Picture to Pochoir - like drawing

[Dudda]

Hi - I want to create a pochoir effect, but don't know where to start, tried sketch effect, but it's not what I am looking for.

 

Desired effect:  

 

Example of a picture:  

 

Thanks!

[Lee D]

Hi Dudda,

 

Welcome to the forums.

 

You can try using the Threshold option on the Adjustments tab, you also have a slider to change the amount.

[Dudda]

Thanks Lee!

I used Threshold tool, but it only pixelated the picture. And the effect I am looking for is more like graffiti.

 

This is what I got:

 

[Fixx]

You should use more hires image to avoid visible pixels. You can also upsample as aim is just to have enough pixels for neat bw image and you can resample back to normal as antialiasing in resample removes jaggies.

You can layer the resulting image with wall texture photo to get desired Banksy look.

[gdenby]

Thanks Lee!

I used Threshold tool, but it only pixelated the picture. And the effect I am looking for is more like graffiti.

 

This is what I got:

 

Girl threshold.jpg

 

I think the basic reason you got a pixelization is that the image is too small. Too few pixels to begin. And it had lots of .jpg artifacts. I don't know how to resample the image w. AD. I would suppose AP would do that. I tried some medium sized images, about 500 px on a side. Had similar results. Resampled them in GIMP to about 1800 px.

 

After using threshold on the placed resampled image, I had much less pixeliness. Worked better if I placed them rather small, applied the threshold adjustment, and then scaled them up. Got smoother blobs. Oh, and I was using the luminosity blend mode for the threshold adjustment.

 

You might also try posterizing to 2 - 4 levels, and then adding B&

W adjustment. That way some of the similar color contours in the original pic might be preserved.

 

[Dudda]

I think the basic reason you got a pixelization is that the image is too small. Too few pixels to begin. And it had lots of .jpg artifacts. I don't know how to resample the image w. AD. I would suppose AP would do that. I tried some medium sized images, about 500 px on a side. Had similar results. Resampled them in GIMP to about 1800 px.

 

After using threshold on the placed resampled image, I had much less pixeliness. Worked better if I placed them rather small, applied the threshold adjustment, and then scaled them up. Got smoother blobs. Oh, and I was using the luminosity blend mode for the threshold adjustment.

 

You might also try posterizing to 2 - 4 levels, and then adding B&

W adjustment. That way some of the similar color contours in the original pic might be preserved.

 

LilGrl.jpg

 

Thank you, gdenby!

 

I also tried to apply Gaussian Blur after the threshold and had similar results.

[verysame]

As suggested by gdenby, playing with the posterize filter and then adding some texture with the brushes, and also masking out part of the posterized image should take you pretty close:

 

[Dudda]

As suggested by gdenby, playing with the posterize filter and then adding some texture with the brushes, and also masking out part of the posterized image should take you pretty close:

 

 

This is exactly what I was looking for! Amazing. Thank you, verysame.

 

Can you help me understand; step by step, how you did this?

[verysame]

You basically want to start with the posterization.

I scaled up your original picture. Although the resolution is low, since the final result is kind of loose as far as edge definition goes, is not a big issue.

 

Then you add a posterize, a grayscale conversion and a level or curve adjustment in order to crush the levels:

 

 

Once you get to that point, you can start having fun.

I added a blur, I used a box blur in this case.

 

At this point, you can group the layers if you want and add a wall texture underneath the group.

The stencil group needs to be multiplied over the wall texture.

I actually preferred to duplicate the group and have one first group with a Soft Light transfer and the top group with the Multiply. By doing so, you can mask both groups and play with the values revealing parts of each group in order to make the overall image less precise.

 

Theoretically, you can stop here or keep playing.

Since it's fun, I kept playing.

 

I've used these brushes to add some more spray feeling to it:

https://www.brusheezy.com/brushes/1371-hi-res-spraypaint-photoshop-brushes-set-one

 

I've used the spray brushes to add a little touch of spray paint and also to mask part of the image.

 

 

And some of these textures:

spray paint texture - Google Search - https://goo.gl/w359u2

 

One last thing.

In the ref you posted it's also noticeable the wall texture over the stencil.

So, adding some wall texture over the image as well might help to get the look closer to the ref.

I liked the grainy quality of the texture in your original ref and I tried to redo it in Photo.

Here's one way to approach it.

On a new layer, add a Perlin Noise:

 

Then add the Emboss:

 

Finally, change the transfer mode to something like hard light or overlay.

You might need to play with the values of the noise and also with the opacity of the noise layer and then, you might need to increase the contrast which you can easily do by adding a level/curve adjustment to the noise layer:

 

 

I admit that a simple wall-like-noisy-texture will do, and actually you can get a more realistic result, but sometimes playing with the filters is fun.

