Learning Center

Would you like to impress your friends and family with your amazing art skills without lifting a pencil? Follow these directions to create your own unique digital pencil sketch from a photograph:

Creating the Pencil Sketch

1    Open your photograph in Photoshop Elements.
Working on a copy of your original photo is a good habit to get into and ensures that the original remains unharmed. To create a duplicate of your original:
2    From the File menu, point to Duplicate, and then click OK.
Close the original photograph and continue your work using the duplicate file you created in Step 2.
3    From the Layer menu, point to New, select Layer from Background, and then click OK.
4    In the Layers palette, hold CTRL, click on the Create New Layer icon.
5   From the Edit menu, point to Fill Layer, set  Contents to Use: White, click OK.
6     In the Layers palette, right click Layer 0 (the photo layer). Choose Duplicate Layer, click OK.
7    With the Layer 0 copy layer selected, from the Enhance menu, point to Adjust Color, select Remove Color.
8    From the Filter menu, point to Adjustments, select Invert.
9     In the Layers palette set the blending mode for the Layer 0 copy layer to Color Dodge.
10     In the Layers palette, select the Layer 0 layer (original photo) and set the blending mode to Luminosity.
11     In the Layers palette, select the Layer 0 copy layer.
12    From the Filter menu, point to Blur, select Gaussian Blur.
13    Adjust the effect to taste by dragging the Radius slider. As you drag the slider left or right to change the blur amount, the pencil sketch will begin to appear. The amount of blur you need depends on your particular image. The greater the blur, the wider and darker the lines and shadows will become.

Adding Texture for Realism

Adding some texture with the addition of a pattern fill will create a more realistic drawing. For this example we’ll use the Oil Pastel on Canvas (in Artistic Surfaces) pattern from Photoshop Elements.

To pre-load the PSE Artistic Surfaces pattern set:
14    From the Edit menu, select Preset Manager.
15    Select Patterns from the drop-down Preset Type list.
16    Click the More arrow, select Artistic Surfaces from the drop-down list, and click Done

To apply the pattern:
17    From the Layer menu, point to New Fill Layer, select Pattern, click OK.
18    In the Pattern dialog box, click the down arrow to open the Pattern Picker.
19    Select the Oil Pastel on Canvas pattern, click OK.
20    In the Layers palette set the blending mode for the Pattern Fill 1 layer to Overlay.
21    From the Layer menu, select  Merge Visible.
22    From the File menu, select Save As, and save your creation with a new name.

Looks grand doesn’t it? Don’t stop here! You’ll be astonished at the artistic results you can achieve with variations of this basic technique.

Try applying Motion Blur, Radial Blur, or Blur More in place of the Gaussian Blur filter in Step 11. Experiment with various patterns applied as Pattern Fill layers for a wide array of striking effects. Stucco (in Patterns 2), or Shingles (in Texture Fill 2) from the Photoshop Elements patterns libraries are good choices for adding realistic texture in Step 18.

Digital pencil sketches add artistic flair to any project. Print to a slightly textured paper, and your sketch is ready for framing as fine art. Stop at Step 12 (before applying texture) and delight the youngsters in your life by printing out one-of-a-kind coloring book pages. Create hand-made greeting cards featuring a digital sketch created from a special photo. Let your imagination take wings … the list of possibilities is endless!