Hi. This is Marty from Blue Lightning TV.
I'm going to show you how to create the effect of a sketch drawing that morphs into a 3-D photo.
I provided a Photoshop template that you can download, so you can follow along.
It includes a folder that contains 3 layers - a wood background, a sheet of paper and
a graphite pencil.
I purposely placed them on separate layers, so you have the freedom to reposition, resize
and re-adjust them individually to your photo.
I also provided a custom sketch brush that we’ll use later.
The links to the template and the brush are in my video's description below or in my project files.
Open a photo that shows someone or something whose front or back is jutting out toward the foreground.
I downloaded this one from Shutterstock.
The first step is to make a selection around the subject, so we can isolate it from its background.
There are many ways to do this, but in most cases,
I find that the Quick Selection Tool does a great job.
If you're using this tool as well, drag it over the inside of the subject.
To remove areas outside the subject, press and hold Alt or Option as you drag over those areas.
To check your selection, press "Q" to see it as a quick mask.
Then, revert it back into a selection by pressing "Q" again.
To refine the edges of wispy areas like hair, go to Select.
If you're using a version earlier than CC 2015.5, click Refine Edge.
If you're using a later version, click "Select and Mask".
If you prefer to use Refine Edge, Shift-click "Select and Mask".
I've done in-depth tutorials on both of these filters, so if you want to watch them,
I provided their links in my video's description.
Check "Smart Radius".
This detects smooth and hard edges.
We'll drag the brush over the edge of the soft areas, but before we do,
we'll adjust the size of our brush.
Make sure your CapsLock key is off and press the right or left bracket key on your keyboard.
Output it to a "New Layer with Layer Mask".
Press "v" to open your Move Tool and drag your subject onto the tab of the template.
Without releasing your mouse or pen, drag it down and release.
To resize and position it, open your Transform Tool by pressing Ctrl or Cmd + T. Go to a corner.
If you're using a version earlier than CC 2019, press and hold Alt or Option + Shift
as you drag it in or out.
If you're using CC 2019 or later, just press Alt or Option as you drag it.
To reposition it, go inside the bounding box and drag it.
Then, press Enter or Return or click the check-mark at the top.
Open the folder and drag the pencil layer to the top.
Temporarily hide it.
We'll make it visible and reposition it at the end.
Make your subject active and make a copy of it by pressing Ctrl or Cmd + J.
Click the icon at the upper, right and click "Convert to Smart Object".
Go to the layer mask and drag it to the trash.
If you see this message, just click "Delete".
Make the full color photo active and click the Adjustment Layer icon.
Click, "Black & White".
Shift-click the color photo to make it active, as well, and convert them into one Smart Object.
Make two copies of it by pressing Ctrl or Cmd + J twice.
We'll group the black and white photos into a folder by Shift-clicking the bottom one
to make all of them active and pressing Ctrl or Cmd + G. Open the folder and hide the top photo.
Make the middle photo active and change its Blend Mode to “Color Dodge”.
Go to Filter, Blur and Gaussian Blur.
Blur it 8 pixels.
Click the Adjustment Layer icon and click "Invert".
It's important to know that an adjustment layer affects all the layers below it in the Layers panel.
If we want it to affect just the one layer below it, we'll need to clip it or restrict to that layer.
To do this, click the Clipping Mask icon or press Alt + Ctrl + G on Windows
or Option + Cmd + G on a Mac.
You could also go to Layer and "Create Clipping Mask".
We'll add another adjustment layer that will reveal more of the darker tones of the photo.
Click the Adjustment Layer icon again and click, "Levels".
Clip it to the layer and drag the Input black level to the right.
Since very photo has its own characteristics of brightness and contrast, feel free to adjust this amount.
Shift-click the first black & white copy to make it active as well, and convert it into a Smart Object.
Change its Blend Mode to "Color Dodge".
Make the top photo visible and active.
Go to Filter and Filter Gallery.
Open the Sketch folder and click "Charcoal".
Make the Thickness: 2, the Detail: 5 and the Light/Dark Balance: 75.
Change its Blend Mode to "Multiply" and its opacity to 40%.
Make the folder active and change its Blend Mode to "Multiply".
Make its opacity 70%.
Ctrl-click or Cmd-click the thumbnail of the paper to make a selection of its shape.
Click the Layer Mask icon to make a layer mask of the selection next to the folder.
Close both folders and make the cut-out subject visible and active.
We'll add an inverted layer mask next to it by Alt or Option-clicking the Layer Mask icon.
This hides the color cut-out of our subject.
We'll reveal it back though the layer mask by brushing white over our image.
To do this, open your Brush Tool and Brush Picker.
As I mentioned at the beginning, I provided a custom sketch brush that you can download.
Its name is, "KYLE Ultimate Pencil Hard".
Its default size is 8 pixels, its opacity is 100% and its Flow is 100%.
Make your brush bigger.
Brush over the area of your image to reveal the color portion of your subject that juts out.
To hide areas of the color photo, press "x" on your keyboard to invert your foreground
and background colors and restore the default Flow amount to 38%.
Then, brush over those areas.
Continue to reveal and hide the layer mask at different Flow amounts to achieve just
the right balance of transition between the color photo and its sketch counterpart.
Next, we’ll selectively hide areas of the background behind our subject to bring the
attention more to the subject, while still revealing some of the environment the subject is in.
Make the Layer Mask active and fill it with black, which is the foreground color.
Ctrl-click or Cmd-click your cut-out subject to make a selection of its shape.
With the Layer mask still active, we'll fill the selection with white, which is our background color.
Invert the selection by pressing Ctrl or Cmd + Shift + I.
Go to the thumbnail of the paper and press Alt + Ctrl + Shift on Windows
or Option + Cmd + Shift on a Mac to confine the selection to the boundaries of the paper.
To check your selection, press "Q" to see it as a quick mask.
Revert it back into a selection by pressing "Q" again.
Hide the selection by pressing Ctrl or Cmd + "H".
The selection is still there, it's just invisible to our eyes.
Make the Layer Mask active and lower the Flow amount.
Proceed to reveal back the sketch drawing through the layer mask.
Feel free to raise and lower the Flow and adjust the size of your brush until you're
happy with the look of the background of your sketch drawing.
Make the pencil visible and active.
Open your Move Tool by pressing "v" on your keyboard and move it.
If you want to rotate it, use your Transform Tool.
Lastly, for this particular photo, I'll add a shadow under the hand.
I'll make the Group 1 folder active and make a new layer above it.
The shadow is placed under my cut-out color photo.
I'll open my Brush Tool and Brush Picker.
I'll pick a soft, round brush with a Hardness of 0%.
Its Flow is 100% and its opacity is 60%.
I'll make my brush small and drag it across.
This is Marty from Blue Lightning TV.
Thanks for watching!