Creating a Painted Effect from a Photograph

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Creating a Painted Effect from a Photograph

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I will show you how to take a photograph like the one on top and turn it into a picture that resembles a painting like the one on the bottom.

In case you want to follow along this image can be found on the CD # 2 in the Corel PHOTO-PAINT 8 standalone version and CD #3 in the CorelDRAW 8 Suite. It's in directory Photos/Men/.

Okay, lets get started. Open the image you want to use. Copy the image then paste it in creating an object that is the same image as the background. You can copy then paste the image using the menu Edit | Copy, then Edit | Paste | As New Object. Or use the toolbar Copy then Paste buttons.

With the object still selected change the merge mode to Multiply. Depending on the image, you may wind up using a different merge mode for the final product, but Multiply is a good place to start.

Now select the background. The background title does not get highlighted in blue like the objects. The only indication you get that the background is active is the red boarder around the thumbnail.

Now we will reduce the background image to an outline of the image. Since there are two filters that can possibly do this, we start experimenting a little. The two filters are Edge detect under the Effects | 2D Effects menu and Find Edges under the Effects | Sharpen menu. Sometimes one looks best, sometimes the other one does. Let's start with Edge Detect. Select a background color of white, and a low sensitivity to start with.

In this case the filter doesn't quite do what we want. It makes his face look too cracked. There are some other things you can try with this one, though. They may not give us the effect we are looking for, but they are interesting in themselves. Try a black background with a high Sensitivity. Or use your own color, and another merge mode. Such as Hard Light or maybe even Color. After you are done experimenting, select cancel, and let's try the other filter.

Select the Find edges filter under Effects | Sharpen. Use an Edge Type of soft. I have yet to find an image that looks good with the solid edge type, but you never know. Adjust the slider until the image looks like what you want. Usually between 25 and 100. While you are doing this make sure the object layer is visible so you can see how it interacts with the background layer you are modifying.

There's the basic image. I like to clean it up a little after I get one I'm happy with. The background image will have some color left in the lines. To clean it up use menu command Image | Adjust | Desaturate.

Then follow that up with a levels adjustment using Image | Adjust | Level Equalization. You will usually get a histogram like this one. Slide the top right pointer over to where the slope starts. This will clean up the specks in the background that make the image look like it's dirty. You may need to adjust the levels a little more depending on your image.

Sometimes you may get the best results with a different merge mode. The ones I have had the best results with are Multiply, Subtract, & Hard light. Occasionally, If Darker will work also.

There are several interesting variations on this. One of them is to use the merge mode Color.

Another is to use Effects | 3D Effects | Emboss on the background. Either before or after you convert it to an outline. I used a merge mode of Hard Light with this one. Multiply left it too dark.

And of course, you could always use the outline image by itself.

With the right kind of image you can get an almost neon affect. I did this one by applying the Find Edges filter. Then inverting the image using Image | Transform | Invert.

There are numerous directions you can go from here. Try some of the brush effects in the Alchemy filter on the object layer. Blur the object layer a little, around 2-4, to soften the colors and make them look more painted. Or Posterize the colors to give it a more Paint-by-numbers look. These are just a few ideas. Experiment some and see what you can come up with.

Tutorials by Mike Bresciani

Using CorelDRAW to Make Quilting Blocks · Creating a Painted Effect from a Photograph · Using Grayscale Masks in Corel PHOTO-PAINT · Adding Color to Black and White Photos With Corel PHOTO-PAINT · Fun With Photos -- Selecting Objects Part II · Fun With Photos -- Selecting Objects · Using Corel PHOTO-PAINT's Image Sprayer · 3D Web Buttons with Rolled Edges Tutorial · 3D Web Button Tutorial

E-mail Mike

_{Last Updated May 25, 1999.}

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