People often ask about how to make a vector image in Photoshop. As you know, Photoshop is a program for processing raster graphics and is not intended for working with vectors. Special graphic editors work with vector graphics. But if you really need it and have time to study new program no, then with the help of some manipulations you can convert the image into a vector.
What are raster and vector images and how do they differ?
A raster image is also a grid of pixels (dots). The familiar digital photo to all of us is precisely a raster image. A vector image does not consist of pixels, but of geometric primitives: straight lines, rectangles and other shapes.
If you reduce and then significantly enlarge a raster image, its quality will be irrevocably damaged. Because every pixel is a point a certain color, and all these points together make up a picture. When you reduce an image, extra pixels are thrown out, so you can't return it to its original appearance.
Scaling a vector image allows you to change the size without losing quality. This is possible thanks to mathematical recalculations of the sizes of the geometric shapes that make up the image.
A raster image allows you to reliably convey visual information; a vector image does not have this advantage. Images vector graphics can be useful for visualizing logos and outline drawings. You won't get photographic beauty from them. Or they will be very complex images, consisting of a huge number of primitives that actually replace pixels.
A simple example of how to convert a raster to a vector
So, the vector consists of geometric shapes. Photoshop has tools for creating paths. The outline is geometric figure. To make a vector image in Photoshop, you need to create an outline of the image. The group's tools will help us with this. “Selection”/Select: Rectangular Marquee Tool, Elliptical Select Tool,** “Magic Wand Tool” , **Quick Selection Tool And “Pen”/Pen tool.
To make the vector neat, you should choose a raster image as much as possible. good quality, otherwise the contours will need to be drawn manually.
Open the raster image in Photoshop (the most common raster image format is JPG). Logos, outline drawings, and sketches are very easy to process. To get a vector sketch of a portrait, you can first convert the portrait to a sketch using "Filter Galleries", or use ready-made pop art. About how to work with "Filter Gallery" and quickly create pop art from photos, we talked about in previous articles. For this example, we will take a ready-made pop art portrait. We deliberately prepared it from a photo of not the best resolution. Therefore, the vector version will show us a noticeable difference.
To work with contours, you need to call the bookmark "Contours"/Path to the layers palette. To do this, go to the menu "Window" and check the box "Contours"/Path. The bookmark will appear in the Layers palette.
The image has 4 colors (we do not count the background). Take the tool "Magic Wand Tool" and select the first color. To select all areas scattered with islands across the image, hold Shift.
When the first color is selected, select the tool "Lasso"/Lasso or Rectangular Marquee Tool and, without removing the selection, click the right mouse button. In the context menu select “Make Work Path”.
In the dialog box, specify the maximum smoothing "Tolerance"(from 1 to 10; the lower the number, the better the contours will be repeated). Click Ok.
On the bookmark "Circuit" the first outline will appear. In the image it will be noticeable in the form of curves with dots. They can be aligned and adjusted using a tool “Node Selection”/Direct Selection Tool. Using this tool, select a point and either adjust the curve by moving the point's tendril, or move the arc itself.
On the bookmark "Circuit" change the name of the contour. To do this, double-click on it and change the name in the dialog box.
We carry out all the steps described with the remaining colors. As a result, we get four contours for each color.
Having received the contours, all that remains is to create a vector. Go to the bookmark "Layers" on the layers palette, create a new layer Shift+Ctrl+N. We set the main color to the one in which we paint the first contour.
Returning to the bookmark "Circuit", we stand on the first circuit. In the main menu in the item "Layers" choose “New Fill Color”/New Fill Layer - "Color"/Solid Color. In the window that opens, click Ok.
Now, going to the bookmark "Layers", you will see the first vector layer on the new layer.
In the next dialog box, as usual, specify the file name and path.
That's all. The method is quite simple.
If you frequently work with vector images perhaps this article will inspire you to learn new graphic editors. In any case, you have learned another useful method. We wish you great work.
