Create cartoon avatar from headshot photo

[GeoffMarlow]

I'm pretty sure there must be a YouTube video or similar tutorial video showing how to use Xara Photo & Graphics Designer 2013 to convert a headshot photo into a high quality cartoon avatar (still, not animated).

I've spent a good half hour hunting but to no avail.

Can anyone point me to a good resource? There are many for Photoshop but I've been using Xara P&GD and Xtreme and X for ages and want to stick with what I know (and love).

Thanks in advance...

[pauland]

I'm sure someone will step in, but I do think you're missing the point a bit.

It's really the principles that matter and you should be able to translate what you see in a photoshop tutorial into a Xara equivalent.

There have been a number of postings on TG on how people create cartoons and I'd imagine they'd apply here very well.

But still, don't dismiss tutorials in using other software for a specific purpose - the techniques are often universal.

Welcome to TG!

[GeoffMarlow]

I'm sure someone will step in, but I do think you're missing the point a bit.

It's really the principles that matter and you should be able to translate what you see in a photoshop tutorial into a Xara equivalent.

There have been a number of postings on TG on how people create cartoons and I'd imagine they'd apply here very well.

But still, don't dismiss tutorials in using other software for a specific purpose - the techniques are often universal.

Welcome to TG!

Thanks Pauland - your advice is well taken.

I should have explained that I don't want to spend a lot of time going back to first principles and becoming a graphics guru - I simply want to do this once.

The problem with translating Photoshop tutorials into Xara are the different functions, control and settings that may in combination achieve similar effects but do not make for a rapid one-off result.

But thanks again for your suppost.

[sonoferin]

Hey Geoff
I have done this many times but not with xara. I use a dedicated software package called Crazy Talk Pro.
It is a great program for animating heads, these can be photos or cartoons or even a pencil drawing you have drawn.
check it out, its a bit pricy but worth it.

Martin

[GeoffMarlow]

Hey Geoff
I have done this many times but not with xara. I use a dedicated software package called Crazy Talk Pro.
It is a great program for animating heads, these can be photos or cartoons or even a pencil drawing you have drawn.
check it out, its a bit pricy but worth it.

Martin

Thanks Martin. That looks like a very interesting product for animating talking heads - I'm (currently) just looking for a still (not animated) image.

[Albacore]

I don't think there is one for Xara but there are many for Adobe Illustator/ PS. The best ones in Xara in YouTube is Egg's and Paul Soderholm so you could do a search for those. Egg's tutorial is converting a google bitmap into a vector drawing using a locked layer and hand tracing vectors over the top of the bitmap and the link is near the bottom of this page:http://www.talkgraphics.com/showthre...-Xara-Programs

Pauls tutorial looks at taking a handrawn sketch from the scanner through to a full vector cartoon. This is not a YouTube vid but an html tutorial at the Xone which is a great resource and can be found here: http://www.xaraxone.com/guest/guest62/

To go back to YouTube Bob Hann is great at showing the power of cartooning in Xara. You also could use a Google search for "bitmaps to vectors in Illustrator" but choose ones that use CS2 or earlier as above CS2 most would use bitmap tracing and Live Paint which is the same as Paul in the Xone. Hope that helps and I am sure others will pile in with their favourites.

[GeoffMarlow]

I don't think there is one for Xara but there are many for Adobe Illustator/ PS. The best ones in Xara in YouTube is Egg's and Paul Soderholm so you could do a search for those. Egg's tutorial is converting a google bitmap into a vector drawing using a locked layer and hand tracing vectors over the top of the bitmap and the link is near the bottom of this page:http://www.talkgraphics.com/showthre...-Xara-Programs

Pauls tutorial looks at taking a handrawn sketch from the scanner through to a full vector cartoon. This is not a YouTube vid but an html tutorial at the Xone which is a great resource and can be found here: http://www.xaraxone.com/guest/guest62/

To go back to YouTube Bob Hann is great at showing the power of cartooning in Xara. You also could use a Google search for "bitmaps to vectors in Illustrator" but choose ones that use CS2 or earlier as above CS2 most would use bitmap tracing and Live Paint which is the same as Paul in the Xone. Hope that helps and I am sure others will pile in with their favourites.

Thanks Albacore. Some great resources there. Out of interest - how did you create your avatar image?

[wizard509]

You could try photo-to-sketch and do a pencil or ink sketch, maybe even a pastel sketch, and bitmap trace it in Xara. That would give you a vector result. There is free version and a paid version which has a few more features. The downside for what you are wanting to do is it will not make a cartoon from your art. So if you are wanting to do that try creating the entire thing in Xara yourself, which would be vectio,

http://photo-to-sketch.en.softonic.com/

[Egg Bramhill]

Sounds to me like you need something like cartoonize.net . Here's a quick one of John Lennon I d/l'ed from an image search and run through their program. Nothing to do with Xara though.

[angelize]

Hello Geoff, Welcome to Talkgraphics

TG member Zebtoonz is a professional Cartoonist who uses Xara software, Zeb has done some tutorials that you might find useful. Here is a link to his you tube tutorials. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...2B363653EA08D1