Create an Illustrated Look From a Photograph

In this tutorial, I will show you how the create a stylized illustrated look from a photograph. The best part is that it requires no artistic ability! You can do this to any photo and pretty much any subject, but I think it works best with people.

Author: Kyle Pero

Kyle Pero has worked in the creative fields for many years now. With a background in photography and graphic design he naturally became a Photoshop whiz. Now he works in advertising doing photographic retouching, but also does freelance design and illustration work.

Before/After

You can see a Before/After below (just roll over the image once it's all loaded in). I bought my image from iStockPhoto - here's the item (Note if you download the sample PSD file from PSDTUTS Plus, the image has a watermark over it, so you'll need to purchase it and swap it in).

Step One:

Create a new Solid Color Adjustment layer and fill it with White. Above that layer, create a new blank layer by hitting the New Layer Button at the bottom of the layer palette. Name that layer "Basic Shapes." Now turn both of those layers off.

Step Two:

We are going to use the Pen Tool (P) to trace all of the basic structural elements of the image. In my case, it will be the outline of the body and the outlines of the clothes.

With the Pen Tool selected, simply click anywhere you would like to start then continue to click and drag to trace the part you are working on with the path. To make it look more like a sketch, we are going to use a lot of small paths rather than trace the whole thing with one long path. When you come to a place where you think the path should end, hold down the Cmd (or Ctrl) key ,and click anywhere off the path. That will deselect it and now you are free to create another one. Keep doing this until all of your basic shapes are traced. Here are a few shots of how I traced my image:

A common misconception is that a path needs to be a loop. Not true. We are going to use all "open paths" in this tutorial.

Step Three:

Turn on your white layer and your blank layer. Select the blank layer. In the paths palette, drag your work path down to the New Path button at the bottom of the palette to save it. Select the Brush Tool and open the brushes palette. Select any round, hard brush preset. Under the Brush Tip Shape section, modify the brush to create a thin ellipse by bringing the roundness down to 12%. Make the angle 45 degrees. Turn on the Shape Dynamics section bring the Size Jitter to 100, the Minimum diameter to 35, and the Angle Jitter to 5.

With the blank layer still selected, hit D to make black your foreground color then right/control - click on the path and choose Stroke Path. Make sure that Simulate Pressure is checked and use Brush as your source. Hit OK. You might have to adjust the Master Diameter in the brushes palette if the lines are too thin or thick.

Repeat steps 2 and 3 a few more times, each time getting more and more detailed in what you trace. The more detail you trace, the thinner you should set the Master Diameter on the brushes palette. Each time you do a pass, make sure to apply the stroke onto a new layer.

Step Four:

Now that we have the outlines, let's paint in some color. Duplicate the the layer that contains your photograph. Put the copy at the top, above all the other layers. Set the Blending Mode to "Color".

Hit B for the Brush Tool. In the Brushes palette set the Brush Angle to -45 degrees and turn off the Shape Dynamics. Make the brush a bit larger.

Make a new blank layer and call it "Paint." Make sure that it's below all of your outline layers. Make sure that your foreground color is still set to black. In the properties bar, set the Opacity of the brush to 10%. Very roughly paint in the color where you want it. Be sure to release the mouse every now and then so that the color begins to multiply over itself. Don't worry about staying in the lines too much. I used a Wacom Tablet so it was easy for me to get nice strokes but if all you have is a mouse just do the best you can.

Step Five:

Hit E for the Eraser Tool. Set the eraser brush up the same way that we did the paint brush. Make sure that the eraser brush's Opacity is at 50%. Now go back and tidy up your paint job. I like it when you can still slightly see the paint going over the lines.

Step Six:

On my image, I want the pants to be blue instead of that peachy color, so I am going to make a new Hue/Saturation Adjustment layer at the very top of the layers palette. Drag the Hue slider over until you get the hue that you like. Adjust the saturation as you like. Wait, the whole image changed! Thats Ok — we are going to fix that.

Click on the layer mask thumbnail on the Hue/Sat layer and hit Cmd+I to invert it. The image will go back to the way it was before. Set your background color to white and select the Eraser Tool. Set the eraser's opacity to 100% and paint on the mask so that the hue adjustment we made appears. Now just paint where you want the color shift.

Continue this way until you are happy with the colors.

