Hi. This is Marty from Blue Lightning TV.
I'm going to show you how to create the look of pencil drawings from photos.
Open a photo you'd like to use for this project.
I downloaded this one and the others from Shutterstock.
Go to Image and Image Size.
If your photo's resolution isn't 150 pixels per inch, type in that amount, otherwise you'll
need to adjust some of the filter setting amounts to get similar results as mine.
We'll convert our image into a Smart Object, so we can modify it non-destructively.
To do this, click the icon at the upper, right of the Layers panel and click "Convert to Smart Object".
Click the Adjustment Layer icon and click "Black & White".
The pencil drawing effect will look best if we brighten the shadows and darken the midtones in the photo.
To do this, make the photo layer active and go to Image, Adjustments, and "Shadows/Highlights".
The Shadows immediately defaults to 35%.
If you don't see the entire panel, check "Show More Options".
For this image, I'll drag it to 50% and I'll drag the Highlights amount to 30%.
The tones of the photo look strange at this point, but it'll make sense once we add the
rest of the filters and adjustments.
Since every photo has its own characteristics of brightness and contrast, feel free to adjust these amounts.
Remember, we can go back to it at any time since it’s a Smart Filter.
Click the Adjustment Layer icon again and click Levels.
I'll make the Output white level: 185.
This darkens the lightest tones of our photo.
We'll convert our visible image into a Smart Object by making the top adjustment layer active
and Shift-clicking the photo to make all the layers active.
Then, convert them into one Smart Object.
We'll make two copies of it by pressing Ctrl or Cmd + J twice.
Name the top layer, "Find Edges", the middle layer, "Charcoal", and the bottom layer, "Grain".
Hide the two top layers.
Go to Filter and Filter Gallery.
Open the Texture folder and click "Grain".
The Grain Type is "Regular", the Intensity is 100 and the Contrast is 50.
Make the Charcoal layer visible and active.
Go back to Filter and Filter Gallery.
Open the Sketch folder and click "Charcoal".
Make the Charcoal Thickness: 1, the Detail: 5, and the Light/Dark Balance: 50.
Change its Blend Mode to Linear Burn.
Let's collapse the Smart Filters to simplify the Layers panel.
Click the Adjustment Layer icon and click "Levels".
I'll make the Input Highlights: 80...the Output Shadows: 60 and the Output Highlights: 190.
Basically, making the output shadows level 60 makes the darkest tone of my image dark gray.
Making the output highlights level 190 makes the lightest tone of my image light gray.
Don't be concerned if your image is too light at this point.
It'll improve greatly once we add the next filter.
Make the "Find Edges" layer visible and active.
Go to Filter, Stylize, and "Find Edges".
Change its Blend Mode to Soft Light.
Double-click the Blending Options icon next to "Find Edges".
Change its Blending Option to "Pin Light".
There will be a little bit of color in our image, so we'll desaturate it. To do this,
click the Adjustment Layer icon and click "Black & White".
This is Marty from Blue Lightning TV. Thanks for watching!