Cartoon effect in Pixlr

Mar 13, 2013

Not sure if anyone is interested in this but I was keen to investigate a cartoon style approach I'm working on. I don't have Photoshop (or other high-end image editing package) but instead use Pixlr the free online picture editor. I had a play around and have found a combination of built-in filters that create the type of effect I was after so I thought I would share this. See screenshot below for end result.

For the characters I did the following:

Open Image > Adjustment - Posterize (it defaults to 4 but I increased this to between 10-14) > Filter - Mimic HDR

For the backgrounds I did the following:

Open Image > Adjustment - Hue and Saturation set to 0 to make image black and white > Adjustment - Posterize (10-20 seemed to work depending on level of detail) > Filter - Mimic HDR > Adjustment - Solarize

I think this works quite well and is free (as is the font, although I can't recall where I found this!)

8 Replies

Nancy Woinoski
Hero

11 years ago03/13/13 at 9:03 am (UTC)

This looks really great Greg.

Steve Flowers

11 years ago03/13/13 at 1:20 pm (UTC)

Neat-o. A few tools I like for "cartoonizing" photos are

Gimp -- it's FREE (Windows or Mac) -- http://ocaoimh.ie/2004/10/01/cartoonizing-photos-with-the-gimp/
ComicLife -- Does an *OK* job. Not my first choice for "sketchifying" but the dialog components are ace.
Akvis Sketch -- NOT FREE but really fantastic -- http://akvis.com/en/sketch/index.php
PhotoSketcher -- CHEAP for Mac only but also fantastic -- http://akvis.com/en/sketch/index.php

If you own an iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch like Apple device there are several apps that do a decent job at sketching photos.

I can't confirm it but I suspect Akvis Sketch was used for this example from Cathy Moore:

http://blog.cathy-moore.com/2010/05/elearning-example-branching-scenario/

Sarah Tinson

11 years ago04/25/13 at 8:05 pm (UTC)

Hi Greg,

I love it - can you remember what the font is called? It looks a lot easier to read than the one I use for a similar effect.

Cheers

Sarah.

Greg Cannon
Author

11 years ago04/25/13 at 11:21 pm (UTC)

thanks! The font is called Comic Book and I believe it was a free download although I can't recall the site...

Bruce Graham
Hero

11 years ago04/27/13 at 2:28 am (UTC)

Love that Greg

Let's also not forget that PowerPoint 2010 has a whole load of effects that can be used for "cartoon" style imaging, (but I used your saturation settings )

Slightly different look and feel to yours but here's a starter for ten...utilising 2 x photos, a hand-drawn "splash" and the "Digitalstrip" font.

@Steve - thanks for that list.

Bruce

Natalia Mueller

11 years ago04/29/13 at 12:52 pm (UTC)

Hi Greg- that looks great! Thanks for posting and sharing the settings

Marty King

11 years ago04/30/13 at 6:37 am (UTC)

Very nice Gregg. I've used Fotosketcher to create a "comic" feel. It is a free tool.

Kelly McGuire

almost 11 years ago07/08/13 at 7:04 am (UTC)

Sarah Tinson said:

Hi Greg,

I love it - can you remember what the font is called? It looks a lot easier to read than the one I use for a similar effect.

Cheers

Sarah.

Nice work Greg! big thumbs up, I like it alot