Photoshop: Picture to Black & White Painting or Sketch

Step One. The first thing you are going to need is a photo that you would like to turn into a sketch drawing. I like to use one that has focus on a person, simply because I like to work with photos of people. It is totally up to you on what you want to turn into a sketch drawing.

Step Two. The next thing, once you have your image open in Photoshop, you need to duplicate your original layer using Cmd+J or Ctrl+J on your keyboard. You can also go to the layer menu, and selecting Duplicate Layer.

Step Three. The next step is to de-saturate your new layer (take all of the color out) so that you have a black and white photo. You can do this by pressing Shift+Ctrl+U on your keyboard. You can also go to the Image menu, going to Adjustments, and selecting Desaturate.

Step Four. Now, you need to duplicate your black and white layer the same way that you copied the original layer. Make sure that you have the black and white layer selected, because we DO NOT want to cop the original layer again. We only want to copy the black and white layer.

Step Five. With your very top layer selected, you need to invert the image. You can do this by hitting the Ctrl+I buttons on your keyboard. You will notice that the colors are now inverted on that layer. It will look kind of weird, but we are not done yet.

Step Six. On that same layer, you need to change the layer blend mode to Color Dodge. You can find these options in the drop down right above all of your layers. Your photo will look like it has disappeared a little, but we are going to fix that next.

Step Seven. Now, we need to add a blur to that layer. Go to the Filter menu, then go to Blur, then Motion Blur or Gausian Blur. This will control how much of your photo comes back. Adjust the bottom slider until you can see as much as you would like. You will notice that your photo now looks like a sketch drawing. Turning a photo into a sketch drawing is a very cool effect.

Optional Step Eight. Add a smart blur to soften the edges.

Step Nine. Flatten or merge the layers. Then apply a brushstroke filter and adjust the levels to your liking. Or apply a Sketch filter to give it pencil look. Whatever.