Photo to cartoon?

[jill947]

Is there a tutorial or can someone direct me to instructions on how to make a photo look like a cartoon or caricature ??? I am writing a book for my grandchildren and am putting their faces on some clipart, or adding clipart to their photos, i.e., hats, etc... any suggestions?

Thanks!

Jill

[Diana]

Hi Jill,

Here's a previous thread on that subject:

http://www.photoshopelementsuser.com/forum/showthread.php?t=18687

Diana

[Andrei Doubrovski]

Hello Jill,
Pull down Filter > Distort > Liquify and have some fun with Warp, Bloat, and other tools (the buttons in the left upper corner of Liquify window).

[ME100FINN]

Jill, my first thought would be to use a photo at a low opacity and have a transparent one above and start filling in. Use a pencil or marker brush/pen to outline, another layer to spray paint or dab the skin color in, etc. Make sure you work in multiple layers so you have lots of options to erase and add without effecting other areas already done.

Oh - also the custom shapes have fun hats, glasses, hair, etc. to add to photos!

[ME100FINN]

I recently was thinking about doing a cartoon too - so, I whipped this one up tonight. My hubby wants me to put my pen down for the night or I will keep going and going... LOL!!!

The image is in my gallery - before/after.... (now I gonna go hide out before someone asks me how I did it - you'll have to wait 'til morning... off to bed here!)

[nkeevers]

Beatrice, that is way cool!!! I love it. :D

[quillabee9]

Inspirational. I'll just have to try it.:D

[jill947]

Thanks to all -- I will give those suggestions a try!! Beatrice, I love your cartoon!! I can't wait to get started!!!

Jill

[Pauline]

Jill I did one of my son. It's in my gallery. First you start off by using the posterize filter to take some of the details out. Then each section was traced separately and filled. It was a lengthy process but the overall results turned out pretty good. Each color has 3 value. Dark, mid tone and light, to give your art some depth. My son loved the way it turned out. It's the second one in. If you think his eyes look big and scary.....well he was making that face!!

[Buffalo Tony]

go to the artistic filters and try poster edges then play around with the settings it is a cartoonish effect

[kimh]

All of it sounds fun. I'll have to give it a try.
Kimh

[jill947]

Wow you guys are awesome!!! I did a photo using filter>posterize and playing with outline adjustments. I am now working on adding some color on new layers! Anyone have a good formula for face colors?

Thanks! Jill

[Pauline]

Jill just use your eye dropper to select a medium flesh colour from the your picture. I find with the high light and the dark shade you need to go a bit darker than you would normally think since it is a cartoon and the colours aren't supposed to blend. So once you get your mid tone colour just pick a lighter and darker version of that one!

[Wendy]

Hi Jill ...

I tend to use this a lot for skin and hair colours:

http://www.retouchpro.com/pages/colors.html

There are a couple of swatch sets that will work in Elements and I have those installed :)

Wendy

[jill947]

Wow, those retouchpro color swatches are great. I've got them loaded and ready to go! I sure appreciate all your help!! Thanks to everyone. Jill

[Cmcburnett]

Pauline, I love the picture of your son.

[jill947]

I agree with Charlotte, the cartoon of Pauline's son is great. I'll post mine once I get a little further along!!

[Pauline]

Thanks Charlotte and Jill. He loved it and that's what matters most. It's still displayed in his room. You know when you've done something right if you can please a teenager. :D

[Diana]

Pauline and Beatrice....your comic images are great! I just happened upon another site that had some instructions for something similar, although they are for CS2:

http://www.designerdigitals.com/ddmsb/showthread.php?t=2214

Diana

[Pauline]

Diana her method was similar to what I did but I used the pen tool to make my selections and saved each selection then filled with colour.

She had a cool idea though of filling each section with patterned paper. I'll have to keep that one in mind! So many wonderful possibilities.
Thanks for the link.

