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Interested in turning photographs into works of digital art, such as cartoons, charcoal drawings, ink drawings, oil paintings, pastel drawings, and watercolors? Here are brief descriptions of some key software tools for desktop computers. Unless otherwise noted they work in Photoshop as plug-ins.
Topaz Impression
Topaz Impression is a free legacy product that is no longer supported; however it can still be downloaded. Impression is a very powerful and highly customizable tool for transforming photos and other images into a wide variety of digital artworks, such as drawings and paintings.
When you choose the Impression filter, you will see a cornucopia of controls. Here are some key adjustments:
- Bush: There are currently 17 different bush options.
- Number of strokes: High, medium, and low.
- Brush size.
- Paint volume: How thick does the paint look.
- Paint opacity: How transparent is the paint.
- Stroke rotation: If enabled, rotation variation can also be controlled.
- Stroke color variation: Increasing this value makes strokes have a wider range of color.
- Stroke width.
- Stroke length.
- Spill: Strokes “spill” out over their normal edges.
- Smudge: Strokes are blurred and stylized, losing detail.
- Coverage: How fully does the paint cover the canvas.
- Color: Each major color can be varied by hue, saturation, and lightness. Where the color is present in the image can be previewed. Hue, saturation, and lightness of the entire image can also be controlled.
- Lighting: Brightness, contrast, highlight, shadow, can be altered. Light position can be set.
- Vignette: Vignette size, strength, transition, roundness, color, and center position can be determined.
- Texture: Background material and background strength and solidity can be set.
You can modify your image directly with these controls or use an existing preset. After tweaking your settings, you can save them as a custom preset.
Impression is especially useful for charcoal drawings, colored pencil drawings, da Vinci drawings, oil paintings, and pastel drawings.
Overall, Impression is a powerful, full-featured digital art tool; however, it is unclear how long it will continue to be available and to remain functional.
Here's an example of an oil painting that was created using an earlier version of Impression and other programs:
Snap Art by Exposure
Snap Art is a full-featured Windows/Mac plug-in/standalone program that allows you to easily create charcoal drawings, color pencil drawings, comics, crayon drawings. impasto paintings, oil paintings, pastel drawings (including hard, oil, and soft pastel), pen and ink drawings, pencil sketches, Pointillism paintings, stylized illustrations, and watercolor paintings.
There are a variety of presets for each effect, and slider controls for background (e.g, for oil paint: brush size, photorealism, coverage, stroke length, and color variation), detail masking (similar controls as background), colors (e.g., brightness, contrast, and saturation), lighting (e.g., angle, direction, and highlight characteristics as well as vignette effect), and canvas effects (e.g, pastel paper). You can create your own presets. The ability to close side-panel controls permits a large preview space.
This program is especially useful for charcoal drawings, colored pencil drawings, oil paintings (try the detailed, dry brush, and thick paint settings), and pencil drawings. It has good canvas and paper texture effects.
Here's an example of a oil pastel drawing that was created using Snap Art and other programs:
FotoSketcher
FotoSketcher is a versatile standalone Windows program that allows you to create drawings, paintings, and a few other effects. It can transform photos into cartoons, oil paintings, oil pastel drawings, pen and ink drawings, pencil drawings, watercolor paintings. and other types of artworks. It is freeware.
Sliders and other controls for each effect allow you modify image rendition. For example, for the oil pastel sketch effect you can control minimum stroke size, maximum stroke size, number of iterations, edge intensity, and filter precision. You can also soften edges, add a frame, add texture, add text, and use a retouch brush. There is a small preview window in the floating control panel.
This program is especially useful for oil paintings, oil pastel drawings, and watercolors.
Here's an example of an oil painting that was created using FotoSketcher:
AKVIS Sketch
AKVIS Sketch is a Windows/Mac plug-in/standalone program that allows you to create drawings and watercolors. It offers a very wide variety of effects, such as charcoal, color pencil, lead pencil, pastel, and watercolor. The effects are organized into two groups: classic and artistic.
Sliders allow you to fine-tune these effects. For example, using the detailed sketch effect and the strokes panel, you can adjust pencil color and background color; alter stroke angle, thickness, and length; and control midtones hatching and intensity. Using the edges panel, you can alter sensitivity, edge width, and zone of influence. With the effects panel, you can adjust panel, shadows, noise, and contrast.
This program is especially useful for pencil drawings.
Here's an example of a black pen drawing that was created using AKVIS Sketch and other programs:
AKVIS OilPaint
AKVIS OilPaint is a Windows/Mac plug-in/standalone program that allows you to create oil paintings and oil pastel drawings You can alter simplicity, saturation, maximum stroke length, stroke thickness, stroke intensity, stroke curvature, wide background strokes, and random strokes. It offers a number of presets, including some unique ones (e.g., palette knife), and a number of different stroke types (e.g., flat and rounded). Additional controls allow you to control canvas, frame, and text effects.
If you like a fairly realistic painting style, try the high details or fine lines presets.