The shirt adjusted.

The skin tone adjusted.

Step Seven:

Make one more new blank layer just below the "Paint" layer. Call it "bkg paint". Select the brush tool again and make the master diameter huge. Mine is at 200. With the brush opacity at 5% do a few really broad strokes across the whole image just to bring in a little color to the background.

Keep reading with more great tutorials and articles!

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User Comments

( ADD YOURS )

Zafar March 12th

very nice,wonderful,this website is too good,thank’s for sharing brother.
( Reply )
Robin March 12th

Very cool Kyle. When I saw the title in my RSS feed I was expecting one of those canned “Find Edges” filter effect tutorials. Nice pen tool/brush work here.
( Reply )
George Chernikov March 12th

Wow, great tutorial, going to try it out for one of my ecovers when I get home tonight.
( Reply )
Nate March 12th

Awesome tutorial!
( Reply )
Nate... um 2 March 12th

I can’t do that, that looks like it takes actual talent!
( Reply )
chandan March 12th

awesome, love this.
( Reply )
Jared March 12th

In Step 6, why would you use the Eraser tool to paint on the layer mask? The brush tool is what you should always be using.
( Reply )
Xavier March 12th

Great effect, and very useful when you’re not a master in drawing ;.)
( Reply )
Markus March 12th

This is great! But it will be easier in Illustrator, but it is possible in Photoshop!
Thanks :b
( Reply )
Jonathan Solichin March 12th

Nice, I love it. For a moment in step 4 I was wondering why the pants changed color to blue near the bottom of the left foot. But I guess you changed the whole pants to blue on the best step. Very interesting tutorial.
( Reply )
OliMX March 12th

Very trendy and Useful Tutorial. Great Stuff as usual!
( Reply )
runoo March 12th

nice,i like this tut,evry useful
( Reply )
Guido Schetters March 12th

nice one Irather a illustrator user but this has some nice results!
( Reply )
Shane March 12th

Interesting effect. Thanks for the tutorial.
( Reply )
Arnaud March 12th

Interesting, i love this effect.
Thx a lot.
( Reply )
Bedrich March 12th

Amazing tutorial.
( Reply )
Lamin Barrow March 12th

This is great.. WOW you guys are the best!!
( Reply )
moh March 12th

Great! Just what I needed!
( Reply )
giackop March 12th

good one. i don’t know if i’m gonna use it but it’s cool..
( Reply )
Mark Bowen March 12th

Excellent use of the pen tool and simulated brush pressure. Well done!
Best wishes,
Mark
( Reply )
kuldeep March 12th

Awesome tutorial…I also illustrated many photos with different method, but now i’ll try yours…the result looks cool. Thanks!
( Reply )
niksy March 12th

Nice techinque, thanks!
( Reply )
b00m March 12th

looks good
( Reply )
seoforranking March 12th

Nice tutorial…
( Reply )
petnos March 13th

very creative…
( Reply )
jeff March 13th

Wow this is great. Can’t wait to try this myself.
( Reply )
Alex Moyler March 13th

This is exactly the kind of stuff I want to be doing. Awesome. Thanks.
( Reply )
jodee March 13th

thanks! the wheels are already spinning
( Reply )
Terry March 13th

pretty cool.. if you’re doing it this this way, you don’t need illustrator since that produces a super clean vector image.
this is a photoshop site after all, so it’s nice to see someone try it this way, and it’s relevant to some basic ad design.
nice
( Reply )
Joseph Maguire March 13th

I am a illustrator. This one tutorial has put me over the top in thinking this site is the single best resource for graphic designers tutorials out there.
Great work!!!!!
Sincerely,
Joseph Maguire
( Reply )
sct March 13th

Really cool. Definitely going to use this.
( Reply )
Ben March 13th

This is a really great tutorial! I have never seen this done this way, I’ll have to try it
( Reply )
Salva March 13th

nice one!
( Reply )
Jordi March 13th

I don’t understand Step Six… I select the mask layer and click Ctrl+I, and make it black, but… what do i have to erase with the eraser tool?
Thank you for help!
Jordi
( Reply )
Zeb March 13th

Hey i’ve just see this tuto anywhere or kind of !
So this is grand art, thanks to Kyle Pero
( Reply )
kelisjunky March 13th

