I have been trying to figure out this particular pencil sketch look that I found on a website for days. However, I am unable to get the exact effects.
(I tried all the pencil sketch effect I found from here)
So, I need some tips and help.
The image I found can be found here (http://blogfiles4.naver.net/data14/2006/1/11/99/1-azilael2001-azilael2001.jpg) or in a thread below.
I attached original image in a zip file.
any tips would be helpful.
Thank you.

- DD

do you want b&w or colour?

The "he image I found can be found here" link doesn't work for me.

Dosen't work for me either

Maybe it a picture of the invisible man?????

Since you did not give an example of exactly what you wanted, I took some liberties. Below are links to the pertinant info/filters needed.

eScrappers: http://www.escrappers.com/pencilsketch.htm

Impressionist: http://www.trimoon.com/html/downloads.html

I don't know why the link doesn't work....
I attached the image to this thread.
I am trying to figure out the effects that can turn original image above to the one attached here.

There's a plugin called "LucisArt" that has a setting called "Exposure" that comes pretty close... (plus a layer of grain set to Overlay).

The problem is this filter is real inconsistent for this purpose. On some images is looks pretty good, others not so good...

www.LucisArt.com

I found a very good PhotoShop action called Sheri's Sketch CS. I think I got it on the Adobe User Resources. It plays a lot more steps than this, I stopped the action at the first pause, but the result is pretty good.

I did extract the girl from the background first.

Maybe i am barking up the wrong tree here but after looking around at all the different sketch methods i have ( as i am sure everone else has too) a thought suddenly occurd to me It has a look of a smudge painting but obviously in black and white and possibly as Danny mentioned a film grain, I have tried to find something to demonstrate this but not feeling up to par today ( cold virus going around again ) I was on the verge of giving up then i remembered this thread where i done a smudge painting and a black and white one !

http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8291&page=4

It would need some tweaking ( if any body wants to go ahead please do)
so what do you think ? am i barking up the wrong tree ?

Palms

I found a very good PhotoShop action called Sheri's Sketch CS. I think I got it on the Adobe User Resources. It plays a lot more steps than this, I stopped the action at the first pause, but the result is pretty good.

I did extract the girl from the background first.I don't know about Adobe User Resources, but I can confirm Sheri's Sketch action can be downloaded from www.AtnCentral.com.

Still not sure wether barking up the wrong tree or not,
1.Quickly and roughly smudged hair and face,
2. tried desaturating
3. tried using the channel mixer and a film grain
Not that close to the original but not that far away either i think (its getting the hair lighter )

will probably have a nother tweak around at some point

Palms

I have been trying to figure out this particular pencil sketch look that I found on a website for days. However, I am unable to get the exact effects.
- DD
That looks like a hand-drawn pencil sketch. I have yet to find a Photoshop technique that looks exactly like it. If you do run across anything, I would be interested. Alan has a nice hi-key pencil sketch technique that you can search for I think it is in the photo art forum.

~Nancy~

________________________________________________________
www.fixthepixs.com
www.datepixs.com

The "he image I found can be found here" link doesn't work for me.
I found the link to the original pencil sketch in the source code here it is:blogfiles4.naver.net/data14/2006/1/11/99/1-azilael2001-azilael2001.jpg

~Nancy~
Photoshop. when you cut an paste it in your browser, and it doesn't find the page, just backspace out the http:// in the url... don't ask me why, but it works for me.



_______________________
www.fixthepixs.com

www.datepixs.com

I cropped and and superimposed the after and before images. IMO there's no way it could be anything but a manipulated photo. The hair detail matches up strand-for-strand just about everywhere, as does the dress pattern. In any event, it's an impressive result.

If you apply a Histogram (or Levels) to the final image, the tone distribution is interesting.

Now that I've fiddled with this some more, I think (now) there's a little over sharpening and smudging going on, too. :)

That's very good Danny. And you are correct everything does match up.... Would love to find out who did it and their technique. How did you get your great results?
~Nancy~
This has been fun, will have to work on it some more.
_________________________________
www.fixthepixs.com

www.datepixs.com

...I can not give it to you. Best I could come up with is a combination of Flaming Pear's Pixel Trash, GIMP's Greystoration filter and some smudging. :)

Danny that is gorgeous, the last one is perfect!

