Imagine one of your favorite photos as a painting hung on your wall, but unfortunately, you’re not a painter. Or you may have a client asking you to create a painting from a picture you took for them. Luckily in both these cases, you can turn a photo into a painting in Photoshop in three easy ways.
You can use various techniques to make a painting from an image because the process involves adding multiple filters and effects to smooth the details and create an oil paint look.
Video Tutorial
Option 1: Turn A Photo Into A Painting In Photoshop Using Generative Fill
Step 1: Enable Quick Mask Mode (Q)
First, once your photo is open in Photoshop, activate the Quick Mask Mode by selecting it from the Toolbar or pressing Q.
Step 2: Go To Edit > Fill, Set Contents To Color, And Select 30% Grey
Next, add a 30% opaque selection to the image by going to Edit > Fill. Under the Contents option set it to Color and select 30% grey from the Color Picker. You can play around with the grey amount and try anywhere between 10% and 60% depending on your image and how you want the painting effect to look.
Note: You may need to try a percentage out by completing the steps and then returning to this step to re-try a new percentage if you aren’t happy with the look of the painting.
Step 3: Press Q To Disable The Quick Mask Mode
You will see an opaque red overlay over the image depending on how opaque you made the selection. Press Q or click on the option in the Toolbar to disable the Quick Mask Mode.
Step 4: Add In The Type Of Painting You Want In The Generative Fill Box In The Contextual Task Bar
The Generative Fill option will automatically appear in the Contextual Task Bar. Click on Generative Fill. Then, type in the description of the type of painting you want the image to look like. For instance, you can type in “oil painting”, “watercolor painting”, or any paint medium you want. Click on Generate to add the painted effect.
Step 5: Select A Variation Or Re-Generate (Optional)
If you aren’t happy with the outcome of Generative Fill that appears on the image, you can select one of the other variations generated in the Properties Panel or you can click Generate to create a few more variations to choose from. You have now turned your photo into a painting in Photoshop.
Note: You can also adjust the Fill and Opacity of the new Generative Fill layer to adjust the results and create a more realistic painting effect.
Option 2: Turn Photos Into Paintings Using The Filter Gallery
Step 1: Right-Click The Image Layer And Select Convert To Smart Object
Before you add the filter to your image, you must convert it to a Smart Object. This will add the filter as a smart filter to the image, allowing you to go back and edit the filter at any stage. This is a non-destructive editing method.
To convert your image, right-click (Win) or Control + click (Mac) on the background layer once your image is open in Photoshop, then select Convert to Smart Object.
You will know that your layer is a smart object if the name changes to Layer 0 and you see the smart object icon in the layer thumbnail.
Step 2: Go To Filter > Filter Gallery And Select An Artistic Filter
Now, you can open the Filter Gallery to add an artistic filter to the image. To open the gallery, go to Filter > Filter Gallery.
You can now choose an artistic filter for the image by opening the Artistic tab in the middle panel. Click on the arrow next to Artistic to open the tab, and you will see a variety of filters to choose from.
You can choose any filter based on how you’d like your image to look. Each filter produces a different result. Here are a few of the filters applied to my image.
Step 3: Adjust The Filter’s Settings
Once you have selected a filter, settings appear in the right-hand panel. These settings are different for each filter, but they all affect various aspects of the filter. I have chosen the Watercolor effect for my image. Now in the right-hand panel, I can adjust the settings for the Brush Detail, Shadow Intensity, and Texture.
When applying any filter effect, you can switch the preview on and off by clicking on the eye icon next to the filter you applied in the right-hand panel. This gives you a good look at the before and after.
Once you have chosen your filter and adjusted the settings, you can click OK to apply the effect to your image and move back to the Photoshop workspace.
Step 4: Add Further Adjustments To The Photo (Optional)
You can now add various adjustments to the painted image to bring out the colors, change the colors, or adjust the exposure. For instance, I have added two adjustments to the picture.
First, I added a Hue/Saturation Adjustment layer to change the color and bring out the vibrancy of the image. Then, I added a Curves Adjustment layer to adjust the exposure and to make the colors pop.
You can add adjustment layers and filters that work for your image.
Option 3: Make A Photo Look Like A Painting Using Adjustment Layers & Filters
Step 1: Check That Your Image Is 300 PPI And The Width/Height Is Larger Than 1500 px
To manually create the paint effect on an image, open the picture and check the Image size by going to Image > Image Size. You can also press Alt + Control + I (Win) or Option + Command + I (Mac).
You need a high-quality image to ensure the paint effect works well. Your image width and height shouldn’t be below 1500 pixels. The image should also be at least 300 PPI. Try a different image to add the effect if your image doesn’t meet the requirements or increase the image size without decreasing the quality.
Step 2: Duplicate The Image Layer And Lighten The Shadows
First, you need to lighten the shadows in the photo. To lighten the shadows, duplicate the image layer by selecting it and pressing Control + J (Win) or Command + J (Mac). Then, go to Image > Adjustments > Shadows/Highlights to lighten the shadows.
The Shadows slider lightens the darkest areas in the image, and the Highlights slider darkens the lighter areas in the picture. You only need to focus on the Shadows slider and increase it to between 25% and 40%. Click OK to accept the change.