Even more about Photoshop - in the courses.
In this lesson spanish artist Daniel Caballero will explain how he created the portrait in vector style based on a regular photograph.
Resources:
Final result:
Step 1
For your work, it is better to take photographs of your family or friends. This is the easiest way to get the pose you want. I will use a photo of my sister (Photo.png).
Create a new document (Ctrl + N) in A4 format in portrait mode. Insert a photo into this document and remove the background, for example, with the tool Eraser(Eraser Tool) (E). You can use some pattern as a background in our drawing.
Step 2
We will create a vector portrait by overlaying several skin blocks, lines and other details. Create a new layer(Ctrl + Shift + N) and name it “Skin”. For the base of the skin, choose #FAE0AF. Tool Feather(Pen Tool) (P) draw a contour along the edge of the girl's silhouette.
Avoid areas of clothing or hair that extend beyond the body. Separate layers will be allocated for them. Then go to the Paths palette, select the work path and click on the fill icon (it's marked in the screenshot below). After that, hide this fill layer so we can work on the lines.
Step 3
Create a new layer "Skin lines" and select dark brown as the main color. Select a tool Brush(Brush Tool) (B) and set the size to 3 pixels. We'll use the outline of the "Skin" layer to create all the lines on the body and facial features. In the outline palette, click on the icon Stroke the outline with a brush(Stroke path with brush). This icon is located to the right of the fill icon.
Using the tool Feather(Pen Tool) (P) and the stroke function with a brush draw lips, nose, eyes, jaw, eyebrows, and other facial features. To make the stroke lines thinner, you need to lower the brush size. Tool Eraser(Eraser Tool) (E) with hard edges, erase the excess sections of the lines.
Step 4
Tool Feather(Pen Tool) (P) draw hair and fill it with black. To create individual curls, use a thinner brush.
Step 5
Create a new layer below the "Skin line" layer. Draw the lips and eyes. Then lower the opacity of the brush and paint on the freckles.
Step 6
Create a new layer on top of the others and name it "Wear". Tool Feather(Pen Tool) (P) draw the girl's tank top with color #E31F40. Create the lines for the T-shirt on a separate “Wear line” layer. For lines, you need to set up the brush in advance: give it White color and a few pixels in size.
Create a stroke around the shirt using a black brush. Also, don't forget about the folds, otherwise the shirt won't look realistic.
Step 7
Go to the "Skin" layer, then press Ctrl + Shift + N to open the New Layer menu. Check the box for functions Use previous layer to create clipping mask(Using Previous Layer to Create Clipping Mask), name the layer “Skin Shadow” and set the Blending Mode to Multiplication(Multiply). Click OK and a new layer will appear in the layers palette. He will be limited to the limits of the body. We will draw shadows on it.
Choose the color of your body skin. Draw vector shadows using the tool Feather(Pen Tool) (P). Place the light source in the same place where it is in the original photo. I worked with the light coming from the right.
Step 8
Create a new layer "Wear Shadow" and create the dark areas of the shirt. If they seem too dark to you, you can lower the Opacity of the layer.
Step 9
Extract all files from. Open the “Logo.png” file in Photoshop in a separate document. Tool Moving(Move Tool) (V) move it to the main document and place it under the “Wear Shadow” layer. A clipping mask will be automatically created for the logo.
If you don't like my logo, then you can add any other one at your discretion.
Step 10
Above the “Wear line” layer, create a new layer and use the Feather(Pen Tool) (P) draw light areas of the shirt and body. Use the original photo to define the light source, just like we did when creating the shadows. Install Opacity(Opacity) of this layer by 40%.
Step 11
Insert the tattoos into our document and place them on the girl’s body above the “Wear” layer. Set Tattoo Mode to Multiplication(Multiply). Tool Eraser(Eraser Tool) (E) erase areas of tattoos that extend beyond the body.
