In this tutorial you will learn how to create a black and white sketch effect using the threshold adjustment and various filters. The black and white sketch gives the effect of a hand drawn picture using black and white paint. I have used a free stock image of a woman, a full list of free stock images can be found here. This effect works best if you use a self portrait image.


Black and white sketch effect

Step 1

Open an image in Photoshop.




Step 2

Select Image > Adjustments > Threshold and adjust the threshold levels to your liking and click ok. I have set my level to 109.




Step 3

Add a diffuse filter by selecting Filter > Stylize > Diffuse and select the option Anisotropic and click ok.




Step 3

Now add a sharpening filter by selecting Filter > Sharpen > Sharpen edges.



You should now have a black and white sketch effect.

This tutorial is an advanced guide covering how to use the Magic Extractor to change background in Photoshop. The Magic Extractor is an incredible useful tool, and something that can be used for many art projects.


To open up the Magic Extractor, go to Image> Magic Extractor. 

The New Years celebrations have just finished, and what better way to honour the New Year by offering six free wallpapers. To download the wallpapers, simply right click and select ‘Save As’. All the wallpapers below are free to download.

This is part 17 of the Photoshop quick tip series where you will learn how to resize an image. Resizing an image is useful for reducing the size of an image file. Note that increasing or decreasing the size of an image too much can cause the image to become distorted and blurry.

Firstly, open an image in Photoshop. Then in the menu bar choose Image > Image Size and the following window dialog will appear.

Now, changing the image size is as simple as adjusting the width and height of the pixel dimensions. By default the ‘Constrain Proportions’ option is checked which means that if either one the width or height settings are changed. The other option will be changed to match the aspect ratio of the overall image file. However, if you want custom dimensions you can uncheck this option.

This is part 16 of the Photoshop quick tip series where you will learn how to add more canvas space around an image.

You need to firstly have an image open in Photoshop. Then from the menu bar select Image > Canvas Size and you should see the following dialog window should open up.

To increase the canvas size, you simply adjust the width and height settings to whatever size you like. You can also set the anchor point of the canvas which will specify the direction where you want to increase the canvas size. So, for example if you want to increase the canvas in the left direction then you would select the right anchor point.

For more quick tips, checkout the post on the Photoshop quick tip series.

This is part 15 of the Photoshop quick tip series. In this tip you will learn how to quickly find the centre of an image.

You need to firstly open up an image in Photoshop. Then choose Select > All from the menu bar or Ctrl + A. Your image should be selected like below.

Now, you need to enter into ‘Free Transform Mode’ by pressing Ctrl + T on the keyboard. You should now see a crosshair at the centre of the image like below:



Drag guides out to the centre of the crosshair and you should notice that it will snap into position. To remove the free transform mode, hit the Esc key on the keyboard. And to remove the selection around the image, hit Ctrl + D.


You should now be able to quickly find the centre of an image.

In this tutorial you will learn how to perform colour correction in Photoshop using the Hue/Saturation adjustments settings and the Quick mask tool. I will be correcting the man’s t-shirt colour in this tutorial.

Colour correction in Photoshop

Step 1

Open an image in Photoshop and the reset the colour palette by pressing the ‘D’ key on the keyboard.

Step 2

Select the Brush tool with an appropriate size and then enter the quick mask mode by selecting the Q key. Then paint over the areas of the image where you don’t want to change the colour. Since, I only want to change the t-shirt colour this would be most of the image like below.



Step 3

Exit out of the Quick mask mode by selecting the Q key, and you should see the area around the t-shirt selected.



Step 4

Select Image > Adjustment > Hue/Saturation and then drag the sliders to your liking. I have added the following settings: Hue = 50, Saturation = 69 and Lightness = -18. Make sure you select the saturation checkbox.


You should now be able to perform colour correction in Photoshop.