Project 1 Tut 4– Change a Photo to a Sketch

How to change a photo to a Sketch

Source: Photoshop Users Group – Subscription required.

Here is a copy of the video insturction and below is my shorthand transcript of the steps. 

• Open an image.
• Make a duplicate layer – Cmd J
• Desaturate the layer – Cmd U
• Make a duplicate of the Desaturated layer – Cmd J
• Inverse the Layer – Cmd I
• Use a blending Mode of Colour Dodge that will or almost cancel out the Desaturated Layer and the Inverse Desaturated layer (which is the selected layer). The image should be totally white or almost there may be some stray marks but that is OK.
• Convert the active layer to a smart filter by going to Filter > Convert to Smart Filters, a message will come up to saying the layer is being converted to a smart object – click OK.
• [Note when we go to use some of the filters they may be greyed out. That is because they can only be applied to 8-bit image. To change to 8 bit go to Image > Mode > 8 bit]
• Choose Filter > Brush Strokes > Spatter it will open a filter screen to make adjustments on using the sliders. Click OK. (By applying it to a smart object you will be able to go back and make adjustment – a non smart object would have to be deleted and you’d start all over again.)
• If you want to edit the effect double click on the spatter in the layer effects area to open the effects panel and make your changes.
• You can again open the effect panel and at the bottom you will see an eye with the name of the effect you are using. Below that there is a button on the bottom of the page next to the Trash that if clicked will allow another effect layer to be added. [In my example I’ve used Splatter and Cross Hatch as described in the video.]
• Once happy with the sketch you can make a duplicate of the Background Layer Cmd J and drag it to the top of the layer stack and reduce the opacity to 20-30% to get an even better effect.