How did you get your great results? I was afraid someone might ask. :) It was pretty much a "happy accident" -- the result of trying this and that without anything resembling a plan and not keeping track of my steps like I normally do.

There were a number of layers, none of which I labeled (my bad), so I'll need to go back and try to decipher the layer progression. It may take a day or so but I'll sure give it a go...

Thanks Nancy and Legacy for your very kind words.

~Danny~

Thank you for you tip about LucisArt exposure filter, Danny.
I think it is definitely one of effects used for creating the image.
However, I still can't get soft pencil look and details of hair.
Does anybody know a texture filter better than grain and noise filter?
Here is what I got using exposure filter.

Thank you for you tip about LucisArt exposure filter, Danny.
I think it is definitely one of effects used for creating the image.
However, I still can't get soft pencil look and details of hair.
Does anybody know a texture filter better than grain and noise filter?
Here is what I got using exposure filter.
I found a couple of places on the net that have a 15% discount code. Two of them are: SUZETTEALLEN and plugsnpixels
~Nancy~


______________________________________
http://www.fixthepixs.com
http://www.datepixs.com

I found a couple of places on the net that have a 15% discount code. Two of them are: SUZETTEALLEN and plugsnpixels
~Nancy~


______________________________________
http://www.fixthepixs.com
http://www.datepixs.comAh... I get it now:

SUZETTEALLEN and plugsnpixels are the discount codes.

Here are the sites from which they came...
* http://www.suzetteallen.com/DigitalDiscoveries/dd_sponsors.htm
* http://www.plugsnpixels.com/developers.html

Thanks, Nancy. Wish I'd known about these discount codes when I bought this plugin. :(

-------------------

ddolddolee82:

re: Texture / soft pencil look
Sorry, I got no leads... Sure makes a difference, doesn't it?

re: hair detail
I created a Levels adjustment layer (middle slider moved left) to bring out the hair detail. Then I inverted it (ctrl+I) and selectively applied the effect by painting white in the areas of her hair.

Then I merged the two layers and applied LucisArt Exposure.

If YOU find that illusive magic texture, do let us know, OK? :)

Well, I purchased Lucis Art, and have been playing with it A LOT, however, still not even close to the fine pencil lines in her hair, etc. Did anyone ever get anywhere close to it? Any more ideas?
Thanks in advance,
~Nancy~

That's very good Danny. How did you get your great results?
[/url]OK... I finally got around to this and got pretty close to recreating the results from my first attempt above (Click HERE (http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=29416)).

The attached Layers Palette screen shots (hopefully) tell the story. For the most part I would apply an effect to a layer, then (copy) that layer and apply another effect. You'll see that I use layer masks often, too.

Unless noted otherwise, layer opacity = 100% and blend mode = Normal. Something like (Overlay, 50%) translates "on this layer blend mode was set to Overlay and Opacity lowered to 50%."

Don't hesitate to ask if questions.

Thanks again for the kind comments.

~Danny~

This was done using Isabels' Pastel sketch action, available at
http://www.AtnCentral.com.

OK... I finally got around to this and got pretty close to recreating the results from my first attempt above (Click HERE (http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=29416)).

The attached Layers Palette screen shots (hopefully) tell the story. For the most part I would apply an effect to a layer, then (copy) that layer and apply another effect. You'll see that I use layer masks often, too.

Unless noted otherwise, layer opacity = 100% and blend mode = Normal. Something like (Overlay, 50%) translates "on this layer blend mode was set to Overlay and Opacity lowered to 50%."

Don't hesitate to ask if questions.

Thanks again for the kind comments.

~Danny~

THANKS DANNY! And also for the screenshots, that is sooo cool and it will make so much easier to follow along. I am going to try this out, in my copious spare time, the next couple of days. I found the site the file in question is located, but it is asian; no hope for me there. I'll post the image here.

