stencil/photoshop question

[forum593]

trying to make a stencil out of my roomates 1 year old in photoshop.. not getting best results..should i try taking the picture in black and white..inside or outside?? have a pretty good camera and pretty good in photoshop... but having a tough time with this one.. any tips would be appreciated.

[rp1313]

image, adjustments, desaturate or image, mode, greyscale will give you b/w. then play with the contrast or levels.

if you have a newer version of illustrator, object, live trace, make and expand.

[themoch]

Filter > sketch > photocopy... then invert color as needed

or

desaturate then:
Image > Adjustments > posterize... and adjust level

[loydb]

Post the unprocessed image and we can have a PHOTOSHOP THROWDOWN!

:)

[Robert Mickelsen]

My personal approach for modifying photographs of faces is: image-mode-grayscale, then image-adjustments-levels to increase the contrast about halfway so I can tweak the light and dark areas a little more exactly, then image-adjustments-brightness/contrast to drop the image into two-tone black and white.

If I get there and have lost any areas I want to keep I step backward to the original image and use the dodge and burn tools to lighten or darken those areas before repeating the process.

I like loydb's idea. Let's compare processes.

- RAM

[ITIS]

i use the the method of image >adjustments >posterize
then you can select how many layers you would like

as for taking the picture its self try to find a monochrome background so you don't have fuss with it later by isolating the object

cheers

lets see the pic so we can throw down :D

[forum593]

i will post the picture that i've been trying to use as soon as i figure out how... it would be interesting to see different results from different procceses..
i was mostly asking for tips on the photo taking part..but i'm interested to see different stencil results.

thanks,
matt.

[forum593]

hope this works

[forum593]

just made this one using some of your tips.. photocopy filter, and some dodge and burn.. brightness and contrast.. but i feel like it could be better..

thanks again for the help,
matt

[richsantaclaus]

Do you like this?

[themoch]

that's a tough pic because of the lack of shading... here's a 30 second try:

[Robert Mickelsen]

Difficult, mostly because the light on the baby's face is uneven. The left side is brightly lit while the right side is dark. I worked on it a little but don't have time to do much this morning. I will try again tonight.

You might consider taking another photo. Try using a less cluttered background and setting the baby so that he faces the light straight-on.

- RAM

[themoch]

this required a bunch of dodge/burn to fix the original image...


image masking is your friend here along with adjustment layers.

[forum593]

thanks for all the help guys..some of those look useable but i agree that maybe this isnt the best picture... i'll try to take some new ones today if the little guys around..
thanks,
matt

[Robert Mickelsen]

Good job, Andrew. I tried that approach yesterday but ran out of time before I could get a result that good. Another trick I have learned is to isolate parts of the image by selecting them before dodging and burning or adjusting to make up for uneven lighting. From this point I would use paint tools to modify some of the shading in the cheeks until the image looked a little less creepy.

I regard PS as an indispensable tool for any artist, graphic or otherwise. Sharing techniques is a wonderful thing.

- RAM

[jr23]

You guys are great and Just the tech talk has got me playing with my computer. I have no problems admitting my glass skills grew by a large % the months following my computer purchase and joining this forum. Reps for all in this tread. Caring and sharing go hand and hand around here.

[The Lorax]

i had to give it a try, lol

http://triton.imageshack.us/Himg232/scaled.php?server=232&filename=gunnerpost.jpg&xsize=640&ysize=480

[ornametalsmith]

cool thread, thought I'd pass along a VERSION. :)

How to Turn a Color Photo into a Sketch in Photoshop for the Advanced

Step 1 – Open the Image that you want to turn into a sketch.

Step 2 – Unlock the Layer.

Step 3- Make a duplicate copy of the first layer.

Step 4 – Desaturate your layer. Press Shift + CTRL + U

Step 5 – Duplicate your second layer.

Step 6 – Invert your third layer. Press CTRL + I

Step 7 – Select Color Dodge in your Layers Panel.

Step 8 – Apply the Gaussian Blur to your photo. Filter -> Blur -> Gaussian Blur

Step 9 – Play around with the Radius in the Gaussian Blur window to get the look that you want.

[slinger]

when i make stencils from photos which is 90% of the time, i do image>mode>greyscale, then i tweak image>shadows/highlights,image>levels, image>curves, and image>brightness/contrast, not necessarily in that order but i utilize all those adjustments lesss or more depending on the photo, then i check out how close i can get it to be black and white with all the essential details still there using those adjustments listed above, i note what details i cant maintain with those adjustments alone, and then i step backward and draw over the photograph with the brush tool to define exactly how i want hands and facial features to look, ill consult image>posterize and knock it down to 2 tones to get a preview while im working and then go back and keep drawing til im satisfied, ultimately ill make significant aesthetic decisons while drawing with the brush tool to get to the final look that i desire, also i definitely use burn/dodge tool ALOT, especiall for hair!.... finally, like someone mentioned, if you have the latest Illustrator (AI3) you import the final photoshop into AI and try some live trace options to get that final vector look to the portrait...

yep, ive been geeking on the computer more than blowing glass the last few years :)

robert, sorry i missed you in Salem, but i did call PGC and touch base :)

shameless plug: I am TA'ing for RAM's Graal Class in Pittsburg in JULY, and i think btw the two of us and 5 days of class it will truly be the ultimate in learning about sandblasting photo resist and designing and transfering images to glass, im super excited!

[lucidvisions]

I know it's not a stencil exactly but wouldn't a half tone work well for portraits? Never tried it myself but have seen it done pretty well and I kind of prefer it over just the two tone stencil. Not hating on anyones cold work it just more of that photographic look I think I like.

Josh

[andrew brown]

You can use the color halftone filter with different tolerances to get that effect, then switch to b/w. Works well for shading, like newspaper print.

andrew

[ITIS]

for taking the pic try to get a monochrome background and light evenly but not directly filters work well and or any thing you can put in front of the light source to diffuse it

cheers

[ITIS]

here is a quick three layer stencil i came up with

first i used auto contrast, auto tone and auto color
then using
desaturate >
posterize down to 3 then
touch it up by hand
not quite photo quality but its not that creepy either
it's hard to maintain detail when you drop down to only three colors

ps. sorry it took so long i spent the last week downloading and installing the
adobe cs4 master suite what a pain in the a$$ adobe has really good at software protection

cheers i like some of the other approaches too

[cIRclE]

Here is my take at it ...