how to trace an image using photoshop

Draw a picture in Photoshop to practice drawing

Do you want to trace over an image in Adobe Photoshop? Tracing a picture is a great, easy way to improve your drawing skills for a variety of subjects. To trace an image, you’ll want to create separate layers for the background, image, and trace to keep them organized. Then, you can use the Pen, Brush, or Pencil tools to draw on the image. This wikiHow teaches you the easiest way to use Adobe Photoshop to trace the lines of an image in Windows or Mac.

[Edit]things you should know

Set up 3 layers: a white background, the original image, and a tracing layer.
Set the image to 50% Opacity to make it easier to drag.
Use the Pencil, Brush, or Pen tool to trace over the image.

[Edit]step

[Edit]Image setting for tracing

Open the image you want to trace in Photoshop. Tracing pictures is an easy way to get good at drawing and practice your line art skills. You can use any image file on your computer. To open the image:
- Click file in the menu bar.
- Click open,
- Select the image you want to trace.
- The image will open in a Photoshop file with a layer named “Background”.
Click in the menu bar.
Click, then click.
- You can give your new layer a different name. Otherwise, it would be called “[Name of your first layer] copy.”
- If this option is grayed out, click the layer in the Layers panel and click coat re.
Click on the duplicate layer in the “Layers” window. It’s in the lower-right side of the screen. This will select the layer.
Set the Opacity of the duplicate layer to 50%. You can do this by clicking on the “Opacity” menu in the upper-right corner of the Layers menu and selecting 50%,
To lock a layer, click the padlock icon at the top of the Layers window. This will prevent unwanted editing in the layer. If you want to change its opacity again, you’ll need to unlock it first.
Create a new layer. To do this, click coat menu, select Newand then click coat, This will open a new Layer Options window.
Name the layer “Tracing” and click. This will create a new blank layer at the top of your layers list.
Click on the layer named “Background” in the Layers window. This selects the Background layer.
Press (PC) or (Mac). This fills the background layer with white. You should now have three layers in the Layers tab:
- A “tracing” layer on top.
- A locked layer with your image in the middle.
- A closed, white background layer at the bottom.
  - If the layers are not in this order, drag them to arrange them that way.

[Edit]tracing image

Click on Layer at the top of the window. This switches to your tracing layer.
Click on the menu and choose the Zoom option. Here you can select a zoom option to make it easier to trace the image:
- Click 200% To enlarge the image up to 200%.
- Click zoom in Or zoom out To adjust the zoom incrementally.
- Click fit on screen To fit the entire image canvas in your workspace window.
Choose a color to trace with. to do this:
- Click one of the overlapping squares in the lower-left corner of the window (below the tool options).
- Select a color in the spectrum.
- Change the color of the paint using the square on the left.
- Click Correct to confirm the color.
Choose a tool from the Tools menu on the left side of the window. Photoshop has a lot of tools for artwork. There are a few tools in particular that would work well for tracing:
- Pencil Tool: This tool creates hard-edge lines. The trace will have a “sketch” form. The Pencil Tool is a pencil-shaped icon. If you see a paintbrush icon but not a pencil icon, long-click the paintbrush icon, then click pencil tool,
- brush tool: This tool creates soft strokes. The edges of the lines will look smoother than with the Pencil tool. The Brush tool is an icon shaped like a paintbrush. If you see a pencil icon but not a paintbrush icon, long-click the pencil icon, then click brush tool,
- pen tool: This tool creates editable paths with anchor points that can be moved or adjusted. The pen tool works well for tracing objects you want to change after you’ve finished tracing. Click on the fountain pen icon to select the pen tool.
Adjust the Pencil and Brush tool settings. They’re in the upper-left part of the window.
- To adjust the stroke size and hardness, click the drop-down next to the tool’s icon in the tool settings bar.
- Click the folder icon to the right of the Size drop-down to adjust the size and properties of the brush or pencil.
Adjust the Pen Tool settings. They’re in the upper-left part of the window.
- If you want to use the pen tool to draw a path as a trace, click the drop-down to the right of the icon and click path,
Start tracing. It takes time to make a good picture! Don’t move quickly when using your mouse, trackpad, or drawing stylus to move the tool over the line you want to trace.
- To use the Pencil and Brush tools, click and hold while you drag the tool over the lines. Release the click to move the tool and start a new stroke.
- To use the Pen Tool, click and release along the lines of the image you’re tracing and a line will appear between each set of points. To draw curved lines, click and drag to the next point in the path.
Convert the path to a shape or stroke (Pen Tool). If you use the Pen tool to trace the image, you can use the path to create a shape or stroke that fills or follows the path. This will actually replace your pen paths with the lines in your drawing. to do this:
- Click on the way of tab.
- With the path selected, click the filled circle at the bottom of the Paths tab to fill the path with the foreground color.
- Or, choose the Brush or Pencil tool. Adjust stroke settings. Then press the unfilled circle to create an even stroke along the path.
Hide original image. To see how your work is progressing, click the eye icon next to the middle layer containing the original image. The image will disappear and you’ll see your tracing on a white background.
- When you’re finished, click Look in the menu bar, then click 100% To view your image at its actual size.
- You can flip the image to check for mistakes.
- When you’re done with the trace, resize the image as needed.
save your image. to do this:
- Click file in the menu bar.
- Click save Or save as…,
- Name your file and click save,