I don’t really like…
( Reply )
Fynn March 13th

Just wanted to say how great this site is! All tutorials are amazing!
( Reply )
VectorCars March 13th

Nice tuts. Thanks to Kyle Pero.
I like this site.
( Reply )
Kyle March 13th

Sorry about the Eraser tool guys. I just have a habit of using the eraser tool on masks and the brush tool on layers. I dont know why, there is no real reason. FYI for anyone who is wondering, the eraser tool (when used on a mask or alpha channel) is exactly the same as the brush tool except it paints with the background color.
Use the brush if you would like!
( Reply )
Douglas March 13th

man, I simply loved this tutorial!
When I saw the title on my RSS reader, I make a big “blah”, because there are tons of “find edges” tutorials that make the same weird result.
But this is reallmy amazing! I’ve tried and the result is perfect!
Many thanx…from Brazil xD
( Reply )
Swattkidd March 13th

Great tutorial!!!, could really be useful for some stuff, thanks a lot!
I would really like to see a Digital Painting tutorial also
( Reply )
egypt web design March 13th

thx Nice tutorialâ€¦
( Reply )
andy stewart March 13th

http://www.andystewart-design.com
( Reply )
Jozelo March 14th

good, but I hate pen tool. I think i’ll have to get used to it =@
( Reply )
Jenny March 14th

oh wow that’s awesome! i wanna do this!!!
( Reply )
f0ox March 14th

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Ð—Ð°Ñ…Ð¾Ð´Ð¸Ñ‚Ðµ, ÑÐ¼Ð¾Ñ‚Ñ€Ð¸Ñ‚Ðµ!
( Reply )
Cain March 14th

Before and after is just plain tight. Thanks for sharing!
( Reply )
Mark Abucayon March 15th

Great tut again- simple yet very helpful. I will try this one later
( Reply )
Braintrove.com March 15th

Very nice job! Love it!
( Reply )
mark March 15th

This looks great!! I am trying it but I can’t seem to reveal any colour, just painting black on my image! Am I missing something?
( Reply )
Gen March 16th

Now that was really helpful. And it works even better on Objects than on people… did this yesterday: http://stinkehund.deviantart.com/art/ST-Ships-79969606
( Reply )
Saravanan07 March 16th

Excellent Tutorial..;)
( Reply )
Kyle March 17th

Nice one Gen.
@Mark read the first part of step 4 to get the color going.
( Reply )
Sara March 18th

Very nice. Here’s my finished copy. http://i28.tinypic.com/1zbh0ex.jpg
( Reply )
Darbo Scalante March 18th

Great tutorials right here.
Time ago i simply hate to do things using photoshop â€”i used to be an Illustrator loverâ€”, but this works made me to change my mind. I’m very thankful with all this people that shares them knowledge.
Thanks for make the internet a nice place to be.
Darbo.
( Reply )
Katalog Stron March 19th

I don’t like this kind of effects. But it is alway good to know how to do.
( Reply )
Localjerk March 21st

Taaaaakkkeeee Onnnn Meeeeeeeeee! 80’s music video flashback Totally awesome tut. I actually like the look of the plain stroked lines before applying the drawn effect.
( Reply )
barat March 23rd

Realy nice technique
I made mine too.
PS. It’s me on this “picture”
http://img245.imageshack.us/img245/7962/baratfullsp2.jpg
( Reply )
Kat March 28th

err i dont know what you mean by right/control + click
( Reply )
vidya April 1st

wow…………..veryyyyyyyyyyyyy nice:) great skill…..get going…
( Reply )
Prabhjeet Singh April 4th

Its great stuff, Really quick way to create artwork.
( Reply )
Daniel May 1st

Cool effect
Daniel
( Reply )
ari May 14th

Woow, amazing. I like your genuine tutorial. It make me happy for drawing with photoshop. Keep working and creating. Thanks
( Reply )
ari May 14th

many times i search tutorial for “Creating an Illustrated Look From a Photograph”, but there is no good tutorial like you have. It ’s good tutorial for me for spreading my skill to making an Illustrated Look From a Photograph. Thanks for your creativity
( Reply )
Nathan July 17th