This was done using Isabels' Pastel sketch action, available at
http://www.AtnCentral.com.
thanks Phil that is very nice. I posted the effect we are trying to duplicate in the post above this one.
~Nancy~

I see Nancy has mentioned my Lucis Art discount code ("plugsnpixels")! That's also the name of the website; Here (http://www.plugsnpixels.com/lucisart.html) is my Lucis Art info page.

Nancy, I work in Orange County too (Fullerton).

I had a little fun with the example image from this thread and Lucis Art only (aside from some Levels work along the way).

I opened the color source image of the girl and immediately duplicated the layer. On the bottom layer I used Lucis' Klimpt setting, then desaturated it. On the top layer I used Lucis' Sculpture option, with a Screen transparency effect on that layer. Next, I flattened the image and applied Lucis' Exposure setting.

The result is very close to the sketch example that Nancy found, but still doesn't have that image's amazing realistic sketched feel. I also tried Little Ink Pot's Sketcher (http://www.plugsnpixels.com/sketcher.html) but that didn't fly.

What I've come to conclude from my earlier attempts was the lack of applied anniso to them (still looked like a glorified photo). I used Sharp Control to enhance the edges of the image (added aniso) and then ported the result in GIMP for cleanup (smudgeing out the noise and eliminated grey background) for the result. I've attached both a colored pencil and monochromatic (additional cleaning required). :)

I elected not to overly smudge the image or oversharpen the rendering as much as the image in question. To me, by doing this you are losing too much of the characters unique expression just to make it look like a drawing, when less could be as good of a ending result. Anyway . . .

Ran levels
Sho pro to bring out shadow highlights.
Contrast adj.
Brightness adj.
several layer mask
Some AE to enhance detail.
Nik B/w filters
blend modes.

Glad this thread has come back again, but i cant play anymore as it seems to be filters/plug ins i havent got. :heul:
great work everone

Palms

I tried a few different ways, but couldn't get the same detail as the original sketch posted. Perhaps the sketch was made from a higher res photo?

I tried a few different ways, but couldn't get the same detail as the original sketch posted. Perhaps the sketch was made from a higher res photo?Hi Bill... Welcome aboard.

Nice work on these.

re: Perhaps the sketch was made from a higher res photo
Most likely true on the original. We're limited to 100KB here, so there's usually some quality loss.

Looks like your 3rd one is based on a Bitmap pattern (yes)? In any event, share a bit about your techniques, will ya? You've got a nice touch.

~Danny~

Really like the first one Bill, the grain is a little too uniform though

Welcome Bill i like all three ! ! ! and second Danny could you please explain a bit of your workflow :happy:

Palms

Thank you, DannyRaphael, NancyJ and palms1,

I haven't done a sketch before, although I did try out some of the sketch actions available and got ideas on how I might attempt to do one.

Here's my terrible answer ... I tried so many things, that I'm not exactly sure how these were done.

The steps I took weren't advanced, and were done trial and error.

On the first one, I figured this much out:
Convert to BW (I think I took a channel)
Smudged photo
High Pass with a tiny radius, overlay mode, duplicated 6 times
Merged
Added Grain (not sure which grain maker I used, I tried many)
Levels and Curves Adjustments
Dodged to remove background and areas of photo

For the second, I started with the first sketch
(This file is as messy as the first, sorry)
High Pass but with masks to isolate where I wanted the sharpening
Duplicated a merged layer and set to overlay
Levels
Used Selective color and added black to white, the used the default custom filter to break up the grey into grain


Third one: full details
Started with l channel in LAB
Customer default filter
Sketch: Base Relief: detail 15, smoothness 1: Soft light, 49%
Merged, set that layer to soft light, 60%
Merged, set layer to linear light, 60%

Should I do another sketch, I'll be sure to put the history log on :)

Bill

Edit: I just remembered... I'm pretty sure I used Virtual Photographer for the grain.

Thank you Bill off to have a go just now

Palms

I came across this page (http://www.digital-background.net/?hop=0) today (scroll 2/3 down) and recalled this discussion. I don't know the guy's techniques and I'm trying to find contact info for him.

