Photoshop Tutorial – Turning a Color Photograph Into a Pencil Sketch

Step 1

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First, find yourself a photograph. I will be using a photo of my lovely wife, Heather, and son, Evan.  For this particular effect, we are going to partially remove the background. Before doing this, let’s make a copy of the background layer. It is good practice to always keep the original image intact in case you need to refer to it or start over from scratch.

To copy the background layer, select it from the layers palette (if the layers palette is not visible, hit ‘F7’ to bring it up) and choose ‘Layer –> Duplicate Layer’ from the Layer menu at the top of your screen.

Extra: The keyboard shortcut for copying a selected layer is ‘Ctrl + J’

Step 2 – Removing the Background

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To close the selection, double-click or move your cursor directly over the starting point and make your final click.

Step 3 – Modifying the Selection

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Next, we will modify our selection. From the menu at the top, choose ‘Select –> Modify –> Smooth’

For this example, we will use a setting of 10 pixels.

Hit OK.

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Now we will feather the selection. From the menu at the top choose ‘Select –> Feather’.

Use a radius of 30. The higher the number, the smoother the transition between what is selected and what is not… this will become more apparent in our next step.

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Finally, we will inverse our selection and fill the background with white.  From the menu at the top, choose ‘Select –> Inverse’.

(keyboard shortcut for this is ‘Shift + Ctrl + I’)

This selects everything but the subject.
Now choose ‘Edit –> Fill’
Use the settings in the figure to the left.
(Use: White, Blending Mode Normal, Opacity: 100%)

Turn off your selection by choosing ‘Select –> Deselect’
(keyboard shorcut for this is ‘Ctrl + D’)

Note: These settings will vary with resolution size. For larger images, increase the numbers for greater effect.

Step 4 – Removing the Color

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At this point, your picture should resemble image 4a. We have laid the groundwork for this effect by removing the background and creating soft edges around our subject.

Next, we will remove any color from the image.
From the menu at the top, choose ‘Image –> Adjustments –> Desaturate’
(see image 4b)

Duplicate this layer by choosing ‘Layer –> Duplicate Layer’
At the prompt, name your new layer ‘effect’
With the ‘effect layer’ selected in the Layers pallette,
select ‘Image –> Adjustements –> Invert’
(keyboard shorcut for this is ‘Ctrl + I’)
(see image 4c)

Step 5 – Layer Effects

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With the ‘effect’ layer selected, change the layer blending mode to ‘Color Dodge’.

Your picture will now look mostly white.

Step 6 – the Drawing Revealed

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Here is the step you’ve been waiting for. With the ‘effect’ layer still selected, choose
‘Filter –> Blur –> Gaussian Blur’

Be sure that ‘Preview’ is checked. As you move the slider from left to right, you will see the sketch effect taking place. The higher the blur radius, the more details and shading will come out. Find a level
that is suitable for you and click okay.

Step 6 – Texturize

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This next step is optional.  If you’d like to give your picture even more of a drawn appearance, you can use Photoshop’s filters to create a paper texture effect.

Flatten your image by selecting ‘Layer –> Flatten Image’
Now choose ‘Filter –> Texture –> Texturizer’

Play with the settings until you find your desired effect.  For the example below, I used
Texture: Canvas, Scaling: 80%, Relief: 3, Light: Top

Final Image

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