How to Draw Lines Around People in Photoshop
Take a cue from the old tracing paper tablets of childhood and use Adobe Photoshop as your new tracing software. With Photoshop, you can manipulate the included tools to trace around already-created elements, such as people in photographs. Although there is no button that will automatically draw a perfect line around a human image, the program has many tools that make the process easier. Once you have the lines, you can eliminate the source image and just use your drawing for coloring or other use, or combine the original with its drawn-around line image for a textured, three-dimensional look.
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Instructions
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Start Photoshop. Click the "File" menu. Click "Open." Navigate to the photo with the people to draw lines around and double-click the file name. If the image doesn't open fully on the canvas, click the "View" menu and click "Fit on Screen."
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Click the "Magnify" tool, which looks like a magnifying glass on the bottom of the "Tools" pane. Click the cursor on the canvas to zoom in on the people to draw lines around, or zoom in on one person at a time.
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Right-click the paintbrush icon on the "Tools" column. Choose "Pencil Tool" from the fly-out menu. Pull down the second-from-left small drop-down menu on the toolbar and slide the "Size" bar to 3. Click one of the solid dot brush heads.
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Hover the cursor, which now looks like a pencil, over the picture. If the cursor size seems too big--your lines will color over the person's face or body--or too small--you won't be able to see the lines in enough detail--adjust the "Size" bar to a smaller or larger size.
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Check the colored box at the bottom of the "Tools" column. To trace in a different color, double-click the box, choose a new color and click "OK."
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Click the "New Layer" icon, a small square with a bent corner, in the bottom of the "Layers" palette on the right side of the screen. A new Layer 1 appears above the Background layer.
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Position the cursor on the canvas, click at the edge of the first person, hold down the left mouse button and drag to form the line around the person. Continue tracing the other people in the picture. To vary the line width (for example, to draw finer lines for peoples' hair), adjust the "Size" slider until all lines are complete.
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Tips & Warnings
To see the effects of your drawing on their own, click the small eyeball icon to the left of the Background layer on the "Layers" palette. This hides the layer from view---it won't delete the photo---so you get to see just how the tracing came out. This is also helpful to see if you left any areas out as you drew around the people.
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Take advantage of Photoshop's "Edit" menu's "Undo" feature when drawing the lines. If you don't get them exactly right or want to adjust them, click "Edit" and select "Undo." This takes you back one step to before the last line drawn.
