Summary: Learn how to easily convert a portrait photo into a pencil sketch, including how to colorize the effect with the photo's original colors!

Written by Steve Patterson
Exclusively for Photoshop Essentials.com.

Part of our complete collection of Photo Effects tutorials.

In this Photo Effects tutorial, we'll learn how to easily convert a portrait photo into a pencil sketch with Photoshop. The initial sketch will appear in black and white, but at the end of the tutorial, we'll learn how to colorize it with the photo's original colors! In the next tutorial, we'll learn a slightly different way to convert an image into a sketch, one that's usually better suited for objects or landscape photos.

I'll be using Photoshop CS5 throughout this tutorial but the steps apply to any recent version of Photoshop. If you're using Photoshop Elements 8 or 9, you'll find that version of the tutorial here.

Here's the photo I'll be starting with:

Here's how it will look when we're done:

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Let's get started!

View the Photoshop Elements version of this tutorial.

Step 1: Duplicate The Background Layer

The first thing we should do before starting on the effect is make a copy of the original image so we don't harm it in case we need it later. With the photo newly opened in Photoshop, we see in the Layers panel that the image is sitting on the Background layer:

Go up to the Layer menu in the Menu Bar along the top of the screen, choose New, then choose Layer via Copy. Or, for a faster way to run the same command, press Ctrl+J (Win) / Command+J (Mac) on your keyboard:

Either way tells Photoshop to make a copy of the layer, which it names "Layer 1", and place it above the Background layer. Notice that Layer 1 is highlighted in blue, which tells us it's the active layer. Anything we do next will happen to the copy of the image on Layer 1, leaving the original on the Background layer unharmed:

Step 2: Desaturate The Image

Go up to the Image menu at the top of the screen, choose Adjustments, then choose Desaturate:

The Desaturate command instantly removes all color from the image, giving us a quick black and white version:

Step 3: Duplicate The Layer

Next, we need to make a copy of our desaturated image. Go back up to the Layer menu, choose New, then choose Layer via Copy, or press Ctrl+J (Win) / Command+J (Mac) on your keyboard, just as we did in Step 1. Photoshop makes a copy of Layer 1, names it "Layer 1 copy", and places it directly above Layer 1 in the Layers panel:

Step 4: Invert The Image

Go back up to the Image menu at the top of the screen, choose Adjustments, then choose Invert:

This inverts the colors in the image, or in our case the brightness values, making light areas dark and dark areas light, leaving us with a photo negative effect:

Step 5: Change The Blend Mode To Color Dodge

At the top of the Layers panel, you'll find the Blend Mode option. It doesn't actually say "Blend Mode" anywhere but it's the drop-down box that's set to Normal by default. Click on the word Normal, which opens a list of layer blend modes, and choose Color Dodge from the list:

The document will temporarily appear filled with white. Depending on your image, there may be some areas of black here and there, but for the most part it will be filled with white:

Step 6: Apply The Gaussian Blur Filter

This next step is where we actually create the sketch effect. Go up to the Filter menu at the top of the screen, choose Blur, then choose Gaussian Blur:

This opens the Gaussian Blur filter's dialog box. We create the sketch effect by blurring the layer. Begin dragging the Radius slider at the bottom of the dialog box towards the right to apply a slight amount of blurring. As you drag, you'll see the sketch effect appearing in the document. The further you drag the slider, the more blurring will be applied and the more intense the sketch effect will become. If you drag the slider too far, though, too much of the original photo will show through and it won't look like a sketch anymore.

There's no specific Radius value to enter since the amount of blurring you use will depend on what you think looks good for your image, so make sure you keep an eye on your document to judge the results as you drag the slider. For my image, I'll set my Radius value to around 12 pixels or so:

Here's what my initial sketch effect looks like:

Next, we'll learn how to darken the lines in the sketch and how to colorize it!

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