Looks like something to do with High Pass on an extra layer and erasing with a soft brush (?).

OK, I can't find him but I found his tutorial (http://ezinearticles.com/?Photoshop-Pencil-Portrait&id=132505)! My browser is cutting off some words, but you'll get the idea:

"This tutorial will explain the techniques I use to create digital pencil portraits in Photoshop. I have been doing these for a few years now and have searched the web for some techniques of how to do this. I have tweaked what I learned to give this tutorial a more accurate (and pleasing I might add) rendering.

There are some things that can be done in advance before the photograph is taken to help give a more pleasing result. For instance, having a white background helps to have a cleaner separation of the subject. Also, having the subject wear white (or some other light color) clothing is a big plus as it helps draw the viewer to the person's face. Though these tips are helpful, they are not absolutely required.

Okay, let's begin!

1. Open the image in Photoshop.

2. Create a copy of the background layer by pressing “Control J” on your keyboard. Now invert the new layer by pressing... “Control I”.

3. Convert image to “grayscale” by clicking (Image

4. Set layer mode to “color dodge”... this will make the layer look almost completely white.

5. Now bring out some of the pencil strokes by applying a Gaussian blur. Filter

6. Now is the time to to use the brush (B) on your keyboard and start painting the unwanted areas of your image white. Make sure you lower the opacity of your brush to around 20% or so, have white selected as your foreground color, and are using a soft edge brush.

7. Now let's add some subtle shadows to the face, chest and clothing. To do so, make sure that your foreground color is black by pressing (D) on your keyboard. Select your brush and lower the opacity of your brush (not layer) to 15%. Now start painting over all the areas, that you feel needs a shadow. Particularly, the face. There are really no rules here. Just bring out some shadows that you feel is right. This might take a little practice.

8. Now, let's add some highlights to the hair. Select white as your foreground color and make sure that the opacity of your brush is 15%. Start brushing over the lighter areas of the hair to bring out some highlights. Notice that the changes are very subtle. You don't want to over do it.

9. Now it's time to merge the layers and crop the image. Select... Image"

I came across this page (http://www.digital-background.net/?hop=0) today (scroll 2/3 down) and recalled this discussion. I don't know the guy's techniques and I'm trying to find contact info for him.

Looks like something to do with High Pass on an extra layer and erasing with a soft brush (?).Interesting result he gets, but hard to really assess with such small sample images -- and not worth $67 to me to find out for sure.

Tried your High Pass idea (one leyer, Color Burn to boost shadows, another Color Dodge for the highlights, with Layer Masks for selective application); works pretty good. :)

Since I've been in a sketchy mood of late, I thought I would resurrect this one. Highkey, DCSpecial's ICE4, Impressionist (for pencil work; used Geo Chaotic Chrome; well I modified it), Photo Plugins Local Contrast Enhancement, and some selective smudge cleaning. :)

Couldn't get anywhere close to the sample, with more time and a higher resolution image perhaps...

Hi all - i'm new here to the forum. found this thread when i was searching for techniques and/or actions to make nice looking pencil sketches. the pencil sketch that was originally done is amazing! has anyone found out how to duplicate this since this thread started? would be great to get photos to look like this. thanks in advance.

Hi all - i'm new here to the forum. found this thread when i was searching for techniques and/or actions to make nice looking pencil sketches. the pencil sketch that was originally done is amazing! has anyone found out how to duplicate this since this thread started? would be great to get photos to look like this. thanks in advance.Hi Todd... Welcome to RetouchPRO.

Since the last posts I have yet to read about any methods that improve upon the suggestions thus far. I doubt the answer (if there is one) is a Photoshop action. IMO getting results like these would be a custom set of steps each time.

Glad you asked. Perhaps someone else will have run accross something new.

~Danny~

I tried a few different ways, but couldn't get the same detail as the original sketch posted. Perhaps the sketch was made from a higher res photo?
How you did the first two?

How you did the first two?A couple posts down he added some info...

http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/photo-based-art/12681-need-help-pencil-sketch-look.html#post129467

Does the additional info help?