FotoSketcher – turn photos into drawings

FotoSketcher is a free graphic editor with which you can turn a photo into a drawing using a large number of effects. The program turns images into drawings made in pencil or paint in a different style. Instead of a regular photo, you will get a picture painted by the artist’s hand.

With FotoSketcher, you can discover the artist in you by turning photo images into paintings. Photos taken in FotoSketcher will be noticeably different from pictures taken with a camera, if you try, then in this wonderful program you can create a real work of art.

The name of the FotoSketcher program in Russian can be translated as a photo sketch (sketch or sketch). A photograph (image) as a result of modification becomes a drawing, or a painting.

In FotoSketcher you can create images not only in the form of drawings made in different techniques, in the photo editor you can improve original photos: add or reduce brightness, increase contrast, color saturation, resize, crop the image, sign the picture, add watermarks, send to print etc.

You can download FotoSketcher from the official website of the developer. The program runs on the Windows operating system, the application has a Russian interface language.

FotoSketcher interface

Once launched, the FotoSketcher main window will open. There are two panels at the top of the program window: the menu bar and the button bar. The program is controlled from the menu bar.

The buttons provide access to the most requested functions of the program. Almost any graphic editor has similar functions: open an image, save an image, copy to clipboard, paste, undo, crop, resize, add text, send to print, etc.

By default, in the main window of the demonstration program, the initial image is opened on the right side of the window, and the processed drawing, made in the form of a hand-drawn picture, is opened on the left side of the window. You can practice with this image, or add a picture from your computer to the editor.

The program can be controlled not only with the mouse, but also with the help of “hot keys”. Click on the “Edit” menu item. In the context menu that opens, you will see which commands correspond to the keyboard keys.

Creating a drawing in FotoSketcher

Select the initial image, open it in the program, and then click on the “Picture Options …” button. This will open a new Drawing Options window. Here you can load the settings (if the settings have been saved before), save the settings, or reset the settings to default.

First you need to choose a drawing style. FotoSketcher has a wide variety of effects available:

• 6 pencil sketch effects;
• 2 ink pen sketch effects;
• 10 painting effects (watercolor, oil);
• 7 stylized effects (cartoon, mosaic);
• 3 other effects;
• 1 option without effects (frame, texture, text).

In the “Drawing Style” setting, you must select one of the presented styles: a drawing made in pencil, ink, painting, cartoon, mosaic, etc.

When you move the mouse cursor over a certain style, you will see that a fragment of the image made in this style is displayed next to it. This makes it easier to choose the right option.

After choosing a style, a fragment of the picture will be displayed in the “Drawing Options” window. This fragment can be enlarged, showing the full size of the image, in a view reduced by the size of the window. This reduced picture can be moved with the mouse in order to see different areas of the future drawing.

Now you can modify the image according to the selected style: adjust the color intensity, contrast level, etc. Each style has its own settings. The Brush Guide button lets you change the size of the brush that will be used to paint.

Apply various filters to give the image the look you want. Experiment in order to create a picture made in a certain style based on your ideas. First, try to create a simple drawing, and then, after you acquire the necessary skills, you can move on to creating more complex images.

After selecting the settings, click on the “Draw!” button. The project has been processing for some time, so please wait for it to complete.

After processing is completed, the image on the computer. If the result is noticeably different from what was intended, then you can try to create several options before settling on a more suitable drawing.

This image shows that this is no longer a photograph, but a painting painted in watercolor. The author of these lines studied at an art school as a child, so I tried to make the drawing look like it was made with watercolors (I liked watercolors the most).

In a similar way, you can be creative by converting photos into paintings painted in different styles.

In the final version of the image, you can enclose it in a frame, add a caption to the picture. Try, create, create portraits, landscapes, etc. In order for you to get good pictures, you need independent experience in the program.

Article Conclusions

The free FotoSketcher program is a graphic editor for image processing. With FotoSketcher, ordinary images are transformed into hand-painted paintings by the artist. The program has a rich selection of effects in order to turn a photo into a drawing made in different styles of painting and graphics.