Gimp Photo To Line Drawing

Here is a tutorial on how to turn a photo into a hand sketch drawing using the free photo editing software, GIMP.

Make sure you have already backup your photo.

Firstly, duplicate the layer then change its blend mode from normal to Dodge.

Invert the picture's color by going toColors>Invertcommand.

The next step is applying the value propagate filter for two or three times until you get the desired effect of hand sketch.

Let's get started!

Turn Photo Into Sketch Using GIMP

Final result.

Video: Turn a Photo Into a Sketch Using GIMP.

Watch the video for detailed instructions and use the written steps for quick reference. If you enjoyed this video, I highly encourage you to subscribe to my Youtube channel -Trikmudah.

1. Open Image in GIMP
Use File>Open... (orCtrl+O) to open your image.

In the "Open Image" dialog, n avigate through your folders in the Places panel and the Name panel until your images' name appears in the Name panel.

Click the image you want to open.

When an image file is selected, you can view the preview of the image file at the right-hand side of the box, although it's not easy to find an image based on a thumbnail.

Click Open.

For this GIMP tutorial, I'll use this image, tram-3734 by PDPhotos.

Image used in this tutorial

Image used in this tutorial.

2. Duplicate Layer
Use Layer> Duplicate Layer (orShift+Ctrl+D).

A new layer which is a nearly identical copy of the active layer added to the image.

Now select the duplicate layer on the Layers Dialog and change its blend mode from normal to Dodge.

Duplicate Layer

Duplicate Layer.

Change its mode from normal to Dodge

Change its mode from normal to Dodge.

3. Invert Color
Select the duplicate layer on the Layers Dialog then invert its color by going to Colors>Invert.

Invert color

Invert color.

4. Apply Value Propagate Filter
The final step is to apply the Value Propagate filter.

Go to Filters>Distorts>Value Propagate in the top menu.

In the "Value Propagate" pop-up window, select the "More black (smaller value)" radio button by clicking on it.

Click OK when you are done.

Select More black (smaller value)

Select More black (smaller value).

5. Repeat Step 4 Until You are Happy with the result
If you're still not happy with the result, try applying the value propagate filter again for two or three times.

You can use keyboard shortcut Ctrl + F to repeat the last step (in this case, the value propagate filter is our last step).

Repeat Step 4 Until You Happy with the result

Repeat Step 4 until you are happy with the result.

6. Desaturate Both Layer
If you'd like a black & white sketch effect, then apply the Desaturate command for both layers.

Use Colors>Desaturate>Desaturate.

In the Desaturate dialog box , you can just leave the default settings and click OK.

The Desaturate dialog box

The Desaturate dialog box.

Desaturate both layers

Desaturate both layers.

7. Save Your Work
Use File>Save (orCtrl+S) to save your project file.

In the Save Image dialog box, n avigate to the folder where you want to store your project file.

Type a name in the Name text box and leave the default GIMP (*.XCF) format.

XCF is GIMP's native format and is useful because it stores everything about your image and will allow you to later edit your image in GIMP, in case you notice a problem.

Click Save to store the project file.

Once you have finished, you will probably also want to export the image in a more widely used format, such as JPEG, PNG, TIFF, etc.