Gosdot

When Photoshop introduced the ’smart object’ in CS2, designers across the globe probably created a hurricane from the collective sigh of relief they let out. No longer did we have to dupe layers for every step of applying filters (in case we wanted to go back and try things differently). Now you could simply make a layer or group of layers a smart object and apply filters and effects, rearrange them after the fact and so on.

What’s especially good about this approach to handling layers is that I can share designs with you that you can simply plop your images in place of mine instead of having to follow a number of steps trying to recreate the same effects. I’d rather see you spend that time improving upon the path I’ve laid before you!

Today’s design does this! For my project I wanted to create n image of myself that looked like it was turning from a drawing into reality, something similar to AHA’s “Take On Me Video”. Using a combination of High Pass (under ‘filters’ then ‘other’), Note Paper (under ‘filters’ then ’sketch’), my levels and the layer blend options, I created the following:

I was pretty proud of the end result as it was my first experiment with the technique and it worked really well.

For the free template I wanted to get even fancier and attempt to retain the original colors of the photo instead of using primarily black and white. I managed this using smart layers and masks. You can see the result and download the template below. If you have CS2 or CS3 simply open the file and replace the photos in each smart layer, there’s very little work for you to do!

Free Photoshop PSD templates for turning ‘photos to sketches’ Download | Preview