Turn a Photo in to a Sketch

January 19th, 2010 | Author: Bonna

I have had a lot of people compliment me on the layout I did where I had turned a photo of myself in to a sketch.

2010 Dreams

Several of them wanted to know how I did it. It is a super easy effect that I learned a long time ago, so I thought I would write up a small tutorial showing how.

I use Photoshop CS4, but I know this will work in CS3 and in Paint Shop Pro 12. I have done it in all of these. As far as any other graphics programs, I can not tell you because I have never used them.

Okay, on with the tutorial -

This is the photo I will be using. It is the same one I used for the layout.

me before sketch effect

STEP 1 – Duplicate Your Photo Layer

Once you have opened your photo in Photoshop, right click on your photo layer and choose Duplicate Layer.

Duplicate Photo Layer

STEP 2 - Desaturate Layer

Go to your Image Menu and under Adjustment, click on Desaturate.

Desaturate Photo Copy

Now you photo copy layer will look like this.

Desaturated Photo Copy Layer

STEP 3 – Duplicate Desaturated Layer

Now duplicate your Desaturated Layer

Duplicate Desaturated Layer

STEP 4 – Invert Layer

Now go back to the Image menu and under Adjustment, click on Invert.

Invert Copied Desatured Layer

This will give your photo a negative look.

Inverted Layer

STEP 5 – Change Blend Mode to Color Dodge

Right click on your Inverted Layer and change the mode to Color Dodge.

Color Dodge

This will change your layer all white. Do not panic, this is a good thing. Trust me.

STEP 6 – Blur a Sketch

Go to your Filter Menu and under Blur, click on the Gausian Blur.

Gaussian Blur

This is where you get to use your own judgment on how you want your sketch to look. The key to a nice looking sketch effect is to adjust the Radius amount in the Gaussian Blur box until your image looks like a sketch. You don’t want to much, so I advise you to start at 1 and don’t go higher than 4.