Create Drawings and Watercolors from Photos

Theresa Stone

AKVIS Sketch is an award-winning program for conversion of photos into pencil sketches and watercolor paintings. The program has already won the recognition of professionals and delighted home users with its neat results. However, there is no end to perfection and the company released a new version of AKVIS Sketch with many improvements.
With AKVIS Sketch you do not need to handle a pencil to feel like an artist. All you need to create your original work of art is good taste and AKVIS Sketch. Make any photo look like a B&W or color drawing, imitate the technique of graphite or color pencil, charcoal or watercolor painting.
The program works in an entertaining way. You can observe the conversion of a photo into a drawing or watercolor painting in real time and even interrupt the process (Esc button) when the required result is achieved.
Once you have converted your photo into a drawing, you can add some special effects (the Background tab). Create a blend of a drawing and a photo; imitate motion or add a “time machine effect” by swirling the background. Put an accent to certain parts of the image by blurring the rest of it in an artistic way. It is especially useful when the final drawing contains too many details in the background that divert attention.
Also, the parameters on the Canvas tab let you add a rough surface to your image, as if it has been drawn on canvas, corrugated paper, brick wall, etc.
It is also possible to add a signature or a greeting to your pencil drawings to personalize the work of art.
Version 9.0 of AKVIS Sketch has a new improved algorithm for photo-to-sketch conversion (the option to use the old algorithm remains). The program has a new parameter field for edge definition. Now it is possible to manipulate the thickness and sharpness of the outlines.
The version adds the possibility to change the saturation of color strokes when using color pencil drawing mode (check-box Color Pencil).
Added 7 ready-to-use AKVIS presets (B&W Sketch, WaterColor, Charcoal Low, Charcoal High, Color Pencil Low, Color Pencil High, Pastel).
Also it is now possible to import/export a list of presets.
Sketch can be useful on many occasions. Surprise your friends and relatives by presenting them with their pencil portraits. Make a watercolor drawing out of a photo from your last nature shooting to decorate your room. Convert your own photo into a color sketch to print on a T-shirt. Create a comic out of your party videos.
The program can be helpful to designers who need to quickly bring images to one style for a web-site or an advertisement booklet.
Using batch processing in Photoshop or Paint Shop pro (only for the plugin version) you can even convert a film into a cartoon. For a free trial, AKVIS offers 10 days of fully functional use.
AKVIS Sketch is available as a stand-alone application, as well as a plugin to a photo editor. The plug-in version of AKVIS Sketch is compatible with Adobe Photoshop and Photoshop Elements, Corel Painter, Corel Photo-Paint, and Paint Shop Pro, and PhotoImpact. AKVIS Sketch runs on Microsoft Windows 2000/2003/XP/Vista/Win 7 and on Macintosh Mac OS X 10.4-10.6. The program supports newest systems Windows 7 and Snow Leopard.
AKVIS Sketch Home License (plugin or standalone) sells for $72 USD, downloadable from AKVIS.com. Home users can enjoy the full line of AKVIS plugins in the AKVIS Alchemy bundle for USD $325 USD, huge savings over purchasing each separately. For business licenses consult the official Web site.