Photo to Line Drawing

[jcettina]

Hi
Im using Photo and Graphic Designer 10
I would like to convert photos into line drawing
been playing with Bitmap tracing but does not convert to Line drawing
What is the proper way to convert Photo into line drawing
Thanks
Joe

[Acorn]

Joe

Ramp up the contrast of your image to 100.
Make a 16-colour or 2-colour bitmap copy.
Use the Bitmap Tracer on that for greyscale or monochrome.

Tweak the output.

You can also try FX effects like Find edges or Pencil.
Always create a bitmap copy.

Are you expecting to manipulate a vector output?

Acorn

[gwpriester]

Welcome to TalkGraphics

The only way to really get a really good line drawing from a photograph is to draw over the photo using the vector drawing tools. Using Acorn's suggestion will only get you so far depending on how much detail and how much resolution the photograph has. It is never going to resemble an artist's sketch.

[angelize]

I agree with Gary if you are really after something that looks like an artist's sketch drawing over the photo is the best way to go. I've put together a quick mini tut of how I would go about it. I admit I did this very quickly so there isn't the attention to detail that I would normally put into it but it should give a good idea of the process. I have also shown how to add a bit of texture using brushes and using transparencies. The brushes I used in this are a part of a set of brushes for use with XDP and P&GD (V.11+) that are available here

[gwpriester]

A friend turned me on to this http://akvis.com/en/sketch/index.php

Pretty convincing filter.

[Albacore]

I used to do this a lot for customers at weddings and functions. I found that I could do this all in Xara with reasonable success and learned the technique using P/Shop tutorials. Just do a search "Convert An Image To Pencil Sketch Using Photoshop" and see if you can figure it out just using Xara. Some of the blending mode adjustments are not as powerful in xara as they're in PS so you might have to up the Threshold Levels. You will also find the Gaussian Blur again is not so powerful as well but you can get the same effect using a dark to light transparency with feathering.

If it is only one that your doing the Akvis plugin that Gary suggested can save a lot of time and there are also quite a few others online you can download like "little Ink Pot".

[ss-kalm]

Have a look at FOTOSKETCHER too, It's FREE so if it doesn't work for you, no loss. Have a look at the GALLERY to see some of what it can do

[gwpriester]

FotoSketcher is pretty cool. What I like about filters like this is the process. It builds the effect from the bottom up. Waterlogue, my favorite creates a truly realistic and convincing watercolor effect and it too creates the result in layers/