How to Convert Photos to Coloring Book Pages

If you want to make a unique coloring book that will provide your children with hours of fun, turn your family photos into coloring book pages. There are two different software packages that will do the job. If you already own a copy of Adobe PhotoShop you can use that, however if not you can download a free copy of GIMP from the Internet. GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) is a freely distributed piece of software for such tasks as photo retouching, image composition, and image authoring. To download GIMP, click on the following link http://www.gimp.org to go to the official website and follow the instructions. Once you have the software installed, PhotoShop or GIMP, you’ve ready to start the transformation. Below are two sets of instructions, one for each software application. At first glance, it might look like a lot of steps, but they’re easy to follow and to the point. After making your first coloring page, you’ll be an expert on transforming photos.

Adobe Photoshop

  1. Open the PhotoShop application.
  2. From the toolbar, select ‘File’ and then ‘Open’.
  3. Find your digital image and bring it into PhotoShop.
  4. From the toolbar, select ‘Layer’, ‘New’, and then ‘Layer via Copy’.
    This creates a Background Layer and Layer 1.
  1. From the layer pallet in the lower right-hand corner select ‘Layer 1’.
  2. From the toolbar select ‘Image’, ‘Adjustments’, and then ‘Desaturate’.
    This turns the photo into a grayscale.
    You will now need to duplicate Layer 1.
  1. From the toolbar, select ‘Layer’, ‘New’, and then ‘Layer via Copy’.
  2. Select ‘Layer 1 (copy)’ from the layer pallet and rename it to ‘Layer 2’.
  3. Select ‘Layer 2’ from the layer pallet.
  4. From the toolbar, select ‘Image’, ‘Adjustments’, and then ‘Invert’.
  5. Change the layer blend mode to ‘Color Dodge’.
    The picture will turn completely white but don’t worry.
  1. From the toolbar, select ‘Filter’, ‘Blur’, and then ‘Gaussian Blur’.
  2. Move the radius slider all the way to the left and then start moving it towards the right. As you do so a sketch of your image will start to appear.
  3. Adjust the slider until you’re satisfied and then click ‘OK’.
  4. Print the coloring page and add it to your coloring book of family photos.

GIMP

  1. Open the GIMP application.
  2. From the toolbar, select ‘File’ and then ‘Open’.
  3. Find your digital image and bring it into GIMP.
  4. In the Image Dialog Box, select ‘Filters’, ‘Artistic’, and then ‘Cartoon’.
    You will now have an outline of your image and make it look kind of like a comic book. This is a very important step. If you do not use this filter to outline your image, then when you remove the color, it will not have thick lines and defined features and details.
    A new box will appear which will allow you to change the settings.
  1. Lower the % Black to 0.100, and click ‘OK’.
  2. Select ‘Image/Indexed’.
    You will now be able to change the image to B&W. Changing the image to B&W will make it look like a coloring page with no colors in the picture. This will give you a good idea about what the finished product will look like.
    The ‘Indexed Color Conversion’ box will display.
  3. Under ‘Colormap’, select ‘Use black and white (1-bit) pallet’ and then click ‘Convert’ to see the final product.

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