Step 12
Create a copy of the "Body" layer (Ctrl + J). Select the original layer and go to the adjustments Hue/Saturation(Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation). Lower Brightness(Lightness) to -100 to turn the girl's body into a black silhouette.
On the black silhouette layer, activate the Free Transform tool (Ctrl + T), right-click and select mode Distortion(Distort). Reshape the shadow so that it falls on the back wall. Press Enter to apply the changes. After that, apply the filter Gaussian blur(Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur) (Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur) with a value of 35 pixels. Lower the Opacity of this layer to 20%.
Note: If the correction Hue/Saturation ( Hue/Saturation) will not open, then most likely you need to rasterize the layer.
Step 13
Create a new layer with 40% opacity on top of the rest. Select a tool Gradient(Gradient Tool) (G) and fill the canvas with a regular black and white gradient from left to right (white should be on the right). As a result, we get natural lighting.
Step 14
Above the black and white gradient layer, create another layer and apply a gradient fill from red to yellow to create a warm color atmosphere. Lower the layer opacity to 35%.
Step 15
On top of all layers create Hue/Saturation adjustment layer(Hue/Saturation). Lower the Saturation parameter to -18%.
Today we're going to create a custom "vector" portrait in Photoshop that you can easily use as a personal avatar on Facebook, Skype, or even on your own website.
While we'll be using a free image to make the portrait, you can do the same with yours. own photo, just make sure it's an image in high resolution and quite big size, so you can see details, shadows and distinguish color changes. Now that you've learned a little important information, launch Photoshop and let's get started.
There are thousands of reasons why Photoshop is one of the most preferred graphics programs for graphic designers. The program is powerful, allowing you to create and manipulate images the way you see fit, not to mention the various effects and filters available. Photoshop can be used for many purposes, which includes creating your portraits. Vector and pixel portraits are so popular that there are even apps that quickly do all the work for you. However, you can do the same thing in Photoshop and even create a cool color combination to give your portrait its own unique look.
Preview the result
Lesson details
Program: Adobe Photoshop CS5 (versions starting from CS3 are also suitable)
Estimated completion time: 90 minutes
Difficulty level: Average
Sources
Step 1
Before we start turning our photo into a "vector" style portrait, we must first open it in Photoshop. You can use the image you like best, but for this tutorial we will use the photo from the link above.
Step 2
Create a new layer to start working on the skin. Use the color dropper to select the desired skin tone. In this case we used the color #ffe0c7.Now that desired color selected, use the tool Pen Tool to outline the face and neck as shown here.
Once we have the skin outlined, we can fill it with color.
Continue doing this until all the skin is outlined and filled in with color as shown below.
Step 3
Create a new layer for the hair and use the color dropper again to select the dominant shade of the hair in your image. If you want to add highlights, you can do that later. For hair we use color #401e12. Just like before, we outline the hair, and then fill in this shape.
Step 4
Once again, create a new layer on which we will apply the main color of the clothes. Consider only dominant colors. For example, the top will be filled with color #3c6844
Step 5
Reduce the opacity of the skin layer so that you can see the facial features of the original image. Create a new layer for the eyes and change the Foreground color to #000000. We begin to trace the upper eyelashes. Remember that you don't need to be very detailed.
Fill our path with the foreground color.
We outline the other eye, and now both eyes are finished.
Step 6
On the same layer you need to fill the whites of the eyes with color. We simply do this by setting our Foreground color to #ffffff and then use the tool Paint Bucket to fill inside the outline of the eyes.
Step 7
Create a new layer for the pupil and iris. Temporarily hide the eye layer and use the tool Elliptical Marquee Tool to obtain the correct iris shape.
Fill the iris with color #7b7648.
Now fill the pupil with color #000000 and the highlights with color #ffffff.
Step 8
We need to highlight parts such as the eyelids and nose. To do this, we simply use the colors on the face to create the shapes, in other words, take the same shades that are on the facial features. Create a new layer and change the foreground color #fec2a6. We begin to outline the nose.