 

Here's the afphoto:

https://www.sendspace.com/file/eyxyp3

 

Hope that helps.

Let me know if you have questions.

[Dudda]

Thank you, for taking the time and sharing your work. But since I am a novice I can't go past the first step... Posterization doesn't work for me as good as threshold do, and I am not sure what I'm doing wrong with it.

I am going to try on my own anyways:-)

[verysame]

Dudda,

 

I put together a short demo.

The quality of the video is low res, I forgot to bump up the quality when I started recording.

 

The technique is the same as in my previous posting, the result is kind of 'dry' though, as I wasn't focusing on the look but on the steps instead.

And it was a little stuttering because I always use hotkeys, whereas in the video I wanted to show what command I was using and I don't remember the menus very well.

 

There are of course different ways to achieve similar results, this is just one of the many.

 

Anyway, the steps should be clear now. Once you get it, you can have fun and experiment.

 

Here's the link:

http://sendvid.com/tq646qbz

[Dudda]

That is awesome! Much appreciated verysame.

[brunzenstein]

Excellent video - thank you indeed "verysame" for your dedication to help the laymen!

[verysame]

Thank you, brunzenstein.

I need to find a screen recorder that also shows the hotkeys pressed by the user, that would be convenient for me, I don't like using menus  :P

[Dudda]

I was not able to do the spray paint effect yet, but this is something I did so far:

 

original photo --> 

 

 

 

edited image --> 

 

 

Can't figure out how to better show outlines (like around her fingers) - tried to use posterize, threshold and levels adjustment, but you can see the effect. Any tips on that?

[Dudda]

Getting a little bit closer:

 

original photo —> 

 

edited image —> 

 

 

But I had to paint edges on the layer which in this case is showing quite obviously. How can I highlight the edges in low res images so that I will have a similar effect without painting?

[Petar Petrenko]

Dudda,

 

I put together a short demo.

The quality of the video is low res, I forgot to bump up the quality when I started recording.

 

The technique is the same as in my previous posting, the result is kind of 'dry' though, as I wasn't focusing on the look but on the steps instead.

And it was a little stuttering because I always use hotkeys, whereas in the video I wanted to show what command I was using and I don't remember the menus very well.

 

There are of course different ways to achieve similar results, this is just one of the many.

 

Anyway, the steps should be clear now. Once you get it, you can have fun and experiment.

 

Here's the link:

http://sendvid.com/tq646qbz

 

Hi verysame,

 

is it possible to give us a link to download your video?

Also, can you tell me what equipment I need to make such videos but with sound, and optionally with displaying the shortcuts?

[Dudda]

How can I get a similar effect to this:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yf9OkYdEbtY

 

 

When I am using threshold, it stays flat, can't change it with levels adjustment like in the video.

[gdenby]

Note that in the vid, an experience Photoshop user takes 13 minutes to build the effect. Obviously, not something that can be done w. a single threshold adjustment.

 

I don't have AP (yet), and it has many more options than AD. I've been working w. AD since this topic came up a couple of weeks ago. I haven't found any 1 best method yet.

 

The results depend a lot on the quality of the original image. More colors and brightness levels at the beginning is very desirable.

 

Before doing a threshold, here are some other things to try. Load the original image, and make several duplicates of the pixel layer. Try different adjustments such as B&W or Shadows/Highlights before using thresholds. The variations those adjustments make can result in a different range of grays in the layers. Each layer can then have a different threshold for a black and white effect. Then each different layer can be blended w. different modes or levels of transparency. And different colors.

 

I'm including a screen cap of the layers panel for 1 image I've been worked on, as well as a few before and after pics.

 

 

 

[Dudda]

That's what I was trying to do as well 'gdenby' - thank you!

Unfortunately, most of the pictures I have is already B&W.

 

One of the versions from high res pic:

 

--> 

 

 

 

Also, I ask Simon Foster (author of the AP Udemy courses) for help, and he was kind enough to provide one of the techniques that one can use as base/macro:

 

 

--> 

 

AF file from Simon: fullsizeoutput_30d3versionB.afphoto

[verysame]

Hi verysame,

 

is it possible to give us a link to download your video?

Also, can you tell me what equipment I need to make such videos but with sound, and optionally with displaying the shortcuts?

 

Hey Peter,

 

Sorry, I noticed your post only now!

I think I deleted the video from my computer but you can still download the low-res version from sendvid.

Here's a zip file for you:

https://www.sendspace.com/file/479g2q

 

As for the recording app, I've used OBS Studio, which is free and OS.

[Petar Petrenko]

Thank you very much verysame. Even it's low-res, it's still usefull.  :)