Advanced tutorial - painterly or cartoony effect

Hi all,

Here is a step by step tutorial showing you how to achieve a painterly effect by combining two different FotoSketcher filters.

Step 1: Open your source image (keyboard shortcut CTRL+O) - You can resize your image if you wish (keyboard shortcut CTRL+R)


Step 2: Press F10 to bring up the drawing parameters screen and choose the "Painting 3" drawing style (with the values listed in the following screenshot). Make sure you deselect "Soften edges", "Add a frame" and "Texture". Then click on the "Draw It!" button.


Step 3: Once the rendering is done, press F12 (to use the resulting image as your new source image). Then choose the "Pencil sketch" effect and use a value of 0 for "Edge threshold" (drag the corresponding cursor all the way to the left). This is very important!
Then click on the "Draw It!" button.


Step 4: Once the rendering is done, press F12 again (to use the resulting image as your new source image). Then press F9 to modify source image and choose the parameters shown in the following screenshot). Then click on the "Apply changes" button.


Step 5: Now add a texture and a frame, by pressing F10 and choosing the "Frame and texture only" drawing style. Don't forget to tick the "Add a frame" and "Texture" boxes as shown in the screenshot below. Then click on the "Draw It!" button and finally save your work of art (keyboard shortcut CTRL+S).

And voilà!!!

I hope this tutorial was useful to you.
Note that on some images, the same combination of effects can give a nice cartoony style to your pictures.

Best regards,

David

P.S. The source image I have used for this tutorial was found on Stock Exchange (http://www.sxc.hu/) , a great repository for free images. Credits and thanks to the original author of the photograph (Steve Woods).

Some user interface tips

Hi all,

I still haven't found time (or mustered the motivation) to write a proper help file. But I have actually found a justification for not doing it: it forces me to create a user interface as intuitive as possible so that no user manuel is needed!

Having said that, here are a few tips for you:
- you can modify the size of the window panes by dragging the vertical separation between both windows.
- if you double-click that separation, each pane regains its original size.
- if you want to zoom rapidly to a specific value, simply click on the percentage and enter a number between 5 and 1000.
- you can also right-click on all three magnifying glass icons.
- right-clicking on the middle one will automatically zoom the image to best fit its window.
- also, if you double-click on an image (either source or painting), a full screen preview will magically appear!

A picture being worth a lot more than my prose, here is a screenshot:


Have fun,

David

Version 1.85 is officially released

Hi all,

This release is mainly a bugfix, but there are also a few changes in version 1.85:

- I've added a couple of new realistic frames
- as stated in my previous post, you can now also colorize some frames
- the first sketch effect has been improved, with the ability to change contrast
- also, if you untick the 'Soften edges' box the pencil strokes become more visible

As usual, go to http://www.fotosketcher.com/ to download the latest version.

Here's a quick example (photo credit Stock Xchng) of the improved rendering:


Best regards,

David

New beta available (v 1.85) - update

Hi,

Version 1.85 is almost ready. I've uploaded a release candidate, which you can download here: http://www.fotosketcher.com/FotoSketcher_beta.exe

The main change apart from the sketch effect improvement is the addition of coloured frames. Here's a screenshot:


Best regards,

David

New beta available (v 1.85)

Hi all,

If you like to be on the bleeding edge, you might want to try the latest beta version of FotoSketcher, which you can download here: http://www.fotosketcher.com/FotoSketcher_beta.exe

This beta version corrects quite a number of minor bugs, adds two new frames and improves the original Sketch effect.

As usual, your comments or suggestions are most welcome!

Best regards,

David

Official release of FotoSketcher 1.8

Version 1.8 of FotoSketcher is finally available. You can download it for free at http://www.fotosketcher.com/

Here are some of the new functions you will find :
- 3 new effects (sketch 2 - black & white, sketch 3 - colour and painting 4)
- resizeable left and right panes (move the mouse to the separation line)
- right-clickable magnifying glass icons (the center one sizes the image to best fit the pane)
- the zoom percentage value is editable (just click on the value)
- the source image modification functions are now on one screen, with a preview window
- a link has been added to an online help page (which will be available in the future)
- a better text function (you can move the text with your mouse better than before), with the possibility to add a shadow
- if you move the images around fast, they will continue to move in the same direction for a while (useful on large images or if you zoom a lot)

Here are some example images produced with version 1.8 (original photos courtesy of Stock Xchng):

Black & white sketch 2:


Colour Sketch 3 (first version):


Colour Sketch 3 (second version - with different parameters):


Painting 4:


Best regards,

David

Tweaking a new algorithm

Hi all,

I'm working on yet another rendering style (new b&w or colour sketch). Here are a couple of examples (click on images to view full size):


Best regards,

David

Experimenting a new painting style

Just a quick word to let you know that I'm already working on the next version of FotoSketcher.

Here are a couple of "paintings" made with a new algorithm that I'm currently experimenting (click on images to view full size):

Images credit Stock.xchng.

Best regards,

David

FotoSketcher for Linux users

Hi all,

Even though FotoSketcher is being developed (in Turbo DELPHI) primarily for Windows PCs, I had been wondering for a time whether it would run in Linux using the famous and free emulator WINE.

A Linux user (hi Alexis!) has just confirmed that FotoSketcher runs fine under WINE.

This is great news, so if you want to use FotoSketcher in Linux, just grab WINE from the official site: http://www.winehq.org/

I am also told that Mac users can run WINE (and therefore FotoSketcher), but I don't know how to proceed. Don't hesitate to respond to this post if you have any success.

Cheers,

David

Release of FotoSketcher 1.7

This new version adds quite a lot of new features and improvements.

Here is a list of things added or changed from previous versions:
- brand new interface (clearer and more responsive), with icons
- batch processing function
- load and save drawing parameters
- drag and drop image file on the application icon
- drag and drop image file on the source image pane
- optimised median filter (painting 3 rendering is now twice as fast)
- small bug-fix in painting 2 and 3 algorithms
- realistic frames
- add text function
- possibility to cancel an operation
- faster 'increase colour saturation', 'simplify source image' and 'increase contrast' algorithms
- smooth resize source image to any size (with better dialog form)
- drag images with the mouse
- keyboard shortcuts to most functions
- added a donation button for those who wish to support the development of FotoSketcher

Here is a screenshot of version 1.7:


As usual, don't hesitate to send me your remarks and suggestions at the following address: contact@fotosketcher.com

Best regards,

David