{"id":21940,"date":"2017-12-07T10:17:24","date_gmt":"2017-12-07T15:17:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.photoshopessentials.com\/?p=21940"},"modified":"2022-11-02T10:16:58","modified_gmt":"2022-11-02T14:16:58","slug":"photoshop-pointillism-effect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.photoshopessentials.com\/newsite\/photo-effects\/photoshop-pointillism-effect\/","title":{"rendered":"Photoshop Pointillism Painting Effect"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Learn how to create a realistic pointillism effect in Photoshop by turning your images into paintings of colored dots using the Pointillize filter, Smart Filters and layer blend modes. For Photoshop CC and CS6.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Written by Steve Patterson.<\/div>\n

In this tutorial, I'll show you how to easily turn your images into pointillist works of art with Photoshop! Pointillism was developed back in 1886 by a painter named Georges Seurat. Rather than mixing colors on a palette and applying them to the canvas using traditional brush strokes, pointillism involves the painstaking and time-consuming process of painting with single dots of color. The colors and spacing of the dots are specifically chosen and arranged so that when viewed from a distance, they trick our eyes into seeing a greater range of tones. <\/p>\n

If the idea of pointillism sounds familiar to you, it may be because digital photos work much the same way. When viewed up close, a digital image is nothing but rows and columns of individual pixels, each set to a single color. But from a distance, we see a continuous tone, full color photograph. Printers also use a similar technique, arranging tiny dots of cyan, magenta, yellow and black on the paper to produce a detailed, full color print.<\/p>\n

A true pointillist painting takes an unbelievable amount of time, effort and skill. But as we'll see, faking a pointillist painting in Photoshop is quick and easy. All it takes is a combination of the Pointillize filter, Smart Filters and layer blend modes. The only real trick is knowing which dot size will work best for your image, but at the end of the tutorial, we'll see how to easily edit the pointillism effect so you'll always get the best results.<\/p>\n

Here's the image I'll be starting with (colorful boats photo<\/a> from Adobe Stock):<\/p>\n\"Original\n

The original photo. Credit: Adobe Stock.<\/div>\n

And here's how it will look after transforming it into a pointillist painting with Photoshop:<\/p>\n\"Photoshop\n

The final pointillism effect.<\/div>\n