How to make a contour drawing from a photograph. Photography: how to turn it into a painted portrait
Exist talented people capable of creating amazing realistic paintings. But if you're not one of them, today's tutorial will help you achieve a similar effect using Adobe Photoshop. In this tutorial you will learn how to create a painted effect from a photograph. In this case, you do not need to use a brush, since the whole process is based on effects.
The effect we want to achieve in this tutorial is to simulate realistic brush strokes. This technique is great for turning a photo into an illustration, for example for creating retro posters.
Open your image in Photoshop. The example uses a portrait from Shutterstock. Add a Curves adjustment layer and darken the dark areas and lighten the light ones to increase the contrast.
Press CMD/Ctrl+J twice to duplicate the background layer twice. Switch to the top copy and select the High Pass effect from the Filters menu.
Adjust the effect so that the image details appear against the gray background. A small value - about 1-3px - will help avoid creating a halo.
Change the blending mode for this layer to Linear Light. The image now looks sharper. These places with increased sharpness will help us create brush strokes, particularly in the hair.
Combine the High Pass effect layer with a copy of the background layer located below it, then select Filter > Stylize > Diffuse from the menu.
Select Anisotropic diffusion mode. This is the key to creating the brush stroke effect.
If you look at the work up close, you will notice some ugly spots in the areas where the diffusion repeats. We'll fix that now.
From the menu, select Image > Image Rotation > 90° CW/Image>Image Rotation>90° Clockwise, then press CMD/Ctrl+F to repeat the Diffuse filter.
Repeat the same procedure, rotating the image 90° again and applying the Diffuse filter again. Repeat this step a third time and rotate the image again, returning it to its correct position.
The Diffuse filter created a cool brush stroke effect, but blurred the image a little. To fix this, select Filter > Sharpen > Smart Sharpen/Filter>Sharpen>Custom Sharpening from the menu. Use a value around 100%, but within a small radius so as not to overdo it.
The result already looks good. Diffuse creates swirling details on the skin, making the image look even more like it's been painted. But there is one more step you can take to make your work look like it was drawn on a computer. Select Surface Blur from the Filter > Blur > Blur menu. Specify a Radius of about 50px and a Threshold of about 15. If you set these parameters correctly, the effect will only affect large, flat areas of the image.
Our painted image effect is ready!
The effect looks especially good up close.
Translation – Duty room
Turn your photo into artistic masterpiece! SoftOrbits Sketch Drawer helps you convert images into pencil drawings with just a few clicks. Our program will create color or black and white pencil drawings from ordinary photographs, generating neat pencil strokes. You don't need to be able to hold a pencil to be an artist. Sketch Drawer makes creating a photo from a drawing easy and fun!
Surprisingly, turning a photo into a drawing is quite easy, even if you are not an artist. To do this you will need a computer with installed program to create a drawing from a photo. Sketch Drawer is fast and easy to learn and use. Open the picture, choose the type of drawing from the ready-made set and get a magnificent pencil drawing!
The program has many ready-to-use pencil drawing effects to create different types images. With their help, you can create both drawings in pencil and colored pencils, as well as drawings with pen, felt-tip pen, watercolor, and charcoal. You can edit each template by changing its settings to get the effects you want.
Creating a drawing with colored pencils has never been easier. You don't need to not only be able to hold a pencil, but even have one. All you need to transform a photo into a colored pencil drawing is Sketch Drawer.
Sketch Drawer allows you to create both color and black and white drawings with equal ease. To draw with colored pencils, simply turn on the Color Sketch setting. You can also make a drawing from a photo, made not with a simple pencil, but with a pencil of a given color.
Want to convert big number images into drawings with the same settings? With Sketch Drawer, it doesn't matter how many original photos you have. The available batch mode makes it easy to convert all your photos into drawings. You can add photos one at a time or in entire folders. Just check the settings on one of the photos and get great drawings from all photos in minutes.
Many users want to somehow edit their photo, make it more beautiful or noticeable. There are many programs for editing photos and applying effects that have long been known to everyone, as well as the effects from them. In order not to repeat yourself every time by posting pictures that are similar in processing, you can convert the photo into a pencil drawing. This will undoubtedly draw immediate attention to the image.