Here's an example of a oil painting that was created using AKVIS OilPaint:
Free Drawing Software For Mac
Dynamic Auto-Painter by MediaChance
Dynamic Auto-Painter, a Windows/Mac stand-alone program, allows you to paint in the style of famous painters, such as Paul Cézanne, Claude Monet, and Vincent van Gogh. It allows you to create a wide variety of types of artworks.
There are a variety of controls for each preset, such as brush strokes, canvas, detail brushes, faithfulness, realism, palette, and quality. It supports advanced (e.g, color shift), retouch, outline, canvas, material, color, and layer adjustments. Artwork rendering occurs in stages, with further user fine-tuning possible during some stages. It is possible to change the color palate of the original image by having the program use a second image as a color source. Some presets significantly change image coloration.
While the presets can be used to easily create artworks, the real power of this program is not revealed until you start using the advanced controls and directing brush strokes during the creation process.
This program is especially useful for aquarelle/watercolor paintings and oil paintings.
Here's an example of a oil painting that was created using Dynamic Auto-Painter and other programs:
JixiPix Programs
JixiPix offers a wide variety of low-cost Windows/Mac plug-in/standalone programs. They are categorized as professional software or hobbyists and enthusiasts apps. The professional software programs provide greater control over effects and can be used as Photoshop plug-ins. They can be purchased individually or as part of a bundle.
Especially useful JixiPix programs include:
- Aquarella (watercolor paintings)
- Artoon (cartoon drawings)
Here's an example of a watercolor painting that was created using Aquarella:
Other Digital Art Software to Consider
Depending on your artistic requirements and style, the following software may also be of interest.
- AKVIS ArtWork (comic, gouache, linocut, oil painting, pastel, pen & ink, pointillism, and watercolor effects)
- AKVIS Charcoal (charcoal and chalk drawings)
- AKVIS Draw (highly expressive, loose drawing effects; resource intensive)
- AKVIS Pastel (crayon, oil pastel, and pastel effects)
- AKVIS Watercolor (aquarelle and watercolor effects)
- JixiPix Impresso Pro (oil painting effects)
- JixiPix Pastello (chalk, crayon, pastel, and pencil effects)
- JixiPix Watercolor Studio
- ToonIt! (cartoon, graphic novel, woodcut, and other effects)
- Topaz Clean (cartoon effects; free legacy product that is no longer supported)
First-Line Recommendations by Type of Artwork
- Aquarelle/Watercolor: AKVIS Watercolor, Aquarella, Dynamic Auto-Painter, and FotoSketcher
- Cartoon: Arttoon, Topaz Clean, and ToonIt!
- Charcoal Drawing: Impression and Snap Art
- Colored Pencil Drawing: Impression and Snap Art
- Gouache: AKVIS ArtWork
- Oil Painting: AKVIS OilPaint, Dynamic Auto-Painter, FotoSketcher, Impression, and Snap Art
- Oil Pastel Painting: FotoSketcher
- Pastel Drawing: Impression and Snap Art
- Pencil Drawing/Sketch: AKVIS Sketch, Impression, and Snap Art
- Woodcuts: ToonIt!
Useful Photo Editing Software
The following software is recommended for editing artistic works:
- Exposure (very powerful full-featured photo editor with numerous useful presets; highly recommended)
- Luminar and Luminar Flex (powerful full-featured photo editors, especially useful for light ray effects)
- ON1 Photo RAW (powerful full-featured photo editor with numerous useful presets)
- Topaz ReStyle (a very powerful free legacy tool for changing image colors; highly recommended, but no longer supported.)
Art Creation Software For Mac Free
Purchase Advice
It is highly recommended that you download and test digital art software demos prior to purchase. Try all the presets. A software company's idea of what a good art effect is may not match your own, so experiment with changing the settings of unsatisfactory effects before concluding that the program cannot do what you want.
It is especially important to test the limits of a program and to determine what features can be disabled. For example, see how much detail you can get in a painting and check whether it is possible to turn off the texture effect (i.e, canvas).
In some cases, it is worth buying a program for one or two unique effects even though the rest may not be satisfactory or may duplicate effects you already have in other programs.
A detailed user manual—ideally in the PDF format—can be of great help in using advanced program features. Check to see if a manual is available. Looking at a product's video tutorials is also helpful in making a purchasing decision.
If possible, save older versions of software. New versions may drop or significantly change features you rely on.
Software Licensing and Sales Policies
AKVIS has separate home, home deluxe, and business licenses. Only business licenses allow commercial use.
JixiPix licenses have this clause: 'Output from SOFTWARE PRODUCT can be sold, shared, distributed, printed, etc. in any amounts without limitation as long as bulk of design is provided by you. This means you cannot take output from SOFTWARE PRODUCT that does not contain large portions of your image.'
Companies typically offer one or more software bundles, which reduce the prices of included products.
Some companies, such as Exposure, offer their products at substantial discounts during sales, which typically occur during major US holidays. These are especially good times to buy software bundles.
About the Author
Digital artist Charles W. Bailey, Jr. transforms public domain and personal photographs into noncommercial digital artworks using specialized Photoshop plug-ins and art programs.
He has made over 600 digital artworks freely available on Flickr, providing detailed information about how each artwork was created, and, for public domain images, attribution of the original image creator (if available). Bailey also posts new artworks on 500px.
