How to make woodblock prints (Tutorial)

[ra5946]

Hello all.

This is just a simple tutorial on how to take a screenshot or a real life photo and turn it into a woodblock print using Photoshop.
(I'm sure other programs can work too, I just haven't used any other program.) Some knowledge of photoshop will help greatly.

First, get yourself a picture. I'm going to use this in-game screenshot.



Make a duplicate of this picture. I'm going to call mine Pic1 and Pic2

Open both pictures in Photoshop.

Click on Pic1.

Select "Filter" on the top tool bar. You will get a drop down menu. Scroll
down to "Blur" and then a right menu will pop up. Select "Smart Blur"
A small menu with settings will pop up. Insert the settings like I have in the picture below.



Hit okay after you enter the settings.

Now pic1 should look kinda blury.

Now select pic2.

Do the same procedure as before, but use the following settings instead.



Once again hit okay and the picture will render.

Pic2 should now have a black background with white detail. We need to invert the colors.

With pic2 selected, hit cntrl I. (the control key and the letter "i" key at the same time).

Now your picture will be black drawing on a white background.

Here's the hard part. Delete all the white areas. I have a filter that does this, but you may not. You can also use magic eraser tool for this and or the magic wand. Just select the white areas and delete.

Once you've gotten rid off all the white, you should have black detail and a transparent background.

Using the same pic2, go to the top tool bar and select "Filter" Scroll down to "other" and select "Minimum". In the menu that pops up enter the number 2 or 3. The higher number the wider the black outlines get, so don't use to high of a number. (I used 2) Click okay.

Pic2 should now look similar to this


Now drag this layer of pic2 over on top of pic1. see below



You may have to move it around a bit, but it should fit nicely since it's the same size.

Here is the result.



Well, I hope yours turned out great. I'm not the best at tutorials, so if you have issues or questions please post and I'll try to explain better.

[Necron28290]

cool i will have to try this out thanks ra

[Kodama]

Wow!

That does look like a woodblock print :goodjob:

Thanks ra5946.

[Heywood]

I'm pretty sure you dont need to delete the white areas at all. Just change the layer style to "Multiply" and that should make only the black parts visable. Now if you wanted to get rid of the black and keep the white instead use "screen". Hope that saves time for people.

[ra5946]

Originally posted by Heywood
I'm pretty sure you dont need to delete the white areas at all. Just change the layer style to "Multiply" and that should make only the black parts visable. Now if you wanted to get rid of the black and keep the white instead use "screen". Hope that saves time for people.

Great! I surfed the net for an easy way to get rid of white and couldn't find it. Your technique will save lots of time especially on higher detailed images. Thanks Heywood