- Create a new layer. We’re going to start by
using one of Photoshop’s filters. Filters are ef-
fects that can be applied directly to an image
to change its appearance. Straightforward ap-
plications of filters are destructive edits, mean-
ing that they permanently change the pixels
in your image. So we’ll apply the filter to an
independent layer, leaving our background
intact. Press Ctrl+J (�-J) to jump the image
to a new layer. In the Layers panel, double-
click the name of the new layer (probably
Layer 1) and rename it “Photocopy.”
You can apply Photoshop filters nondestructively,
but that requires the use of smart objects, which
we’ll cover in Lesson 7.Figure 4-41.Figure 4-42.- Apply the Photocopy filter. The Filter menu provides lots of
ways to trace edges, but my favorite filter for this kind of work
is Photocopy. Press the D key to set the foreground and back-
ground colors to their defaults, black and white. Then choose
Filter→Sketch→Photocopy. When the Filter dialog box opens,
set the Darkness value to its maximum, 50. Then raise the De-
tail value until you get nice thick edges, typically in the neigh-
borhood of 9 for a 300 ppi image, as shown in Figure 4-42.
Then click OK.
Turning a Photograph into a Line Drawing 117