Great idea, but your directions are far too assuming of knowledge on the part of the user. (I use Photoshop CS3) For example, you say, “Create a new Solid Color Adjustment layer and fill it with White.” Unfortunately, when I tried to follow the instruction I found there was no such choice in my menus. I can create a “New Adjustment Layer” (under Layers menu), but there’s nothing there about “solid color.” I can create a “Solid Color” layer under “New Fill Layer” (under Layers menu), but that says nothing about “adjustments.” Your entire lesson assumes knowledge (or software versions) that might not be available to the user. I tried, but when I used the “pen tool” and “clicked and dragged” as you suggested, a large black area began to obliterate my image and I gave up.
( Reply )
Mike July 26th

Great tutorials here! I will definitely try out some of these (this one and some of the others are especially cool!) when I get the chance. If anyone is interested in some full tutorial programs you can check out my site at http://www.squidoo.com/PhotoshopReview where I review some of the best choices.
( Reply )
ryan July 29th

cool!! nyc tutorilas
( Reply )
Emma August 8th

Everything about this is awesome. The whole style is reminiscent of the 80’s; the sketchy look, the pastel colours…I love it – mint tut!
( Reply )
TwoFace. August 22nd

cool cool!
( Reply )
anindya August 30th

Thanx, I’ve tried n got superb result
( Reply )
ThePhotoshopper September 26th

WOW.. its so totally friggin’ awesome!! just loved it… will try ASAP!!
http://thephotoshopper.blogspot.com
( Reply )
Sajeed Mohiyudeen November 18th

Thanks a lot .Its amazing.
best wishes
( Reply )
Martin Dulal December 7th

Incredible!
U R a so creative.
Thanks Kyle.
I love Creative Person.
Love & Light
( Reply )
Jovana December 22nd

I have a problem. I tried the same thing using photo I’ve made, but while pressing “P” I did get that pencil tool, but it doesn’t do anything like your pen tool does. Please, help. ;(
( Reply )
shuster December 28th

I DON’T UNDERSTAND THE PAINT PART (Step Four)!
please help me with this! what layer should I turn opacity to 10%?? How can I paint?? I just don’t understand this step…
( Reply )
Ray January 1st

i don’t understand the paint part either. i have my picture above all my layers and i have the blending mode set to color.
when i paint it with black, all i see is an ugly redish color, i think because the top layer is set to color.
what am i doing wrong?
( Reply )
Ray January 1st

Now that we have the outlines, let’s paint in some color.
**HOW??**
Duplicate the the layer that contains your photograph.
**BACKGROUND COPY? K. DONE.**
Put the copy at the top, above all the other layers. Set the Blending Mode to “Color”.
**DONE**
Hit B for the Brush Tool. In the Brushes palette set the Brush Angle to -45 degrees and turn off the Shape Dynamics. Make the brush a bit larger.
**DONE**
Make a new blank layer and call it “Paint.” Make sure that it’s below all of your outline layers.
**DONE**
Make sure that your foreground color is still set to black.
**WHY BLACK?..**
In the properties bar, set the Opacity of the brush to 10%. Very roughly paint in the color where you want it. Be sure to release the mouse every now and then so that the color begins to multiply over itself. Don’t worry about staying in the lines too much.
**EVERYTHING JUST LOOKS BLACK?**
this is what it looks like.. i’m so confused..
http://s140.photobucket.com/albums/r18/7z6/?action=view&current=ahhh.jpg
( Reply )
Kudeux January 2nd

Ray, i was stuck at the same part as you. I just ignored the “Make sure that your foreground color is still set to black.” and coloured the picture in with different colours and it looks fine!
But it would be great to find out why Kyle told us to do that!
Great effect! I’m having loads of fun using it! thanks!!
( Reply )
TKO January 9th

Thank you very much, for your tutorial. and i really thank to you!
( Reply )
ibrahim loorg January 13th

Great tutorial! thanx!
( Reply )
Rabin February 13th

good work. thanks
( Reply )
Applemoes February 19th

When I do it the wrinkles of clothes and such show alot, I’m more painting the image back then painting the color like in your pic. What am I doing wrong?
( Reply )
V February 25th

Does anyone have tutorial on how to do this tutorial? I use photoshop a lot, but I guess not these tools, since I have to do a google search for each part of the sentence to try to figure out how execute the next step.
( Reply )
ichi February 26th

about paint part im so confused, can you put the picture of any tools you used for the all part?
thanks before, this is great tutorial
( Reply )
RUGRLN March 8th

