From Photos to Artwork

T
Posted By
testpilot
Dec 9, 2003
Views
565
Replies
11
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Closed

How to Improve Photoshop Performance

Learn how to optimize Photoshop for maximum speed, troubleshoot common issues, and keep your projects organized so that you can work faster than ever before!

BG
barry_gray
Dec 9, 2003
<http://www.trimoon.com/index.html>
Check out portrait and water color tuts
C
CindySingleton
Dec 10, 2003
You could also check out <http://www.retouchpro.com> They have some photo to art forums that have good info.

~Cindy
AB
Andrew_Bokelman
Dec 10, 2003
In addition to what has already been mentioned, try
http://www.innographx.com/forum
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testpilot
Dec 11, 2003
Thanks Guys,
These are very good starters.

Mike R.
BO
Burton_Ogden
Dec 11, 2003
Mike R.,

Here is another one:

<http://www.fo2pix.com/index.php>

— Burton —
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testpilot
Dec 12, 2003
Burton,
Have you tried or used any of these programs? If so, what is your opinion?

Thanks
Mike R.
BO
Burton_Ogden
Dec 12, 2003
Mike,

I tried demos of the original buZZ Pro plug-in for Photoshop and the standalone PhotoArt Master (they hadn’t started numbering them yet) and I thought they were great way back then. The current versions are much better and I plan to buy them both, because I don’t know of anything that is more inherently artistic.

The demo versions I tried were designed to quit working after a ridiculously small number of usages, though, and I really wasn’t learning all they could do before they quit working and I was kind of miffed about that. The current demos also will quit working after too few usages, in my opinion. I think they should give you 30 days of unlimited use, because these things do have some learning curve to climb in order to get the most out of them. Believe me, they can help you turn out some great artwork from your photos.

But you can do some great artwork using just Photoshop’s rich toolset. It is just a matter of learning the right Photoshop techniques. Check out this site for an example of really great art produced in Photoshop:

<http://www.reallyusefulpage.com/techniques/pen-ink.htm>

In addition to Photoshop and the FO2PIX stuff, Corel’s Painter 8.1 has a fantastic set of tools to help you convert your photos to art, using many different classic art media as well as fantastic cyberart. And if you really want to go all out, you can combine the capabilities of all of these tools by moving your in-progress work from one application to another. But you should remain in control of the art and use these things as your tools. I strongly recommend that you download the manuals from the Support section of FO2PIX, because they have some great insight into the artistic aspect of guiding these tools to help you produce the kind of art that you like. I feel that I have a lot to learn about this, and I look forward to the journey.

— Burton —
DR
Danny_Raphael
Dec 12, 2003
Cindy:

Thx for the referral. 🙂

– – – – –

Mike:

In addition to dedicated software like Buzz, PhotoArtMaster and Corel Painter, which would result in more out of pocket expense if you acquired them, you might want to look into Photoshop actions that were written to transform photos into art.

Disclaimer: Sometimes they work, sometimes they don’t. One thing’s for sure: Most of them are free.

<http://www.geocities.com/kafuensis/>

<http://homepages.slingshot.co.nz/~mikefinn/action.html>

~DannyR~
JH
Jake_Hannam
Dec 12, 2003
There was also a Photoshop plugin called Deep Paint but I don’t remember who made it or even if it is still available. It had many of the features of Painter but was a plugin instead of a standalone.

Jake
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BLUDVLZ
Dec 12, 2003
Check out this link:
<http://www.fantasticmachines.com/html/paint_engine.htm>

It’s for a Photoshop filter called Paint Engine. It’s absolutely free (though it works only on PC), and gives you a pretty easy-to-use interface fore creating painterly effects.
T
testpilot
Dec 13, 2003
Burton: Thanks for the solid advice. I have downloaded the program and manual. This seems to be very promising.
Danny: I read some of your article and comments on the "Retouch Forum"; very informative, insightful and useful.
Jake: I’ve heard of Deep Paint and will look into it.
BLUDVLZ: I’ve downloaded Paint Engine and will try it. I like free. Barry, Cindy, and Andrew thanks again.

Thank you all for the great leads and links.

Gratefully,
Mike R.

How to Improve Photoshop Performance

Learn how to optimize Photoshop for maximum speed, troubleshoot common issues, and keep your projects organized so that you can work faster than ever before!

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