Bailey's artwork files on Flickr are 300 DPI JPEGs that are 8 in. by 10 in. or larger. All files are under versions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial licenses (here is a representative license).
A comprehensive list of Bailey's digital artworks is available.
Isn’t it funny to see pictures of your friends, family, or even people you do not know as cartoons on their Facebook profiles or as their avatars? If you are curious about how to create some of these cute cartoon faces by yourself, then you might be interested in some cartoon making software. Certain cartoon making software programs can set you back a few dollars, but there are also some free software programs and a host of great sites online that will allow you to create a cartoon for free in just a few simple steps. Take a peek at our list of the top 13 cartoon making software programs and cartoon making websites to help you get creative. If you’re looking to do it yourself from scratch, check out this course on 2D animation design to get started.
Free Cartoon Making Software
1: Inkscape
Inkscape is a free software program that has imaging editing and creating abilities similar to Adobe Illustrator. Inkscape is an open software that will run on a variety of programs, such as Windows, Mac, and Linux. Here are some features that Inkscape provides:
- Inkscape can create logos and other forms of artwork from scratch.
- It can draw cartoons and artwork for animation use.
- It will convert bitmap images into vector images.
- Inkscape can be used to design websites and interface mockups in a quick and timely manner.
2: Pencil
If you are looking for a free and easy to use cartoon making software program, Pencil might be a good program to start off with. Pencil is an open source 2D cartoon animation and drawing program. It will run on Windows, Mac, and Linux and provide you with the following tools:
- Import background images from a file and draw backgrounds for a picture.
- Use multiple layers to create cartoons and other animated objects.
- Pencil will draw each of its frames manually or apply copy and paste to create images.
- It will export your cartoon or animation in .FLV format or in individual images for each frame.
- You can easily add sound to your cartoon or animation.
3: Tupi
Tupi is a free 2D cartoon and animation drawing program that is limited to Linux processing systems. Tupi is a lot like Pencil and can do everything that Pencil can do, as well as:
- Use a variety of common video formats to export animations.
- It can “tween” objects from one another. This allows users to not have to manually draw each frame.
- Use and work with vector images.
4: Scratch
If you are looking for a cartoon making software to teach a young person or young adult programming skills, consider Scratch. Scratch is an educational cartoon making software produced by MIT, and can be used to create fun and basic animations and cartoons. Scratch is open source and will run on Windows, Mac, and Linux. Scratch will help you do the following things:
- It can create cartoons and animations by drawing sprites and triggers that can make the sprites move and change.
- Develop interactive games by using dropping and dragging commands to build a code.
- You can share your Scratch creations online with other Scratch users.
5: SynfigStudio
Synfig Studio is a 2D animation and drawing program for more advanced cartoon and animation making. SynfigStudio is an open source platform and is compatible with Windows, Mac, and Linux. If you are just starting out with cartoon making, you might want to stick to some of the more simple programs above. This particular cartoon making software has a steep learning curve and will enable you to work with vector images.
Free Cartoon Making Websites
These free cartoon making sites will allow you to create a cartoon that you can share online.
6: WeeWorld
In WeeWorld you can create a cartoon of yourself and have access to online social games and mobile applications. WeeWorld gives you the chance to explore and expand your knowledge with thoughtful game play applications from charitable campaigns to drug awareness programs.
7: Manga Avatar Face Maker
Manga is a popular website that allows your to create a cartoon character of yourself using an Avatar Face Maker. This program allows you to select your specific eyes, hair, lips, and mouth to create the ideal cartoon character for you.
8: Custom Anime
This is a great place to create a very specific cartoon character for yourself that focuses not only on your face but your entire body as well. You will be in charge of the dress of your character and any accessories you might find handy.
9: Cartoon Pho.to.
With Cartoon Pho.to, you can take any picture that you want and cartoon it. You can carton your face into different emotions, and you can also cartoon still life photos.
10: Wooz World
If your child, pre-teen, or teenager is interested in playing with some creative magic, Wooz World is a great and safe online place to dive into a virtual world. There are no downloads required and you can play entirely online. It will enable you to cartoon yourself and play in an alternate cartoon world.
11: Build Your Wild Self
This is a fun and interactive website where you can create a cartoon character of yourself using different wild and imaginative body parts. For instance, you can add the wings of a dragon onto your body for a cool and fun effect. Basically, you are combining body parts from various wild animals with that of a human for a fun and imaginative take on the cartooning process.
12: OSOQ
OSOQ is a very easy and fun place to create a cartoon character online that requires almost little to no effort. It is a basic and fun photo avatar editor.
13: Cartoonize
Another website that will allow you to cartoon your face, Cartoonize provides a simple solution to creating a cartoon of your photo. The site will easily allow you to upload a photo directly from your computer and alter it and apply effects as you wish.
Master The Art of Cartooning
These different types of cartoon making software and cartoon making websites will give you the chance to dive into an alternate world of animation that will add fun and entertainment to your image by creating a cartoon version of yourself and others. If you want to be able to master 2D animation, check out this cartoons and animation tutorial using both hand drawn and digital techniques.