It takes some real skill to draw realistic characters and portraits, but there’s a shortcut you can take using this illustration Photoshop action. This action will allow you to create the outlines, colours, and shading of a digitally painted image automatically, without the need to trace, paint, or draw by hand.
The action has been tested and working on Photoshop CS6. Make sure you have an oil paint filter https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/kb/oil-paint-greyed-out.html
Here is a quick guide to show you how easy it is to turn any image into an illustration https://youtu.be/bwxl2wS7QuU
How to use action
After loading the action onto Photoshop, all you need to do to create this effect is to:
- Turn your image into a smart object
- Hit CTRL + F2
Alternatively, you can open up the action panel by going to - Window Action and then find the 'Illustration Effect' and hit the play button.
Voila! The final result is a cartoon-like illustration effect with bold outlines, vibrant colours and defined shading.
This Photoshop action works best with images at the standard size of 1920x1280 pixels.
Thank you again for your purchase. Enjoy!
UPDATE
*If you find errors with Photoshop not finding the 'Oil Painting filter' check this short video out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHT5oOF1pDs or this more detailed video here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKXOcEpRkyc that might help solve the issue. Please get in touch if there are any problems. The Oil Paint filter was introduced in Photoshop CS6, if you have a version under CS6, it may not work. Thank you.
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