Converting Photos To Look Like Newsprint

How To Convert Photos To Look Like Old Newsprint, and/or comic book sequences.

Here we are working with an old 8x10 black, and white photo that has been scanned into the computer, and cropped to 640x640.

We want it to look like an old newspaper photocopy like this of Cap'n Bob:

Examining the above you can see the photo is made up of small dots...little square dots...the original showed round dots. Printing presses could make little, tiny round dots...that we will not be able to do. If we try to make small dots, they look like squares ( pixels are squares ). So, we will not be able to do that. However we can make big round dots if it's round dots we want. To conclude, we will never be able to exactly duplicate anything like the above, but get close enough for the untrained eye.

Using PhotoShop...either yours, or a friends if you don't have the program, Open the file containing the photo. Using the menus, click on, in this order, Image; Mode; Grayscale ( Discard Color Information - Click OK ).

Next step is to Click on Filter; Sketch; Photocopy ( Detail - 12 ) ( Darkness - 25 ); Click OK.

Next step is to Click on Filter; Pixelate; Color Halftone ( pop-up screen shows Max Radius - 8 )...you can change that figure...it's the radius of the dots that simulate old photograph dots...I changed it from 8 to 4. The Screen Angles can also be changed if you understand what Channels are. I'm leaving them at 108; 162; 90; and 45. Click OK.

Next step is to Click on Select; All. This allows you to copy it to your ClipBoard...Click on Edit; Copy.

Next step is to close Photo Shop, and Open your, or a friends Adobe PhotoDeluxe...we are going to add some age to the graphic. Click on File; New; OK; and Paste. Click on Special Effects button, then Click on the Artistic tab; Oldfashioned; Click on the 1 to B&W tab; Click on the Icon - Color to B&W; Click on 2 Tint tab; Click on the Color Icon; select the most orange color from the chart; Click OK; Click on 3 Age tab; Click on Noise Icon; Click on 4 Done tab.

Using the Pop-up Selections, Click on the down carot; Click on Rectangle tool, outline ( select ) the photo; Click on Edit; Click Copy.

Next step is to close Adobe PhotoDeluxe, and Open Paint...I like Paint for my "final look at" application. Click on File; Paste. Click on File; Save as; and save as a jpg file in folder of your choice. Here it is:

Reducing to half-size of above:

Just like an old newspaper photocopy? No...not quite...rather cartoonish...but it's gets the idea across.

This is rudimentary, done quickly...a little experimentation, and you may achieve a pretty nifty old photo.

Or
Start Over By First Using Paint

Using Paint, Open the file containing the photo, and save the photo as 24-bit Bitmap (*.bmp; *.dib ). Let's put a 20 pixel white border around it while we're in this step. First Click on Edit; Select All; then Click on Edit again; and Copy.
Click on File; New. Since we want a border around the photo, resize the screen to 680x680 and Click on Edit; Paste. Center the photo for an even border all around; Click on File; Save.

Next step is to Open a new file...Click on File; New, and expand the screen to ( in this case ) 680x680. Click on File; Save As and save as Monochorome Bitmap (*.bmp; *.dib ). Now everything is either Black, or White...no colors. On the menu at the bottom of the screen ( the one with all the little boxes with different shades of B&W, select the box from the upper row, eight from the left, and Click with the mouse on it. Next, Click on the Icon showing the paint bucket spilling paint, and then Click on the screen. You will see alternating Black, and White pixels close spaced, filling the entire screen.
Now Click on File; Save As, and save as 24-bit Bitmap (*.bmp; *.dib ). Click on Edit; Select All...then Click on Edit; Copy.
Now Click on File; Open, and get the photo we changed from .jpg to .bmp form, and put a border around.
On the left side of the screen you will see two colorful Icons, or Buttons...one above the other...click on the bottom one, enabling it....You can now use transparencies.
Now Click on Edit; Paste. The photo will appear dark, like behind thick screening...we don't want that. Here's where we do something not revealed in the Help files. Click on the Dropper Icon ( see menu boxes on the left side of the screen ). Now, using the mouse's Right button Click on the little Black colored box menu at the bottom of the screen.
Now Click on Edit; Undo...then Click on Edit again, and Paste...the photo, though covered, is lighter this time. That's because the Black pixels have become transparent. Now Click with the mouse anywheres around, and outside of the photo just to clear the dashed lines around the photo.
Now Click on Edit; Copy...and Close Paint...you don't have to save anything...just Close out of Paint.