Fill it in and continue until we have the shape of the nose.
Step 9
Use the same color as on the hair to fill in the eyebrows after we outline them.
Step 10
Set the Foreground color to #e6756d and create a new layer. We outline only the outline of the upper lip.
Fill the upper lip with the desired color.
Finish with the lips using color #f47f78 for the bottom lip.
Step 11
To give the face a more finished look, we need to add more shadows around the cheeks and jaw.
Fill individual shadows with #dd8561, then reduce the opacity to 20%.
Step 12
Continue using #dd8561 to add shadows around the neck and arms as shown below.
Step 13
We want the face to be more defined and less flat, so we're going to add more shadows using the color #f9c19c. Let's start by adding shadow under the lower lip.
We continue to add more shadows, for example around the eyes and nose.
Reduce the opacity to 50%.
Step 14
To make the top look like it's 3D, we need to use #334f38 and add a big shadow to the top of the top.
Reduce the opacity to 50% and change the layer mode to Soft Light.
Step 15
We outline the edges of the hair where you see the need more shadows
Create a new layer and fill these areas with #4b1b11 color. Change the layer opacity to 16% and the layer mode to Multiply.
Step 16
Change the foreground color to #ffad95 to add some blush to the cheeks. Outline the blush area and create a new layer.
Fill the shapes and set the layer opacity to 24%.
Step 17
Outline the shadows on the eyelids and create a new layer.
Fill the shape with #ea98c8 color and reduce the opacity to 35%.
Step 18
We add highlights to the skin by circling those areas in our photo where the skin is the lightest.
Fill them with #ffffff color and reduce the opacity to 20%.
Result
We finish our design by adding more shadows, details and background as we did. You can finish when all the parts you need have been added.
As you can see, we left our vector portrait quite basic and close to the original photographic image. However, you can add more detail to your image. Addition small parts such as sparkling rhinestones, hair buns and highlights will make your image fashionable. You can also create your vector portrait in grayscale, varying shades between black and white, or simply go for a limited color selection where one color dominates the rest.
We hope you found this tutorial not only useful, but also inspiring, and as always, happy designing to everyone.
In this lesson Photoshop You'll learn how to create an unusual vector portrait using floral brushes and a Displacement Map. You will learn how to apply Clipping Mask to achieve a creative patterned face effect. All you need is knowledge of the basics Photoshop, a little imagination and patience. So, let's begin!
Step 1.
Create a New Document (New Document) A4 format 1000x700 px with a resolution of 300 pixels/inch. Fill the background with black (Shift+F5).
Step 2.
Loading into Photoshop image of a girl. Using the Rectangular Marquee Tool (Restangular Marquee Tool) highlight the area of the model’s face, neck and arms. Then, using the Move tool, drag the selected area of the photo into our working document.
The resolution of the original photo is quite large, so we reduce the image size using the Transform tool (Ctrl+T) to the size of our canvas.
Step 3
Next, cut out the girl’s profile and hand from the background using the Pen tool. (Pen Tool). After closing the outline, right-click (right mouse button) and select the “Create selected area” option from the drop-down menu (Select). Invert the selection (Ctrl+Shift+I) and press Delete. The background has been removed. Deselecting (Ctrl+D). This is the result you should get:
Step 4.
Duplicate the layer with the girl (Ctrl+J) and bleach it (Shift+Ctrl+U). Then go to Filter-Blur-Shallow Depth of Field Blur (Filter > Blur > Lens Blur).
In the dialog box, enter the following settings:
Source in Depth Map (Depth Map) set it to Transparency (Transparency).
Shape in Aperture (Iris) set to Hexagon (6), Radius – 10, Sheet Curvature – 0, Rotation – 0, Distribution (Distribution)– Uniform (Uniform).
Step 5.
After you have saved the document, hide the visibility of this black and white layer (the eye next to the layer icon).