[jill947]

Okay -- As I promised, here is one page from the book I'm writing for my grandchildren. I am trying to incorporate photos of them with some clipart, hence the utilzation of comic/caricature technique. I would love your critique of the photo etc. Thanks, Jill


http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/1dMyZvWQD5pdofr8Lo5R8BRoj7Fr_thumb.jpg (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1dMyZvWQD5pdofr8Lo5R8BRoj7Fr)

[Diana]

Jill, that is so neat...and unique...your grandchildren are going to love reading about themselves and seeing themselves illustrated in that book. Great job!

Diana

[jill947]

For a first project, I think I picked a doozie!! I'm having sooo much fun, but every time I stop to do a tutorial, I have to go back and revise the pages I've already done to incorporate more of what I've learned!! Ha! I wrote the story last year, so now I'm just creating the drawings and cutting the kids out of old photos to make the pictures!

Jill

[kroberts]

Jill,

What a fun idea, I know your grandchildren will love it!

Nice job putting everything together!:)

[sharlmitch]

Jill,

That is just great! What a cute idea, and the book will be such a wonderful keepsake for them to show to their children.

Makes me want to give it a try.

Thanks for sharing, Sharon

[Shari]

Jill, you are very talented. That is wonderful. Good for you to take the time.
Shari

[Wendy]

Jill ...

Oh that is so sweet ... I love the way you have done it :)

Wendy

[NMarti]

Wonderful page! What a nice idea for your grandkids.

[Vesta]

Jill,
The storybook is a wonderful idea and thanks so much for a starting such an great thread. Beatrice and Pauline great job on you pictures; I have been on a dry spell since loading PSE5 on my laptop but you have inspired me to get busy again.
Thanks again to all

Vesta

[Pauline]

Jill that is fabulous. What a long way we have come. I remember my mother buying my youngest sister a story book with her name in it and names of friends and I have done the same for my own kids...........We thought that was so marvelous. Now we have the capability of not just plugging names and dates into a premade story but to do the whole book ourselves!! It's wonderful. Your grandkids will love it.

[jill947]

Oh, you all are way to kind! It's a fun project and I can't wait to give it to my grandkids! I'm hoping to have it done and printed by Easter!! Any ideas on where to have it printed? I want a hard cover with 8-1/2 x 11 pages. I've looked at Ofoto; Shutterfly; iPhoto and Aperture -- anyone have any experience with these or others??? Or how about a printing company?

[Pauline]

Back in Nov. there was a deal here at the PET site for a free shutterfly book. Many of us took advantage of it and were very impressed with their quality. Somewhere there was also a comparison thread that someone started who had used various services and shutterfly was up there either in first or second place. Memory is failing me but perhaps that person (sorry can't remember who it was now) will answer for you.

I can say I was very impressed with shutterly and definitely would recommend them.

[CarolLHB]

Jill-what a treasure! That's just wonderful.

I also used Shutterfly for the book offer that Pauline mentioned for a book for my son and was thrilled with the result. I have to admit that I used Shutterfly becuase it was a free offer:o , but being a Mac user I used iPhoto for a heritage book for my family for Christmas-also fabulous, fast, and easy. A little less expensive than Shutterfly, but fewer design options. BTW, a friend of mine is working on an "ABC" book for her kids that is absolutely adorable, using photos of them and other family members for each letter of the alphabet, e.g. "A is for Abigail, playing at the beach" with a corresponding photo-too cute!

That book of yours will be a cherished family artifact!:)

[kroberts]

It was Jane who posted a comparison of Shutterfly and Viovio:
http://www.photoshopelementsuser.com/forum/showthread.php?t=19320

(I, too, ordered a Shutterfly book and was very impressed! I saw one from Snapfish that was also good, although I think Shutterfly was slightly better quality.)

[Cmcburnett]

Jill, love your coloring book photo and your book idea. Wendy, thanks for the link to the hair and skin color swatches, I have added link to my favorits list.