Now open the PhotoShop application...Click File; New; OK; Edit; Paste. Using the menus, click on, in this order, Image; Mode; Grayscale; Flatten; Filter; Sketch; Halftone Pattern ( size 2 ); OK.

Next step is to Click on Select; All. This allows you to copy it to your ClipBoard...Click on Edit; Copy.

Next step is to close Photo Shop, and Open your, or a friends Adobe PhotoDeluxe...we are going to add some age to the graphic. Click on File; New; OK; and Paste. Click on Special Effects button, then Click on the Artistic tab; Oldfashioned; Click on the 1 to B&W tab; Click on the Icon - Color to B&W; Click on 2 Tint tab; Click on the Color Icon; select the most orange color from the chart; Click OK; ( We won't Click on 3 Age tab; nor Click on Noise Icon this time ); Click on 4 Done tab.

So, this isn't too bad...compare it to Cap'n Bob's image at the top. In both, the "dots" are pixels ( square ).

One last note, and that is stipple...the best stipple graphics are done by hand, and takes hours for a quality graphic...see: Stipple Portrait Drawings.
In one last attempt at stipple digitally, this last graphic isn't too bad.

How To Convert Photos To Look Like Cartoons

Step1: Open up Photoshop and Click on File, New. Click on Edit, Paste. With the image pasted into Photoshop press CTRL+J to duplicate the layer. You should have three layers now the original Background layer and two of the same layers...Layer 1, and Layer 2.

Step2: Click on "Layer 1" and click Image Adjustments Desaturate or(SHIFT+CTRL+U)

On the Layers Screen, move Layer 1 to the top of the list if you want to see what it looks like on the large screen.

Now Duplicate "Layer 1" press CTRL+J...that gets you Layer 3.

Click on "Layer 3" and invert the layer click (CTRL + I), or Image Adjustments Invert. After inverting the image change the layer Mode to Color Dodge.

Step3: Now still on "Layer 3" click on Filter Blur Gaussian Blur.

When the Gaussian Blur window comes up change the Radius to 1.5 and click ok.

Step4: Now click on "layer 1" and drag it above "Layer 3" ....The top of the list of layers.

Now we need to add Gaussian Blur to "layer 1" Click Filter Blur Gaussian Blur and change the radius value between 1.5 and 2.1 and click ok. Change the layer Mode to Darken, ( try luminosity; or Multipy...Multiply is good ) and your fill to 81%.

Step5: that isn't it yet. Remember...to see the Layer of interest, put it at the TOP OF THE LAYER LIST. You can also fiddle with the Opacity Percentage for personal tastes.

Next step is to Click on Filter; Sketch; Photocopy ( Detail - 12 ) ( Darkness - 25 ); ( you might try half those values...experiment ) Click OK.

Next step is to Click on Filter; Pixelate; Color Halftone ( pop-up screen shows Max Radius - 8 )...you can change that figure...it's the radius of the dots that simulate old photograph dots...I changed it from 8 to 4. The Screen Angles can also be changed if you understand what Channels are. I'm leaving them at 108; 162; 90; and 45. Click OK.

Next step is to Click on File - Save as - ( Browse for Directory in which to file it ) - name it, and select jpg, or whatever format you want - Click OK.

Here it is below...you might want to darken it up a little with some Gammar Correction, but it isn't necessary.

GALLERIES