How to Create a Line Drawing from a Photograph in Paint Shop Pro

Finding just the right photograph to use on your website or print materials can be difficult. Sometimes the photograph is damaged beyond repair, and sometimes there are copyright issues. Sometimes the photograph contains elements you would like to remove or simplify. Why not use that photograph to create a line drawing in Paint Shop Pro? A line drawing is always your own work, and creating line drawings is a quick and easy way to fix otherwise irreparable problems in photographs. Still, you'll need a steady hand to complete this task. A stylus is also helpful.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Paint Shop Pro
• Scanned or downloaded photograph
• Mouse or stylus

1. 
    
   An original image of a lily flower.

   Open the image you wish to reproduce in Paint Shop Pro. With the image selected, click Layer > New Raster Layer. Click OK.

2. Use the scroll wheel on your mouse or select the magnifying glass tool from the toolbar to enlarge the image. Select the paintbrush tool. In tool options palette, set the width of your brush to a pixel size which is right for your image. Increase the hardness and density to 100.

3. 
    
   The image of a flower with the sections outlined in black.

   Click View > Palettes > Layers. Select the new layer, which is named Raster 1 if you selected the default value. In the materials palette, select black. Trace the objects within your scene using the paintbrush tool. Be sure to trace each distinct area of color, not just outside shapes. Ensure that each section is completely enclosed by the black lines. Your image will look something like a paint by number when you are finished.

4. Make sure the Raster 1 layer is still selected. Click the dropper tool in the Paint Shop Pro toolbar. If there is variation within the section of color, try to select a median value. Section by section, select the fill tool to fill each area with a color selected from the the image. Continue this process until all sections have been filled.

5. Delete the background layer. Save the image with a new file name.

6. 
    
   The finished image completely filled and with the background removed.

   Zoom in on the image to see if there are any spots which have not been filled with color. Select colors from adjacent areas to use to fill the missed area. Refer to your original image if necessary.

Tips & Warnings

• For greater detail, select more regions within your image. For less detail, select fewer.
• This technique is great for creating cartoon images.
• You can easily remove a busy background from images by simply not reproducing them within your line drawing.