How to Extract *Pencil Sketches* and *Line Art* | Photoshop CC 2018

In this tutorial I will show you how to Extract your Light Grey Pencil and Marker sketches from their Backgrounds without using multiply in Photoshop CC 2018. This will give far more possibilities!
Bonus: I will show you how to Color the extracted line!
PS: This method will work in older versions of Photoshop.
If you are struggling with Photoshop or Digital Painting, please write in comments below so I can help you out!
Cheers!

[@MairaCanalesIllustrator]

can't believe it took me hours to find someone who actually taught me to do what I was trying to do. Thanks for posting this.

[@DigitalPaintingTips]

Glad I could help.

[@berjo]

Thank you so much for making this video, almost 4 years later and it's still relevant!

[@neelav2394]

This is some wizardry you pulled off, I never thought I could get this clean with my pencil drawing extractions. Amazing!

[@OneWingedErin]

You have saved me so much headache in transferring my sketches into digital! I'm not comfortable sketching digitally right now and I like doing it on paper to then finish in Photoshop. Thank you for the tutorial and thanks for showing a couple different types of images!

[@leanne73]

Ive literally wanted to know this for so long, thank you soooo much!!!

[@mar_illustrates]

WOW! Thanks so much for posting this! Had been struggling for a while figuring this out.

[@AngeleahE]

This was incredibly helpful, thank you so much for taking the time to explain this. I was terrified to try this before.

[@marievalencia4026]

So wonderfully helpful! Thank you for this video - 6 years on and still helping out here! :)

[@DigitalPaintingTips]

Glad it was helpful!

[@ricke4017]

Almost 4 years later and still relevant :) Thank you!

[@carolinestanley3301]

This video is perfect! Just what I needed to know! Thank you for sharing such fantastic knowledge

[@elefontstationery9267]

Amazing! Thank you that has worked perfectly! Very clear and concise tutorial too! 5 stars!!

[@horselovr4evr]

Excellent video, it's hard to find the right Photoshop help that's to-the-point and not too fast-paced, but this was one of the gems I had to save.

[@amadeavalerie3175]

Wah! Thank you so much for the tutorial. I have been struggling to transfer traditional sketches for so long.

[@FeralSwift]

Fantastic! Super easy to follow, instant save. Thank you so much! I was losing my dang mind trying to figure this out.

[@alphanumericskeptic]

Love it!! Thank you so much teacher!! That was very helpful in my learning experiences.

[@8milestocandy]

Dang. That was so straight forward. THANK YOU!

[@psygaming2126]

ahh. atlast! you answered my questions 😂. u have earned urself a subscriber 😂

[@audreylaurentia7038]

Never knew i needed this! Thank you, it is very much appreciated!

[@aimeefritz9186]

This is photoshop magic! Thanks for explanation!

[@dlawn1030]

thank you for this you beautiful human ! I'm sure I'll be back here time and time again

[@watchthewindblowby]

I agree with the other folks, not much else out there on this. Huge help. Maybe now I'll be able to do my own scans and not pay someone else to have them done. Thanks for the video!

[@damiansalinas5295]

Thank you sooo much for making this tutorial. It really helps.

[@Lily-bz3sp]

You are an incredible human being. Thank you!

[@suzy8455]

Brilliant thank you! Works a treat!

[@carrino15]

So helpful short straight to the point video. Not sure how to thank you enough for it. :)

[@anonforyou]

THANK YOUUUU!!! You are a life saver!

[@xiaomaitian6753]

Amazing tutorial! Thank you!

[@rdinetainmoun5549]

Very useful and straight to the point, thanks!

[@qheswa]

Thank you man, subscribed 🙏

[@feeddannyo2061]

You made my day, man!

[@sindhujasai1345]

Thank you. This is exactly what I wanted to know. It'll be helpful for my portfolio so thank youuu❤

[@zaklay9399]

Dude this is the video I was looking for!!

[@S-ivanov]

Legend! Thank you :)

[@soygarlicwings2589]

thank you this is so helpful!!

[@jianisheng4757]

Thank you so much for this. Life saver!

[@ivanabrahams9546]

Great explanation. Thank you very much!!!

[@wonscape]

exactly what i was looking for, thank you so much!!!

