HOW TO Create a painting from a photo

1 Open source image

Choose File > Open and browse to a shot that would suit a painting makeover. Click Open. In the Photo Painting panel, click Use Open Image. Go to the Auto-Painting menu and choose a style such as Oil Painting.

2 Auto-paint it

Click Start. A message appears saying ‘Now Preparing Auto-painting…’. Painter automatically places brush tips that smear the picture’s pixels into paint-like strokes. When you’re happy with the look, click Stop.

3 Paint by hand

Select the Brush tool. Click on the Photo Painting Brushes icon. Go to the Photo Painting Brushes category and choose Camel Oil Cloner. Paint over key features, such as the subject’s eyes to reveal important detail.

4 Mix your media

Go to the Layers panel and click New Layer. Go to the Auto-Paint section and choose AI Colored Pencil. Click Start. Painter will add pencil strokes to the new layer. Click Stop when enough strokes have been added.

5 Add surface texture

Click on the Canvas layer. Click on Effects > Surface Control > Apply Surface Texture. Set Using to 3D Brush Strokes. By modifying properties such as Softness, you can add an embossed edge to your 2D paint strokes.

6 Fine-tune layers

You can reduce the Opacity of the AI Colored Pencil layer to produce more subtlelooking pencil strokes. Use the Eraser tool to remove any automatically placed pencil strokes that don’t work or are too distracting.