Woodcuts
The woodcut look is always popular. Itís a common technique in Illustrator, but it is both easy and fast to do in Photoshop as well. You can find many ways to alter and add to this technique, but here ís how to create a basic woodcut image using a photo as the base image.
1.Prepare the image.
Choose Image > Duplicate > OK to make a copy of the original image. Never work on your original only work in the copy. You may close the original image now and leave the copy open.
2. Prepare the Layers.
Drag the Background layer of the image to the New Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers palette. The new layer is named Background Copy. Double-click on the layer name in the Layers palette and replace the default name with Woodcut layer.
3. Change the Blend Mode.
Change the Blend mode of the Woodcut layer from Normal to Multiply by clicking on the word ìNormalî at the top of the Layers palette and selecting Multiply from the drop-down menu. The image looks dark, but by changing the mode to Multiply now, you will be better able to preview the filters and commands that you will use.
4. Apply High Pass.
Choose Filter > Other > High Pass and set the Radius to 1.6.
Click on OK. I use this setting consistently as it preserves a lot of detail in the image. Because of the Multiply mode, you donít really see the High Pass filter on the image, but the filters has made the Woodcut layer into a low-contrast grayscale image.
5. Change the Woodcut layer to black and white.
Choose Image > Adjustments > Threshold. The default Threshold Level is 128. You could accept this amount, but I usually like to cut the amount of black over the image to no more than 127. Drag the Threshold Level slider to 127 and click on OK. This step actually creates the woodcut look. The Multiply blend mode enables you to see and judge the result on your image. The more you lower the Threshold Level, the less “woodcut” you will see.
6. Blur the Background.
Make the Background layer active by clicking on its thumbnail in the Layers palette. Choose Filter > Blur > Gaussian
Blur with a Radius of 6.3. Click on OK. You will need to adjust this setting to your own preferences based on the amount of softness that you like and the size of the image. Larger size images need a higher radius to obtain the same amount of softness.
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