- Level: Beginner
- Goal: To improve a poorly lit photograph by using it as a base for a painting design.
- Translatable: Yes
- Steps: 6
The preview above shows a small portion of the picture in order to show the details. Click on the preview to view the whole picture.
The Original Photograph
The original picture has poor lighting and is not particularly clear. However, despite its flaws it can be manipulated with Photoshop to look like a flower painting.
Step 1
Go to Layer -> Adjustment Layer -> Levels and adjust the levels by moving the slider so that it goes to the point of the edge of the curve. This will improve the lighting and contrast.
Step 2
This picture needs additional help due to the poor lighting so we will also be adding a curves layer. Go to Layer -> Adjustment Layer -> Curves. When you are done click ok.
Step 3
Goal: Get rid of the noise in the picture.
There are a number of methods for solving this problem. You can use the median filter that comes with Photoshop (Filter -> Noise -> Median), but that does not allow for much customization. You can use the Neat Image Reduce Noise plugin, but the free version can only be used for smaller pictures. For this image I used Medhi’s Noise Shampoo plugin. (Available from Medhi’s Plugins). Use the settings Clean 10.5 and check Enhanced.
Step 4
The noise shampoo gets rid of the noise, but it also makes the image less clear so this step helps remove the fuzziness before adding the paint effects.
Duplicated the layer and sharpened it (Filter -> Sharpen -> Sharpen). Duplicating the image is optional, but I like to make changes on a different layer as it makes it possible to later adjust the opacity.
Step 5
Duplicate the layer. Now go to Filter -> Filter Gallery -> Brush Strokes -> Crosshatch. Use the settings Stroke Length 5, Sharpness 6, and Strength 1. Adjust the settings as needed to fit your picture. In general more detailed objects will need a shorter stroke length than large and less detailed objects. When you have the settings you want click ok.
Step 6
This time duplicating the layer is required rather than optional. Go to Filter -> Filter Gallery -> Artistic -> Paint Daubs. Use the Settings Brush Size 2, Sharpness 5, and Brush Type Simple. Click ok. Go to the Layers Palette. Starting with 50% adjust the opacity as needed. If this step works for most of the picture, but makes a small area too sharp or pixelated, erase around that area.
Click on the final image to see the full-sized picture.
