86 DIGITAL CAMERA^ APRIL 2020 http://www.digitalcameraworld.com
Use Blending Modes and
blur to make this effect
Create
a pencil
sketch from
any photo
2
1
JUST FOR FUNFILE & VIDEO
Download the
disc: http://www.bit.ly/
dc227discS
tripping a photo down to its basic
ingredients of line and form is a fun
technique, and this recipe makes the
process quick and easy. You can use any
picture as a starting point, but the best
results will come from shots that are fairly evenly lit and
not too contrast-heavy.
I’ve picked a high-key portrait – they work really well
as sketches – but whatever you choose, start off with
a shot that’s around 30 x 20cm at 300ppi. The
resolution of the image affects the filters we’ll be using.
If your shot is bigger than this, go to Image > Image
Size, tick Resample, and set these dimensions.
With your shot in Photoshop CC, open the Layers
Panel (Window > Layers). Make a copy of the
Background Layer by pressing Ctrl/Cmd+J, then click
on the Adjustment Layer icon and select Black & White
from the popup menu. Now click on Layer 1, click where
it says Normal, and select Colour Dodge from the list of
Blending Modes. Press Ctrl/Cmd+I to invert the image.
It’ll disappear, but go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur
and increase Radius to 40-60px until a sketchy
rendition comes through.
To adjust the tones, click on the B&W Adjustment
Layer and move the colour sliders to bring out the
detail.^1 Don’t make it too contrast-heavy, though:
just concentrate on getting a nice balance.
To beef up the pencil effect, click on the Adjustment
Layer icon, choose Levels, and move Shadows to the
right. Some darker areas may become too heavy: to
lighten them, grab the Brush Tool and set Opacity in
the Options bar to around 30%. Make sure black is the
foreground colour and paint over the deepest shadows.
This will add black to the Levels Adjustment Layer’s
mask, and reduce the bolder contrast.
Now press Ctrl/Cmd+Alt+Shift+E to merge all the
layers into a new one at the top of the stack. Go to Filter
> Filter Gallery... Under Brush Strokes, select Angled
Strokes with settings of 50, 20 and 3. Click OK. In the
Layers Panel, adjust the Opacity slider on this top
layer until the blend looks just right.^2 Jon Adams