You can perform this operation in several ways. To begin with, you can use serious graphic editors that are installed on the user’s computer and carry out all the actions through them. If the user does not like this method, then you can use applications for mobile devices or go to online services and do everything with their help. This article will tell you exactly how and with what applications you can make a pencil photo from your picture.
How to make a pencil drawing from a photo online
First, let's take a look at the work online services, which allow you to convert a photo into a pencil drawing because they do not require installation of additional software on the user's computer, which can be an important factor if the only photo conversion is done or if it will not be done very often. This section will list several services on which you can perform the required operation.
Photo Phunia
The user can find the service itself at the link photofunia.com. A page with a pencil effect will immediately open. It is quite easy to use and does not require any special skills, there is also no need for lengthy and fine tuning various parameters. You just need to go to the specified site, after which you should upload a photo to it; this can be done either from a computer, a laptop or a mobile device. To select a photo, click on Browse.
After this, all that remains is to choose whether the user wants to get a color drawing or a black and white one. Now follows click on create, then wait for processing to complete, look at the result and, if it suits the user, save the pencil drawing back to your device.
Croper
This service is located at croper.ru. To take a photo with a pencil in this online photoshop, the user will need to hover over the item Files menu, then select the desired source download option from the list and specify the path to the photo. Now all that remains is to find the section of the menu that will carry out the desired transformation; in our case, it’s worth going through the following items “Operations” - “Effects” - “ Pencil" Several new parameters will appear at the top, which will be responsible for the rendering methods; you can “play” with them and decide which image is best suited.
Now all you have to do is click on Apply, and then wait for the conversion to complete. In the final drawing, you can slightly change the contrast, after which you can download the photo converted into a pencil drawing to your device.
Programs for creating a drawing from a photo
Now that the simplest and quick ways described, you can move on to a description of the specialized software that needs to be installed on your computer.
How to make a drawing from a photo in Photoshop
It’s quite easy to make a pencil drawing from a photograph in Photoshop. Unfortunately, there is no single filter that turns a photo into a drawing, so you need to follow the following procedure.
After the user installs the Adobe Photoshop program on his computer, he will need to launch it and open there the image on which the work will be done. After this, you should find the tab “ Adjustments" (Correction), which will be located on the style display panel, then click on the tool " Hue"(Shade). 
After these steps, another one will appear in the list that contains all the layers, allowing you to change the shade palette. It's called Hue/Saturation.
You need to go into it and move the slider Saturation(Saturation) to the far left position. 
This action will bring the image to black and white. Now you need to go to layers again and select the background there. 
Now follows copy it. To do this, find the Layer item in the main menu, click on it, and then click on “New Layer” - “Layer via Copy”. 
Now you will again have to use the main menu, in it you need to find Image, then click on “Adjustments” - “ Invert"(Correction - Inversion). These steps will allow you to display the photo as a negative. Now you will need to select a copy of the background layer in the list and click on the item Color Dodge
Now you need to go to the layer menu. 
In this menu you need to convert to “ Smart Object"(Smart object). Now it's a smart object and it has a label. 
Now you need to apply a few more menu items. To get started, click on Filter(Filters), then go to the “Blur” item and click on “ Gaussian Blur" (Gaussian blur). Set the radius to 12. 
At this point everything will be finished, you can save the result. 
If you need a color drawing, you should activate the color option in layers. 
GIMP
This is a free image editor that will help you turn a photo into a pencil portrait. You can find out more about it on the official website. After installing a program that makes a drawing from a photo, you will need to open the image that will be manipulated.
To make a sketch from a photo, you need to click on “Color”, then click on “ Discolor" Next, you should go to layers and copy the background layer, and then work with this copy.
Now you should click on “Filter”, and then click on “ Edge selection" - "Edge". A window with settings will open, you need to set the same as in the figure. That is, “Lightness”, Laplace Algorithm, Magnitude 2.0, “Blur”. 
The last step left is to click on “Color”, and then select “ Invert». 
You can also watch the whole process in the video:
Paint.NET
The main advantage of Paint.NET is its ease of use. Pictures before and after processing are shown in the figure. 
First you need open image, then select it, go to effects and click on “ Oil painting" A window with parameters will appear. Here it is worth experimenting and choosing those values at which the drawing will be most liked by the user.
After that, you can go to effects, select styling and indicate Bas-relief.
