TUTORIAL 10 - FAKE VECTOR ART

This tutorial was made using Photoshop 7. It should also work for PS 5 and 6.
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STEP 1:

This tutorial is for anyone who wants to try to make fake vector art using Photoshop. This is one way. There are better ways, but they take for-ev-er! If you want something fast, try this.

If it turns out really crappy, you can always say it's a watercolor effect.

First, open a picture. Go to the layers pallet and duplicate it twice so your total layers equal 3.

STEP 2:

Then click on the eyes next to the top 2 layers so they are hidden. This is so you can see what you are doing better.

The bottom layer is where you will start to apply effects.

Select the bottom layer.

STEP 3:

Go to the drop down menu and select:

FILTER > ARTISTIC > CUTOUT

Then select:

LAYERS = 3
EDGE SIMPLICITY = 4
EDGE FIDELITY = 2



STEP 4:

Your picture will look something like this.

STEP 5:

Next, select the middle layer and repeat the process above, except this time select:

FILTER > ARTISTIC > CUTOUT

LAYERS = 8
EDGE SIMPLICITY = 4
EDGE FIDELITY = 2



STEP 6:

Once you've applied the cutout effect to layer 2, go to:

EDIT > FADE CUTOUT
or CTRL + SHIFT + F

Select a low level fade. Somewhere around 30 to 45. For this example I used 45.
Then, go to the LAYER MODE and set it to SCREEN with an opacity around 80%.

STEP 7:

This is what your picture should look similar to by this time.

STEP 8:

You are now finished with the middle layer.

Move on and select the top layer and make it visible.

STEP 9:

You don't need to do anything to this layer except set the LAYER MODE to OVERLAY with an opacity of around 30 to 35.

STEP 10:

That's it! You should now have something that looks like this.

Depending on the light or darkness of the original picture, you will have to play around with the opacity levels to get something to your liking.

If you plan to save this project make sure to use SAVE AS and create a new name for it or you will lose your original picture.

Like I said earlier, if it doesn't come out looking like a vector, you can always claim it's a watercolor.

Good luck and happy Photoshopping!



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