You can use any of your other sources, but take into account the following: brushes should have smooth curves to follow the contours of the face shape. They should not be too small decorative details, but even large ones will look rough. When choosing brushes, adhere to the “golden mean” principle, combining the ratio of beautiful shapes and clear lines.
When applying a pattern to the model’s face, keep in mind that the largest concentration of lines should be on the front of the face: the nose, lips, eyes, and forehead of the model. Reduce the number of curls towards the temples and back of the head. An overabundance of lines can ruin your work, because the brushes will merge with each other, and the effect of a patterned face itself will not work.
Strive to comply with the measures, and you will be pleased with the results!
Make each brush mark on a separate New Layer (Ctrl+N). The color of the brush is not important, because later the lines will take on a photographic appearance.
I ended up with 27 layers of black brush marks.
Step 6.
Now let's go down to the very first layer with the brush imprint to the bottom of the layers palette. Go to Filter-Distort-Displacement (Filter > Distort > Displace). Leave the Horizontal and Vertical Scale (Horizontal and Vertical Scale)– 10. Then in the Warp Scheme (Displacement Map) set – Stretch (Stretch to Fit), and in the Uncertain Regions (Undefined Areas) denote – Repeat boundary pixels (Repeat Edge Pixels).
After setting all the values, click OK (Yes), and in the next dialog box that opens, select the file with your saved Displacement Map. Click on the file and click Open. The filter is applied to the first pattern layer.
Now we perform a similar action with all layers of pattern brushes. To make your work easier, use hotkeys (Ctrl+F), i.e. Each time you move to the next layer with a brush mark, press this key combination.
Step 7
After applying the Displacement Map, go down the layers palette to the original color layer with the model. We will need to copy it a number of times corresponding to the number of layers with brush marks. To do this, place the original with the model at the very top in the layers panel. Then, while holding down the key Alt, drag the layer down so that it is between the layers with prints. As soon as it is between the layers, release the mouse button (key Alt creates a copy of the layer in this case). Thus, you should have an alternation of copy layers with fingerprint layers.
Step 8
Now let's create Clipping Masks (Clipping Masks) from layers with the girl’s profile to layers-prints.
Standing on the topmost layer with the girl, hold down Alt and move the cursor between the face layer and the fingerprint layer. When the black and white circle icon appears, click LMB, thereby creating a Clipping (an arrow down from the top layer to the fingerprint layer will appear). Next, we follow the same scheme with the remaining copies-layers with the girl. You will see the result only after you have completed creating all the clipping masks.
Step 9
We stand on the topmost layer with the imprint. Double-click on the layer thumbnail to open the Layer Styles window (Layer Style). Enter the following parameters for the “Embossing” option: depth – 123, direction – up, size – 3 px, softening – 0 px, angle – 140.
Now copy this layer style to all layers with prints (click RMB on the layer thumbnail, in the drop-down menu select – Copy layer style). Move to the layer with the next print and click again RMB, but now select - Paste Layer Style.
After you have embossed all layers with brushes, unwanted areas may appear that extend beyond the girl's profile. To get rid of them, select the original layer with the model (press and hold Ctrl, and click on the layer icon). Then invert the selection (Ctrl+Shift+I), and go through all the fingerprint layers one by one, pressing the Delete key.
Step 10
And finally, let's adjust our final image. To do this, create a New Layer (Ctrl+N) above the background black layer. Using the Radial Gradient Tool (Radial Gradient) fill the layer in the direction from light brown #bc8d74 to transparent.
Step 11
Hide the visibility of the background layer and the gradient layer (the eye next to the layer icon). We stand on the topmost layer with the girl. Press the key combination Ctrl+Shift+Alt+E. This action will merge all visible layers into one layer. Now use the Clarifier tools (Dodge Tool) and Blackout (Burn Tool) Let's add some volume to the image. Places that are closer to us are lighter, and, conversely, distant areas of the face are darker.
Using this technique Photoshop, you can always pleasantly surprise your friends with unusual creative creations.