Step 3: Adjust The Contrast Using The Levels Adjustment
To access the Levels adjustment, select Levels from the Adjustments Panel. You can also use the shortcut Control + L (Win) or Command + L (Mac). In the Levels Adjustment window, adjust the shadows, midtones, and highlights to brighten the image and correct the contrast. Each photo is different so balance the adjustments in a way that works for your photo.
Bring out the areas that you want to be more prominent in the painted image and lighten any dark shadows if you want the details to show in the painting. Drag the three toggles to adjust the levels, and click OK when you’re done.
Step 4: Duplicate The Layer And Add A High Pass Filter
Duplicate the layer you’ve been working on, which I’ve named Corrective Adjustments, by selecting it and pressing Control + J (Win) or Command + J (Mac). Then add a High Pass Filter to the new layer by going to Filter > Other > High Pass. Set the Radius to 2.0 pixels, and click OK to add the filter.
This filter sharpens and adds detail to the image, but it will first turn it completely gray. You need to change the Layer’s blending mode to bring back the details in the photo. To do this, locate the Blend Mode drop-down menu in the Layers Panel. It is set to Normal by default. Click on the drop-down menu and select Overlay.
Step 5: Select The Corrective Adjustment Layers, Right-Click, And Select Merge Layers
Next, you need to Merge the layers you have created minus the Background layer. To merge the layers, select both by holding in Control (Win) or Command (Mac) while selecting them. Then right-click (Win) or Control + click (Mac) and select Merge Layers.
Step 6: Go To Filter > Sharpen > Unsharp Mask And Adjust The Settings
You need to sharpen the image more by adding an Unsharp Mask. This brings out even more detail in the picture, which is necessary to create the “brush strokes” when the oil effect is applied. To do this, keep your newly merged layer selected, then go to Filter > Sharpen > Unsharp Mask.
Adjust the settings in the Unsharp Mask window to bring out more detail and sharpen the image. Set the Amount between 130% and 150%, the Radius to 2 or 3, and leave the Threshold at 0. Click OK to apply the filter.
You can see the difference in detail and sharpening if you look at a zoomed-in element of the image before and after the edits.
Step 7: Add A Diffuse Filter 3 To 5 Times At Different Angles
Now that the image is full of details and sharpened, you can add the oil effect using the Diffuse Filter. You will be repeating this step up to 5 times, but I will show you how to use a shortcut to repeat it.
First, apply a Diffuse Filter to the photo by going to Filter > Stylize > Diffuse. Select the Anisotropic option at the bottom and click OK to add it to the image.
You must add the Diffuse Filter to the image another 2 to 4 times, depending on how bold you want the effect. However, adding the Diffuse Filter at different angles is best to make the painted effect more realistic.
To add the filter to a new angle, rotate the canvas by going to Image > Image Rotation > 90° Clockwise. This will flip the entire canvas on its side.
Now, add the Diffuse Filter again. Since it was the last filter you used, you can go to Filter > Diffuse, which is now at the top of the menu. You can also use the shortcut to apply the last used filter by pressing Alt + Control + F (Win) or Option + Command + F (Mac).
Using these two options automatically adds the filter using the previous settings, so you don’t need to change the diffuse type each time.
Keep rotating and adding the Diffuse Filter as much as you need but try to stay within 5 times in total, or it may overdo the effect. I completed a full rotation and added the filter 5 times. You can see how the image has taken on a painted look.
Step 8: Go To Filter > Noise > Reduce Noise
The next step is to reduce the noise in the image to smooth the paint effect. To do this, go to Filter > Noise > Reduce Noise.
Change the Strength to 10, set the rest of the sliders to 0, and click OK.
Step 9: Sharpen The Image Using An Unsharp Mask Filter
Since you smoothed out the image, you must now add a bit more sharpening to the photo. This is to sharpen the smoother paint look since you have removed the image details enough.
To do this, go to Filter > Sharpen > Unsharp Mask again. Set the Amount below 100, the Radius to 2, and the Threshold to 0, then click OK to apply the effect.
Step 10: Duplicate The Layer And Add A High Pass Filter
You must now add a new High Pass filter to sharpen the painted image. First, duplicate the layer by pressing Control + J (Win) or Command + J (Mac). I renamed the layer to “Oil Paint Effect” to keep track of the edits. Then, go to Filter > Other > High Pass.
Set the Radius to 2 and click OK to add the filter. This turns your image gray again.
Change the blend mode to Overlay to show the image again with the added details the filter gives.
Step 11: Tone The Image Using Image > Auto Tone (Optional)
Now, you need to merge all the layers you have while still keeping a copy of them. To do this, you can quickly merge a copy of the layers by pressing Shift + Alt + Control + E (Win) or Shift + Option + Command + E (Mac).
You can now automatically tone the image by going to Image > Auto Tone or pressing Shift + Control + L (Win) or Shift + Command + L (Mac). This allows Photoshop to fix the tone of the image automatically. This step isn’t necessary for every photo, so see if you need to add this step to your image.
My image only changed slightly after auto-toning the image. However, I now successfully converted this photo into a painting.
