Hi. This is Marty from Blue Lightning TV.
I'm going to show you how to transform a photo of someone
into a stunning, transitional, watercolor painting and how to apply it automatically
to other photos without having to redo all the effects.
Open a photo of someone. I downloaded this one and the others from Shutterstock.com.
Click off the lock icon to unlock the layer.
Let's name the layer, "Base". To effect the photo non-destructively and to allow us to
edit the effects that we add to it, click the icon at the upper, right of the Layers
panel and click "Convert to Smart Object". You know it's a Smart Object when this icon
is added to the lower, right corner of the thumbnail. Make a copy of the layer by pressing
Ctrl + J on Windows or Cmd + J on a Mac.
Let's name it, "Smart Blur".
Go to Filter, Blur and Smart Blur.
I'll choose a Radius of 10, the Threshold: 20 and the Quality: High. Keep
in mind, depending on the size and resolution of your photo, you may want to adjust these
amounts until your image looks similar to the preview here.
Then, click OK.
Click the thumbnail of the Base to make the layer active.
Make a copy of it and name it, "Pencil Lines".
Drag the layer to the top of the Layers panel.
Go to Filter and Filter Gallery.
Open the "Stylize" folder and click "Glowing Edges".
I'll make the Edge Width: 1, the Edge Brightness: 15
and the Smoothness: 15, however, fee free to adjust these amounts.
Click the Adjustment layer icon and click, "Invert".
Click the Clipping Mask icon, which clips or restricts
the adjustment layer to only effect the "Pencil Lines" layer. Click the Adjustment layer icon
again and this time, click "Black, White". This desaturates the colors from the layer.
Clip it and change the Blend Mode to "Multiply".
Reduce its opacity to between 50 to 60%.
Make the Pencil Lines layer active
and change its Blend Mode to "Multiply", as well.
To save space in the Layers panel,
let's group all the "Pencil Lines" layers into its own folder.
To do this, Shift-click on the top layer to highlight all the Pencil Lines layers and
press Ctrl or Cmd + G. Name the folder "Pencil Lines".
To save even more space,
let's hide the Smart Filter by clicking the small triangle on the right.
The Filter is there; it's just hidden from view.
Make the “Smart Blur” layer active and make a copy of it.
Let’s name it “Brush”.
Click the Adjustment layer icon and click “Invert”.
Clip it
and change the Blend Mode to “Color Dodge”.
Open your Brush Tool and Brush Picker.
Click the gear icon and click “Reset Brushes”.
When you see this message, click OK to replace
the current brushes with the default brushes. Click back on the gear icon and check “Small List".
Scroll to the bottom and click “Dry Brush”. Then, press Enter or Return.
To make your brush larger or smaller, press the right or left bracket key on your keyboard.
Reduce the opacity to 30%. If your foreground or background colors aren’t black and white
respectively, press “D” on your keyboard. Now, brush quickly over your image. At this
point, the texture will be very subtle. Click back on your Brush Picker and this time, click
“Rough Round Bristle”. Increase its opacity to 100%. Adjust the size of your brush and
brush over portions of your image. Notice, when you overlap strokes, those areas become
darker and richer just like true, watercolor paint. If you’re not happy with the paint
strokes, just undo it and brush back in as many variations as you want. Next, we’ll
make the colors more vibrant. Make the “Pencil Lines” folder active. Above it, we’ll place
an adjustment layer. Click the Adjustment layer icon and click “Vibrance”.
Drag the slider to the right. I’ll make mine: +85. Next, we’ll add a watercolor paper texture.
Go to the "Pencil Lines" layer and click the arrow to open the folder.
Click the thumbnail to make the layer active. Go to Filter and Filter gallery.
Open the "Texture" folder and click "Texturizer".
Choose "Sandstone". Make the "Scaling": 50%, the Relief: 3 and
the Light from the "Top". Then, click OK. Your portrait now has a watercolor paper texture.
Next, I'll show you how to quickly replace the person in the portrait with a different
person without having to redo all the effects. Go to any Smart Object and double-click it.
This opens the original image before any of the effects were applied to it. Go to File
and "Place Embedded". Locate the folder that contains a photo of the other person,
click the image and click "Place".
Go to a corner and press Alt or Option + Shift as you drag it in or out. Then, press Enter
or Return. Remove the Base by either trashing it or by merging the layers by pressing Ctrl
or Cmd + E. Close the Smart Object document by clicking on the small "x" on the right
of the tab. Click "Yes" to save the changes. Automatically, the Smart Objects in the Layers
panel updated all the effects to the new photo. At this point, all we have to do is to remove
the painted areas that were specific to the first image and brush in areas that are specific
to this image. To do this, scroll to the layer mask, make it active and fill it with white
by pressing Ctrl or Cmd + Delete.
As before, open your Brush Picker, click "Dry Brush and
reduce its opacity to 30%. Adjust your Brush's size and quickly brush over your image.
Open your Brush Picker again and as before, click the "Rough Rounded Bristle".
Make the Opacity: 100%
and brush over your image to complete your portrait.
This is Marty form Blue Lightning TV. Thanks for watching!