Photoshop Elements has several filters you can use to add a painterly touch to your images. If you're a frustrated watercolor artist, or you like to dabble with colored pencils but just can't seem to make it work, you'll love the artistic and sketch filters. The following steps will give you an idea of what you can do with them. In this tutorial, you'll take it one step further by applying the filter on its own layer and using the Opacity control to let some of the original image shine through.
- Open the photo you want to transform into a painterly image.
- Open the Layers palette.
- Drag the background layer to the Create New Layer icon and name the layer Chalk & Charcoal.
- Select the second layer.
Choose Filter | Sketch | Chalk & Charcoal to open the dialog box shown next.
- Drag the sliders to achieve to desired look.
- Click OK to apply the filter to the layer.
In the Layers palette, set the opacity for the layer to 80 percent, as shown here.
Click the More button in the Layers palette and choose Flatten Image from the Layers menu. The following image shows a portrait that was modified using this technique.
