Karen Sperling's Q&A August 2005

Each month, Painter expert Karen Sperling answers a question from one of our Painter Canvas readers. Here's September's question.

Question:
I heard that Corel Painter IX has the ability to automatically turn photographs into paintings. How does this work?

Answer:
You can clone photographs into paintings with Corel Painter IX by simply adjusting a few settings. After that, it is automatic!

Starting with an appropriate photo will give you great results. Photos that have a limited number of colors and stark areas of contrast tend to make the best paintings.

This photo was taken somewhere in the United Kingdom in the last century.

And here's the painting that I cloned from it:

This is how I did it.

The photo had a limited number of colors and good contrast, making it an ideal candidate for transforming into a painting with Painter. First, I improved the contrast by choosing Effects > Tonal Control > Equalize. I used the default settings and clicked OK.

Next, I chose Effects > Tonal Control > Brightness/Contrast, moved the top slider to the right a bit, and clicked OK.

Then, I chose the Impressionist variant in the Artists Brush Category and adjusted it to perform the auto cloning.

The Impressionist variant creates brush strokes that go in various directions, but I wanted to make them go in the same direction.

To achieve this result, I chose Window > Brush Controls > Show Angle. On the Angle palette, I moved the Ang Range and Ang Step sliders to 0 percent.

This ensured that the brush strokes went in the same direction as I painted.

From the property bar, I also increased the Size slider and lowered the Opacity slider to get large, transparent strokes to gradually buildup the effect.

Finally, on the Colors palette, I clicked the Rubber Stamp icon, which made the brush strokes lift the color from the original source photo.

A few more steps and I was ready to paint.

I chose File > Clone to create a clone of the photo. Then, I chose Select > All, and pressed Delete (Mac); Backspace (Windows). This cleared the image.

With the set up taken care of, it was now time to paint!

First, I chose Effects > Esoterica > Auto Clone. Brush strokes appeared, bringing in the photo as a painting.

To stop the cloning, just click anywhere in the image.

For this example, I let the cloning continue for awhile. When I stopped the cloning process, I decreased the Size slider, increased the Opacity slider, and chose Effects > Esoterica > Auto Clone again. Then, I let the cloning process continue some more.

For convenience, Painter lists your two most recent steps at the top of the Effects menu, so when you choose Auto Clone again, you can quickly locate it from the top of the Effects menu.

I then proceeded to click in the image, adjust the Size and Opacity sliders, and choose Auto Clone again, varying the brush strokes.

If the little strokes get too severe, you can choose a very large Size setting and a very low Opacity setting, and choose Auto Clone again to tone the whole thing down.

For the finishing touches, I first chose Canvas > Tracing Paper, which revealed the source photo. Then, I selected the Cloners brush category and choose the Soft Cloner brush variant to paint in the figures.

Next, I boosted the colors by choosing Effects > Tonal Control > Adjust Colors and increasing the Saturation and Value sliders.

Lastly, I gave it a little impasto (thick paint) with Effects > Surface Control > Apply Surface Texture. You can decrease the Amount slider to make the effect more subtle.

If you have a custom brush that you'd like to share with all of your Painter friends, submit it to The Painter Canvas.

Do you have a Painter question for Karen? Email us at enewsfeedback@corel.com.

Artist, author, photographer and Painter Master Karen Sperling wrote the manuals for the first several versions of Painter, authored several Painter books, has had many Painter tutorials published in magazines and has taught Painter to artists and photographers at movie companies, design firms, universities and professional photography organizations. She currently publishes Artistry Corel Painter tutorials and Artistry Tips and Tricks newsletter, and leads Artistry Corel Painter Retreats. She paints commissioned portraits, and her Painter art has been displayed in several group shows. To see Karen's Painter images and for information about her tutorials and classes, visit www.artistrymag.com.