This effect would be best achieved using a tablet!! Need one pronto!
( Reply )
Ercan March 17th

i cant understand how can i use brush with stroke. stroke has only 3 fill type option (color gradient and pattern) and i cant apply brush to line help me how can i do
( Reply )
singko March 24th

hard to follow! its confusing
( Reply )
singko March 24th

can you provide us step by step (what to click and where to go)
thanks!
( Reply )
qyneprox March 27th

awesome trick use pen tool to create ilustrate
( Reply )
Jackie March 31st

I have Photoshop CS4.
On STEP THREE: “Under the Brush Tip Shape section, modify the brush to create a thin ellipse by bringing the roundness down to 12%. Make the angle 45 degrees. Turn on the Shape Dynamics section bring the Size Jitter to 100, the Minimum diameter to 35, and the Angle Jitter to 5.”
I can’t find anything like that in my CS4 window. Is something wrong with my CS4? What should I do to have that option. I really love your work. I want to do it so badly. Please help me.
If anyone by any chances knows, please help me too. Thank you very much
( Reply )
maya April 11th

waw,,,Kawaii…
( Reply )
rajendra singh yadav April 18th

it is the wonderfull for me and so nice it
( Reply )
CgBaran Tuts April 21st

Great tutorial thanks
( Reply )
T.HARISH April 23rd

hey great tutorial!!!!!!!!!!
but i cant get this path thing???
drag your work path down to the New Path button at the bottom of the palette to save it.
wat does it mean can u explain it to me!!!!!
if u have video tutorial of this effect plz mail it to me……….:)
ma id : arrows_143@yahoo.com
expecting ur replies…………..!!!!!
( Reply )
m.kumaran May 2nd

very nice
( Reply )
adodo June 1st

love it so!
( Reply )
andrea garcia June 4th

heeelp me.. i cant dooo step3.. its so confusing
( Reply )
Risa June 10th

I LOVE this tutorial and really HOPE it works for me. I’m gonna believe it’s going to be great, so it will just have to be Thanks for this cool technique!
( Reply )
TAY June 14th

CUTEEE
( Reply )
Enk. June 25th

Do u know the difference between the Original and Final ? In the original she’s wearing the dark (black) glasses..
hehe kidding, nice tut.. really useful !
( Reply )
Emit July 1st

Just Good.
( Reply )
Rashid Khan July 3rd

great job i like it really beautiful
( Reply )
eternal July 20th

that`s for a tablet, but its nice. Thx.
( Reply )
Bazla August 24th

Very nice tutorial, thanks
( Reply )
zen August 28th

Me too a graphic designer but to you may be a newcomer;steel not loosing hope ’cause of you all out their who share there works and let us help to learn more effects..Thanks
( Reply )
Imran August 28th

Love the end result
( Reply )
toot! August 31st

I struggled with the colour too, not very clearly explained.
Make sure that your white-filled layer is visable and you’ll see the colour.
Really nice effect, thanks for sharing.
( Reply )
daniiiii September 12th

Sick as!! I can’t believe someone can actually do that!! it must take alot of talent!
( Reply )
folyrose September 28th

Excellent work of art and a nice tutorial too..Thanks for sharing such work with us and help us to improve our work. Nothing to say more..
( Reply )
Egypt Web Design October 21st

Nice trick
( Reply )
Bob November 5th

I love it!
Thanks
( Reply )
web design egypt November 8th

great .. so clever
I really like it
( Reply )
articlescreen November 12th

I was wondering for a long time to use that technique but don’t know how…
It’s really….I don’t have anything to say…
( Reply )
free style November 12th

jnice job
( Reply )
fun November 16th

please post video tutorials insted of boring long lines of text..that’d be useful..
( Reply )
zzz December 1st

rather pretty
( Reply )
Roger December 4th

Nice tutorial. Thanks for sharing.
( Reply )
Beth December 12th

Wonderful, it works perfectly!!! They look awesome and I’m addicted to doing them!
Just one thing, howcome when I paint on the background it also paints over what I’ve drawn? Is this supposed to happen? Cuz it doesnt look like it does in the example…
( Reply )