Now you should go to the layers, select the one in which the work took place, and then select the option blending mode and click on the overlap. This will remove grey colour from the final contour drawing.
Programs for Android
For those who mainly use mobile devices, programs were also invented. This section will identify applications that can apply the desired effect, and will also provide instructions on how to use them.
Prisma
Prisma learns with every use, so no two images or effects are the same. All the user needs to do is download it from the store and install it. After that, you can add photos and images to it. 
After adding, the user will be able to select below necessary filters, you can choose the drawing method of one of the famous artists as your style.
Pencil drawing
In the case of Pencil Drawing, everything is also quite simple. You need to download and install the program, after which you can add saved files to the application, or take a new photo. 
At the top you can set image type. For a color drawing, you should choose a colored pencil, and for a monochrome image, you should choose black and white.
Sketch Cameras
You need to install Sketch Cameras, upload a photo, and select color scheme
. It can also be configured in the parameters, which are located just above. The painted photo effect is applied automatically. 
After completing the work, you can click on share and send the photo to social networks.
What to do if you don’t know how to draw either with a pencil or with a computer mouse, but create digital drawing I want to? Today, many people are interested in the question of how to take a photo like a drawing. The answer to this is quite simple: all you need is to carefully study the material provided in this article and apply the knowledge gained in practice.
Let's talk about art
IN old times to capture the moment, you had to have artistic talent and it takes a long time to learn, but in our time there is such a thing as photography, so it is not at all necessary to be able to draw. Thanks to modern technology we can create our own little works of art instantly. Well, the presence of all kinds graphic editors opens up a wide range of possibilities for creativity by drawing and processing photographs and applying a variety of effects.
How can you draw a photo?
There are several different ways how to turn a photograph into a real drawing. The simplest is to convert photos directly in your browser online. It is clear that all the settings available there are general and cannot be adjusted to each photo. The second, more productive way is to use programs specially created for such purposes. On the Internet there is a large number of various editors aimed specifically at turning a photograph into something like a drawing. The number of available settings will be greater, and you will be able to achieve an acceptable result. In the best way is considered to be the use of a graphic editor like PhotoShop (hereinafter referred to as “Photoshop”). In this case, photo editing occurs under your personal control, which means the final product will be optimal.
Of course, you will get the most impressive result by ordering a portrait or landscape from an artist, but our goal is to familiarize ourselves with the editor’s work so that everyone can easily understand how to make a photo as drawn. So we’ll leave the brush work to the artists, and we’ll figure out how Photoshop works. There is nothing complicated in the task at hand: if you carefully read the instructions and follow all the indicated steps step by step, then everything will work out easily. The end result will be pleasing to the eye, and you will be able to learn something new.
drawn with a pencil in Photoshop?
There are many things you can do using Photoshop. First, let's look at the simplest way, after which a photograph will turn into black and white drawing pencil.
Working with paints
How to make a photo look like it was drawn with paints? Using a special filter developed by Adobe, which is freely available on the Internet - Pixel Bender. In the Ps6 version it is already preinstalled, and in the Russian version it is called “ Oil paint" and is located in the top menu in the "Filter" column.
This effect looks especially good on photographs of some places: ancient buildings, landscapes and still lifes. You can also apply it to photographs of a person, but the result may be ambiguous.
Using this editing method is even easier than the previous one: you simply open the desired photo, then go to the top menu “Filter - Oil paint...”, after which an additional filter window opens, in which you, by changing the settings, immediately see the future result. Two main parameters change - brush properties and lighting. The final picture turns out very beautiful, and most importantly, it seems that it was really painted with brushes and paints.
And finally
As mentioned above, there are many options on how to make a photo look like a drawing, how to create a truly memorable drawing using photo processing. You can achieve the effect of a cartoon, caricature, comic book, painting, sketch. The list can be continued as long as your imagination allows. The possibilities in the environment of graphic editors are almost limitless - you just need to not be afraid to learn. Install PhotoShop, start simple, gradually improve your skills, and you will achieve great results!
Often, users want to learn how to make a drawing from a photo so that they can later print the photo and store it as a drawing.
Let's consider the most effective ways.
First, let's look at several popular services with which you can quickly create a drawing effect on a photo without installing additional software on computer.
