Tutorial: AKVIS Sketch

Sketch of a Pet

This brief tutorial by David Kelly explains how AKVIS Sketch was used in conjunction with Paint Shop Pro 9 to create a realistic looking colour sketch from an existing photograph.

• Step 1. I opened the original photo in PSP9.

  Original photograph

• Step 2. Then I used PSP9's freehand "point-to-point" selection tool to select the dog.
• Step 3. Saved the selection to an Alpha channel; Selections - Load/Save Selection - Save Selection to Alpha Channel - name then save. Saving a selection makes it easy to recall without having to redraw the selection if a mistake is made.
• Step 4. Named and saved image as a Paint Shop Pro image file.
• Step 5. Inverted the selection, Ctrl+SHIFT+I. This transferred the selection from the dog to the background area enabling it to be edited separately from the foreground image, i.e. the dog. Next a radial blur effect was applied to the background.

  Background selected

• Step 6. Selected Adjust - Blur - Radial Blur, then entered these settings:

  - Blur type = Spin.

  - Blur strength (%) = 21, plus Elliptical selected.

  - Center: Horizontal offset (%) = 0, Vertical offset (%) = 0, Protect center (%) = 19.

  Named and saved the radial blur settings as a preset then clicked OK to apply the radial blur effect to the image's background and to return to PSP9's workspace.

• Step 7. Removed the selection, Ctrl+D.

  Selection removed

• Step 8. Called AKVIS Sketch from within PSP9 - Effects - Plugins - AKVIS - Sketch.
• Step 9. Left clicked Sketch's Run button to initially apply its default settings.
• Step 10.

  Adjusted each of Sketch's Effects and Strokes field's slider controls individually, left clicking the "Run" button after each adjustment to view the effect on the image. These adjustments produced the final parameter values seen below: - Watercolor = 10, - Charcoal = 2, - Coloration = 100, - Angle = 45, - Size = 6, - Min Length/Max Length = 3/10, - Midtones Intensity = 1, - Midtones Hatching = 4, - Sharpen = 14.

• Step 11. Once satisfied with the final result left clicked Sketch's Apply the result to the image button . This closed Sketch to reveal PSP9's workspace containing the finished colour sketch image, which can be seen below.

  The completed colour sketch

• Step 12. Named and saved the completed colour sketch as a Tiff image file.

  Although this example was created with AKVIS Sketch plug-in used in conjunction with Corel Paint Shop Pro 9, similar results can be obtained with other compatible image editing software packages. Download the unrestricted Akvis Sketch ten-day free trial and try Sketch out for yourself. You will not be disappointed.