[@JulieJohnstoneReyes]

This is an amazing video. Thank you!!

[@elhamahmadi2972]

So cool! It fascinates me how photoshop has a lot of features I don't know they even exist

[@myshitaddress]

Awesome video. Thanks so much!

[@TheGreasyGoblin916]

Brilliant! This is a game changer for me. Thanks!

[@DigitalPaintingTips]

Glad it was helpful! Here is a link for how to create an action to make this process super fast with 1 click! kzbin.info/www/bejne/mGO8cqZpnKiBhpYsi=ST9x2UDXeBEJphVH

[@Adam-kx2tp]

Thanks so much for sharing this!

[@trashtbyghosts]

thanks robert revels ur the man!

[@zdeadfalloutxx8084]

You sir are a saviour :')

[@kikogod]

Fantastic tutorial man. Thank you so much!

[@DigitalPaintingTips]

Thank you my friend! I really appreciate the kind words.

[@hz804]

Thank you very much, I have to edit my drawing for my last assignment, and your video was cool, and I'll try it! Have a nice day

[@julianmann2176]

Great video, thank you!

[@darthpaul5534]

Thanks for this. A very handy tip :)

[@danbobs25]

You have made my day. I've just completed a load of illustrations for a children's book and was trying to work out how to convert my pencil drawings into an isolated layer so I could recolour and prep for using in Illustrator...this solved the question and I'm now feeling a lot more confident with what I need to do. So thank you.

[@DigitalPaintingTips]

I’m glad I was able help

[@santiagoromero3475]

Wow! I'm currently finishing up my bachelor's architecture portfolio and this was so helpful! I have so many sketches but when I try to put them in the portfolio they don't fit in since the paper looks so much different than the pure white of the computer. Thanks!

[@craigmartin1975]

Very useful. Thanks

[@kisslyinglees4346]

Thank you so much for this. Very helpful!

[@DigitalPaintingTips]

I am glad you liked it.

[@naissketching395]

Omg Thank you so much! =_= other tutorials were sa confusing - love you XD

[@333deltasa2]

Thank you very much, pal!!

[@leuvafamily8554]

Very useful!

[@NeoNovastar]

THANK YOU KING!!!

[@tirthyatra5528]

thank you so much! :D

[@jenniferfoster1692]

Thank you, very cool! I was looking for how to do this everywhere, found nothing until I saw your video. Awesome!

[@DigitalPaintingTips]

I am glad this helped. If you're interested I created a new video showing how to make a one-click action to do the process faster. kzbin.info/www/bejne/mGO8cqZpnKiBhpYsi=7LNtmyTSpjJuNhH1 Best Wishes!

[@jenniferfoster1692]

@@DigitalPaintingTips Thank you!

[@alexandraleafe9727]

brilliant!!

[@wayoncollins1952]

Thank you, much appreciated

[@hanyiwang4705]

Cool tutorial! Like the way you teach.

[@DigitalPaintingTips]

Thank you, much appreciated.

[@sawyoonsandy7827]

Thank you very much it just work out for me...thank you

[@kenmorris2858]

Great tip

[@rosewooddragon]

you are a star

[@Eyespiral]

perfect. thank you.

[@jenniferbogartz4924]

Thank you!

[@mxxxx4365]

i have to have 4 drawings done this way and print it by 1pm tomorrow and im not a very good written down instruction learner and this was sooooo helpful i finally did it right and im so happy. Thanks you

[@DigitalPaintingTips]

I'm glad I could help!

[@analoggurl]

Very helpful

[@vivian_01_]

Thank you sooooooo much

[@faithbelt6504]

Literally so helpful...his changes everything I've been doing. Thank you. Do you scan or photograph your drawing before putting it into Photoshop? What settings do you scan it at?

[@bluehorse1495]

This video was so helpful , I draw digitally a lot, but I still like paper sketching. Thank you

[@DigitalPaintingTips]

bluehorse 1 nothing like paper!

[@sophiastoll6431]

oh my god thank you so much I thought I was going insane

[@charlotterosenkilde]

Thank you 🙏🏻

[@TheMrSlyxx]

OMG thank you for this. You don't know how long I sat there trying to manually grab each line. Also, how do we take the linework, copy it to another layer, and then put the linework back on top of the image after adding color to it?

