary, you can adjust the contrast of the image by going to image> rule> brightness / contrast, and adjust the sliders to your taste.
Step 2. Open Photoshop
From the menu File, select You open and open the image you want to edit.
Method 1 of 4: Method 1: Use Filters
Step 1. Press the D button
This will reset your palette so that the foreground color is black, while the background color is white. This will give you a "black pencil on white paper" effect. Of course, if you wish, you can use other colors besides black and white.
Step 2. Open the filter gallery
From the menu Filters, you choose Filter gallery … It contains a large assortment of art brushes and styles that you can use to style your image. You can also combine them for truly unique effects.
Step 3. Adjust the view
If your photograph is large, you may only see a portion of it in the preview window. If so, click on the menu at the bottom left and select Fit to screen.
Step 4. Click on the sketch filters
This will open a list with a series of filters that will transform your design into black and white (or whatever color you have chosen for the foreground and background). Select a filter (in this case, we chose Charcoal), and adjust the filter sliders until you get the settings you want.
Graphic pen it gives an effect more like a comic or a graphic novel. Experiment with a variety of filters and settings (e.g. detail, thickness, brush length) to get the desired effect.
Step 5. Admire your work
You just turned your color photo into a beautiful sketch.
Method 2 of 4: Method 2: Dodge and Blur
Step 1. Turn your image into black and white
Click on the Black and White settings. This will add an adjustment layer that turns your image into black and white. You can adjust the various color sliders to adjust your "sketch" image. Remember, it is better to give more contrast.
Step 2. Merge the layers
Create a new layer with the black and white image. To do this, press shift-command-option on Mac, or shift-control-alt. Alternatively you can choose Merge Below, Merge Visible or Only level from the menu Levels although this does not keep the original image or changes.
Step 3. Duplicate the merged image
Make sure the merged layer is selected, then press Command-J (Control-J on PC) to duplicate the layer.
Alternatively, you can drag the merged layer onto the small page icon at the bottom of the layers window to duplicate the layer, or choose Duplicate Layer from the menu Levels.
Step 4. Invert the duplicate layer
Select the duplicated layer, then from the menu Image, select Adjustments > Invert. Your black and white image is now white is black!
Alternatively, you can press Command-I (Control-I on PC) to achieve the same result
Step 5. Change the blending mode
In the layers window, change the blend mode for the inverted layer to Fencing color. The image will turn all white (it may have some small black spots).
Step 6. Add blur
From the menu Filters, you choose Gaussian Blur. The discrepancy this creates between previously identical - but inverted - layers will give the image the appearance of a sketch. Setting the radius between 4 and 9 will give you a more traditional look, however you can play around with these adjustments until you get the desired effect.
Step 7. Here is your new sketch
Method 3 of 4: Method 3: Find edges
Step 1. Turn your image into black and white
Click on Black and White Adjustments. This will add an adjustment layer that turns your image into black and white. You can adjust the different color sliders to set your image to "sketch". Remember, the higher the contrast the better.
Step 2. Adjust the contrast
From the Adjustments window, click the Brightness and Contrast button. This will add a new layer.
Click on the Auto button in the Brightness and Contrast adjustment window to have an optimal range between light and dark. You can also adjust the sliders if you want a more pronounced effect
Step 3. Merge the layers
Create a new layer with the black and white image. Press Shift-Command-Option on Mac, or Shift-Control-Alt on PC. you can choose Merge down, Merge Visible, or Only level from the menu Levels, although not the best approach for this method - if the final step doesn't give you the desired result, adjusting the black and white level and the brightness and contrast level will be the only way to change the final result.
Step 4. Make it a sketch
From the menu Filter, select Stylization> Find edges. This will quickly turn your photo into a sketch, although there are no adjustments available to further adjust your image.
To optimize this method, change the settings of the adjustment layers to maximize contrast
Step 5. Enjoy your finished sketch
Method 4 of 4: Save your image
Step 1. Choose Save As
.. from the file menu. From the format menu, you can choose to save it as a Photoshop file with all the layers you've created, or choose another format that will reduce the file size so you can easily upload it to Flickr, Facebook or other sharing sites.
What many do is save a version in Photoshop format for later editing, and a smaller version for social media and sharing sites
Advice
- Keep as many levels as you can, and merge them into a new level instead of permanently merging them into a single level. This allows you to have a backup and make changes at any time.
- Try different filters and different blurring methods. They can make a huge difference, and there may be surprising results you may want to keep.
