How to Create a Pencil Drawing Using Photoshop
Pencil drawings have been around for centuries. Artists sometimes use them as precursors to painting and larger works, or they can be works of art all on their own. Pencil drawings created in Photoshop are simply digital versions of an old technique. You can create a pencil drawing by adding effects to a favorite digital photo, or you can create a drawing from scratching using a drawing tablet or your mouse and some of the basic tools in Photoshop.
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Instructions
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Convert a Photo to a Pencil Drawing
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1
Click "File" then "Open" to open your photo in Photoshop. Navigate to the location of your saved file and double-click to open it.
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Click "Image" then "Adjustments" and "Desaturate" to convert the image to black and white.
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3
Right-click the image layer in the "Layers" palette at the bottom right of the window and choose "Duplicate Layer." This will create a duplicate of the first layer. Click the duplicate layer to highlight it, then change the "Blending Mode" option from "Normal" to "Color Dodge."
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4
Click "Filter" then "Blur" and "Gaussian Blur" and choose a pixel range between 10 and 20. Click "OK" to add the blur to your image. This will make the image stand out and give it a pencil sketch appearance.
Create Your Own Pencil Sketch
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5
Connect your drawing tablet by a USB port on your computer if you have one. A drawing tablet allows for better control than a mouse when drawing and responds to changes in pressure like a real pencil would.
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6
Click "File" and "New" to open a new image in Photoshop. Choose the image size options or use a preset such as "U.S. Paper" for automatic settings, then click "OK."
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Click the "Brush" tool in the tools palette, then click "Window" then "Brush Presets" in the top toolbar to open the Brush Presets window. This window provides a number of brush presets, some of which are meant to emulate different types of pencils.
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Click the "List" icon in the top right of the Brush Presets window and click "Natural Brushes," then "Append" to add these brushes to the list.
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Choose one of the preset brushes from the list, then click and drag or use the drawing tablet to begin drawing. Change the brush settings in the Brushes window if necessary.
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10
Add extra layers if necessary to separate parts of your drawing and keep from damaging previous parts.
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