[@potatoesgames]

This is the S*it! Thank you Sir!

[@fraserhawkins254]

Thanks for making this video, it was very helpful. I have to wonder though, since this seems like something a lot of artists want to do, why it's so complicated and counter intuitive in PS.

[@DigitalPaintingTips]

I know it is a challenge. Photoshop is really meant for photographers and the art part has been an after thought. In Clip Studio, they have a one step process. That works even better.

[@francisconada6265]

thank you so much for this enlightning tutorial! is there a way to do the same procedure for more abstract brush strokes (like in Mark Rothko's paintings)?? Thank you so much :)

[@DigitalPaintingTips]

Where there is a will there is a way. I will create a video with possible solutions. Check back in a couple of weeks!

[@evolionbot]

Thanks

[@rosewooddragon]

do you have a tutorial that covers landscapes because I cannot really use the lasso tool to select the whole page. Thanks

[@halfpastdagodhour3953]

Can you please try to make one of these for GIMP image manipulator

[@pulentsoane6706]

Please share a video doing the copic sketch from start.

[@kponly]

This is interesting. Can you show some ways to use the technique?

[@kennethreaume1508]

I've had to re-watch this so many times, excellent tutorial! I wish I could make a photoshop action - it doesn't seem to allow me to. Tips?

[@DigitalPaintingTips]

Kenneth Reaume I will make a demo for you. Give me about a week. I have a couple deadlines on some projects.

[@kennethreaume1508]

Digital Painting Tips that would so amazing if you could, I’d be so grateful. Thank you so much.

[@watchthewindblowby]

This is super cool but does anyone know how to color in the pencil lines on PS Elements? It's not set up the same as regular PS and I don't see the channels like it shows in this video to be able to select the value of the drawing.

[@Mayrboomer]

Thank you! Great tutorial. You’ve helped me a lot. I draw a lot and after scanning a pencil drawing into ps, I have a LOT of smudges and eraser marks and extra pencil lines on the original drawing. I need to draw cleaner, use a glove or paper to shield the paper from smudges while I draw, but I wonder if there is an easier way to get rid of these smudges and not have to use the eraser tool and clone tool to very slowly and painstakingly remove these dots and smudges. Contrast and levels helps a bit. I also use the magic wand to try to select the background to fill it with the paper colour. But it often washes out the drawing. I’m lost. Help?!

[@DigitalPaintingTips]

Can you send me a low res jpg, so I can see what your drawings look like. Send to [e-mail]. I can see if I have a solution for you.

[@DigitalPaintingTips]

Thanks for feedback!

[@Adel20286]

Wow 🤩 🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩 Mercy🙏🏻 Dankeschön 🙏🏻 Thank you 🙏🏻 ممنونم التشکر 💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛

[@fredfreeland2384]

Is this method the same as using the pen tool? I have been trying to learn how to trace a hand drawn sketch, but I can’t figure out how to group the pen tool lines once the entire drawing has been traced with the pen tool. Need help. Also I’m working on the 2022 version.

[@darijaz8]

Hi, can u tell me how can extract a color sketch in png as well?

[@Lawdhavemercyyy]

How does the rbg stage work?

[@ScotCampbellwindowpainter]

Whistling stop😮

[@JeremiahLambertArt]

always wondered this in PS, clip studio paint literally has a one click auto thing for this. as always though plenty of adjustability to the long ways though in PS.

[@suzi-ml8ep]

does this work for colered layers/ line drawings/ textures?

[@DigitalPaintingTips]

This will work. You may lose a little detail, but it works. I've used this with real swatches for texture.

[@RetroRocky]

How did you create the orange border in your thumbnail

[@DigitalPaintingTips]

I create my thumbnails in Canva. www.canva.com/

[@tonyd7177]

hi there ,does the bkgrnd have to be white for this to work ??

[@DigitalPaintingTips]

Yes, if you want a clean extraction.

[@hendyyoga8775]

rather difficult to find the shortcut key when using a PC

[@abrahampetrow6750]

Had to turn it off because of stupid music in background.

[@walkersmith8276]

great video. terrible music

[@glennfleming]

Great tutorial, but please get rid of the 'music' in the background. Very irritating.

[@jorpixs]

Great tutorial! Thank you

[@sf6302]

Thank you!