Advanced Photoshop: Photo to Anime in 14 Steps

Topic: How to transform a photo portrait of a real living person into an anime character with Adobe Photoshop in 14 easy steps.

I will assume you are intimate with the functions of Photoshop and relatively creative. You need a lot of guts to get into a project like this, but it is possible.

1) When you have picked your photo, start by removing all tint using Shift+Ctrl+U. You now have a black and white photo like the one to the right.

2) Transform the photo, using Find Edges. You can already see the outline of something more pictoresque than your average holiday snapshot. It may look weird, even, but don't fret it. In anything that has to do with computers, one rule counts above all else: "Desperation is no excuse for panic."

4) Use Adjustments - Variations to produce an image with a higher degree of contrast, as well as more filling inside the outlines. Or simply decrease brightness and increase contrast, until you have an image with edges sharp enough for photoshop to regonize, when you put the photo through the rest of the treatment. This is your "skeleton".

5) Go to the Soften editing panel and reshape the character by blowing up the eyes and narrowing all limbs to match your ideal anime character. Beware of disfiguring other elements. Use a brush about 20 % larger than the item you want to redesign. Adjust depending on proximity to other items. When satisfied, save changes and exit to the basic editing panel.

TIP: Use the Restore Pixels function. Choose a brush about 50 % of the brush you used to blow up or size down elements to recreate distorted proportions locally.

6) Scrape the image using the fourth filter from above in Filter - Artistic. The edges and shadows now become edgier.

7) You now have a black and white image with relatively sharp outlines, yet with shadows and some grains. You should clean it up, before proceeding, using the brush/clone/eraser.

TIP: Once you move on, your options will narrow. Your goal is an image that looks like someone would have drawn it, without too much noise or detail in background elements. Don't use the bucket tool, or you will produce a far too blurry image.

8) Reduce light about -10 and add contrast about +10, or ad libitum to keep the contrast high. Don't worry about anything else than high contrast at this point.

9) Use Ctrl+A / Ctr+N / Ctrl+V to copy-paste the image into a new window. Then return to the window with the photo you worked on and undo all changes by clicking on the original version in the History panel to the right.

10) Now you have to versions of the same image, one altered to approximate a comic and one with the original features and coloring. Save the "drawing" as a Photoshop file to be able to quickly return to the original condition you have chosen.

11) If you want to fix holes and gaps in the outlined image, use relative thick lines (2-5 pxl) and regular brushes, not the ones that blur the edges.

12) Now comes the coloring trick: Repeat the copy-paste of the original colored photograph into the new window to make a second layer on top of the "drawing."

13) Pick a brush as large as 100-300 pxl and choose about 30 % opacity. Fade the coloured photo to reveal the outlines and shadows beneath it, using the brushes with the fuzzy outline. This way you can control the coloring without losing the outlines of the drawing (like the funny picture of me with comic book hair). And voila, you see the anime character emerging.

TIP: As you fade the photo you should gradually see the anime character come to live with more or less naturalistic colors, depending on your inclination. You can also enchance or adjust tint in order to make coloring less naturalistic and more anime style.

TIP: If you leave the background less faded than the character, you should get the sublime effect of delicate background painting.

14) Finish up by adjusting color. The tint is a bit worn at this point, but easily fixed by increasing saturation. Use the detail 1-5 pxl brushes and 2-5 lines to fix the last errors from the various computerized renderings. Go for square edges, and don't try do to accomplish too much with one stroke.

TIP: The method can also be applied to other types of realistic or semi-realistic comic book effects, such as Sin City. Of course, the coloring requires a different set of tools in a different order for the Sin City effect to look good.

Thank you for your time. See you in the funny papers.