Photo Phunia service
On this site, users can take advantage of an automatic effect that transforms an ordinary picture into a drawing.
You can also select the background texture of the source file: colored, white or “special”.
To get started, select the file on your PC. To do this, click on the Browse button on the website.
Then determine the color scheme of the image (black and white or color).
Click on the texture shape you want to output and click on the "Create" button to begin the file conversion process.
In a few seconds, a direct link to download the image from the site will be generated.
Croper service
The next popular site for creating a drawing from an ordinary picture is Croper. This online photo editor Allows you to apply additional effects to your photo.
With its help, you can create a unique image without losing quality.
One of the most popular features of this site is the pencil drawing feature.
The file is converted by creating darker tones of the image, then strokes are gradually applied to the layers of the image, which, in turn, make a sketch from the image.
The editor interface is very simple. Upload the file to the site by clicking on the appropriate button.
The picture will open in a new window on the site. After that, find the main menu tabs - they are located at the top of the site.
Click in turn on “Operations” - “Effects” - “Pencil”.
At the top of the page, select the stroke length settings and tilt level.
Then click on the Apply button to start the image conversion process.
This will take no more than one minute. If necessary, you can adjust the contrast of the final drawing.
The result of Croper's work is shown in the figure below.
Creating a drawing in Adobe Photoshop
With help, you can also create a pencil drawing from an ordinary picture.
Using the built-in functions of the program, you can achieve better display of all strokes and the final picture will look natural.
The effect of the drawing will be very clearly visible if you print it on a printer. For greater effect, you can use white or craft paper.
All the steps below were performed in Photoshop CS6. The functions used are available in earlier and all new versions of the application.
We will use a regular scanned photo.
We recommend not using small pictures when working in Photoshop, because after applying the “picture” effect, some of the pixels may be blurred, which will deteriorate the quality of the final image small size.
First we need to copy the original image.
To do this, open the image in the program, wait for the toolbar to load and press the F7 button. Then click on the button combination Ctrl - J.
This will create a duplicate layer.
Read also:
To do this, click on the Image item (main menu of the program). Click on “Correction” – “Inversion”.
Also, to apply desaturation to a layer, just press the Ctrl and I keys simultaneously.
As a result of decolorization, we will get a negative image, and not its black and white version. All light areas of the photo will become dark, and all dark areas will become light.
In the layers panel, the resulting negative will be displayed as a second copy of the original layer. Next, let's change the layer's display mode.
Click on layer 2 and in the “Mode” line open the drop-down list. Click on "Background Lightening".
After changing the mode, the project canvas will become completely or partially white. On the main menu bar, click “Filter” - “Blur”.
From the list provided, select “Gaussian Blur.” In the window that opens, adjust the slider to create the blur level.
The higher the value of this indicator, the lighter the picture becomes, taking on the outline of a drawn one.
Important! Don't overdo the blur filter, otherwise the photo may become too light and the pencil effect will be lost. The optimal blur value is 12.5 – 13 pixels.
This decolorization method allows you to achieve maximum clarity of the strokes of the picture, pixels are not lost, and the resolution of the picture is maintained.
As you can see, the picture has acquired the outline of a pencil, but has not become too light.
Go to the layers window and select the very first layer, as shown in the image below. Then move the pointer to the layer name and wait for the context menu to appear.
In it, click on the “Merge Visible Layers” item. Hold down the Alt button and use the pointer to select all three layers that you want to merge.
Select the topmost layer (layer 1). You need to change its display mode to “Multiplication”. This allows you to darken each line of the sketch, giving the sketch more naturalness.
The lines should not be too dark. If this happens, adjust the Opacity parameter to 50%.
It is necessary that the color of a “simple” pencil be preserved.
You can finish the job here. As a result, we get a black and white sketch of the original photograph.
If you want to add some color to your sketch, create a copy of the background layer by pressing Ctrl - J .
Now we only need to change the display color parameters of the duplicated layer.
Select the “Color” mode and in the Transparency line set the value to 65%, as shown in the figure above.
The final result of converting the image to a thumbnail will look like this:
Creating a drawing from an ordinary photo in Photoshop will take you no more than 10 minutes, even if you are not an advanced user.
This method allows you to achieve the highest quality effect of a pencil-drawn picture.
