Turn a Photo into a Painting

Quick reference

• 00:04 So, here's the photo that we're going to be starting with. It's a simple photo of a
• 00:07 model that I found on Shutterstock.com.
• 00:10 But you can certainly use any image of yourself, if you like.
• 00:14 As I mentioned in the intro,
• 00:15 we're going to be using filters to compose the painting effect.
• 00:18 Some are strictly available in Photoshop CS6,
• 00:20 while others you'll find in earlier versions.
• 00:24 As we all know, like all projects that involve filters,
• 00:25 if you want to be able to edit those settings at a later point, you're going
• 00:29 to want to convert your image into a smart object first.
• 00:30 This can be done by either right clicking on your
• 00:34 layer in the Layers panel
• 00:36 and choosing the convert to smart object option, or by choosing the ‘Convert to
• 00:40 Smart Filters’ option,
• 00:41 under the filter menu at the top. Now we're able to safely add filters without
• 00:46 destroying the original image.
• 00:48 Let's go ahead and start with a filter that's been in Photoshop for a while,
• 00:51 and will help block out our image just a touch: the Cut-Out filter.
• 00:55 If you're running Photoshop CS5 or below,
• 00:59 you're going to find this filter in the artistic group, but if you're running
• 01:02 Photoshop CS6,
• 01:03 it can be found in the filter gallery. Of course if you caught my last video,
• 01:08 you know that you can reveal these hidden groups in Photoshop CS6 as well,
• 01:12 so make sure to check out that video if you want to learn how to do that.
• 01:15 Now, once you have the Cut-Out filter selected,
• 01:17 play around with the settings a little bit until you get a slightly blocked out
• 01:20 look to your model.
• 01:21 You don't want to go overboard, but just enough to break away from the perfect edges.
• 01:26 The values of seven, four and two work well for this image,
• 01:30 but you may need to try a different value to work for yours.
• 01:33 The next filter we're going to be adding is a filter that is
• 01:35 only available in Photoshop CS6, unless you download the Pixel Bender plugin for
• 01:40 Photoshop CS5.
• 01:41 And that's the oil paint filter. This is going to add swirls,
• 01:45 brush strokes and lighting effects to give your image a painterly feel.
• 01:50 And by adjusting the values on the right, you can really nail down a nice
• 01:53 oil painting affect. You can change the stylization,
• 01:57 adjust the cleanliness, the size and detail of the brush,
• 02:00 and then tweak the lighting if you need too. However, because we're going to be
• 02:03 adding two more filters
• 02:04 I wouldn't stress too much on the result that the oil paint filter produces.
• 02:08 It's mainly going to be used as the base for the next filters.
• 02:11 So, now that the oil paint filter has been applied, we're going to be hopping back into
• 02:15 our filter gallery to apply to more filters.
• 02:18 The first one you're going to find under the brushstrokes group,
• 02:21 and it's going to be the angled strokes filter, stacked with the oil paint filter.
• 02:26 Angle strokes will rough out the brush just a little bit. The direction balance
• 02:30 looks good around 60.
• 02:31 And then the stroke length can be adjusted to rough out the brush a lot,
• 02:35 or just a little bit. A lower value will result in a more subtle feel,
• 02:39 while a higher value will really leave you with a more painterly feel.
• 02:42 Anywhere between 7 and 15 should look nice. Finally, you can increase the
• 02:46 sharpness if you want a few harsh strokes on your painting.
• 02:49 Now your final filter can be added without closing the filter gallery.
• 02:53 All you have to do is press the ‘new affect layer’ icon at the bottom.
• 02:56 We're going to be adding the texturize filter, which can be found under the
• 02:59 texture group.
• 03:00 This will allow us to add a canvas texture to the painting if you wish.
• 03:04 Once the filter has been selected, choose the canvas option from the drop-down menu,
• 03:08 and then adjust the relief value to harshen up the texture.
• 03:11 I'm only looking for a very subtle texture, so a value of around 2
• 03:14 looks nice. And once you press OK, you should be left with a really nice
• 03:18 looking painting affect:
• 03:19 which, because we're working with a smart object, is completely editable.
• 03:23 At any point, you can double-click on any the filters to make changes.
• 03:26 And just to show you the difference, here's the before, and here's the after.
• 03:31 All done with just four filters in Photoshop.

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