First thing you need to know is that this is a process, rather than some simple settings. We will be first establishing a “style” for a layer, and then we will be, using an action assignment, collapsing the layer each time we want to “layer” on a new level of paint.

In order to create our “depth” desired, we will be using a combination of “bevel and emboss” and a drop shadow. This is how we make our brush strokes appear to be physically raised from the canvas, according to the amount of paint applied. You could, in fact, create more than one layer “style” to emulate various levels of paint application&dmash;from thick to thin.

So let’s get to it:

Step 1: Create your style

The “style” is applied to the layer. So first, let’s set up our canvas properly. Create a new document. Decide on your canvas size and resolution; it’s up to you. Now, make sure your first layer is called “background”. This layer needs to be locked, so that you have a base to work from. You can tell, when it has a “padlock” icon next to the name, like fig. 1-1.

fig. 1-1

If it doesn’t, you can still lock it yourself. Locate the list of menu icons in the layers palette that looks like this:
. . . and click on the “padlock” icon. Now, it’s ready.

Next, create a new layer (found at the bottom of the “Layers” palette). Click it to make a new layer. Now, to the right of the layer’s name, double-click in order to pull up the “Layer Style” (below) menu box. Here’s where we will establish our brushstroke’s style to make the effect of “paint thickness”.

On the left, you see various attributes which you can give a layer. We are going to use the “bevel and emboss” and the “drop shadow” attributes to create our “thick paint” effect. One thing to note on these, is that clicking the “checkbox” will activate the attribute, but in order to modify an attribute’s values, you have to select the name, so that it is highlighted, in order to make changes.

So let’s do that . . .

First, highlight “bevel and emboss”. Highlighting it will simultaneously both select it’s checkbox and pull up the information for that attribute.

Note: you can play with these values to get the desired effect; the settings that I am about to set forward are just an example.

Set the “style” to “inner bevel”
Set the technique to “smooth”
Set the depth to around “51%”
Set the direction to “up”
Set the size to “1″
In the “Shading” section, the angle us up to you. Mine, just so happened to be set at 120, with an altitude of 30.
All the other settings can be left on the defaults. You can refer to my above screenshot, if you like.

Now, do the same for the “drop shadow” attribute, following the settings in the following screenshot:

Finally, it’s time to assign our “style”. To do this, click the “New Style” button in the “Layer Style” menu box. This will pull up a dialogue box, asking you to give it a name. Name it something that you will recognize later, and click “OK” to save. Your style is ready to use in the next step.

Step 2: Create an Action

Creating an action is essentially creating a “macro”. If you don’t know what a macro is, it is a series of events combined into one action or “event”. Put simply, we will do a series of actions and record them, to be played in combination later, rather than going back through each event when we want to repeat the effect.

Start by pulling up the “actions” window. This can be found under the menu “Window” > “Actions”. Once this palette is visible, go back and make sure that your “Layers” palette has: 1) A background layer, 2) A new emtpy layer above that, and 3) The layer with our “style” above that. Refer to the image below:

Time to create our action: In the “Actions” palette, look for the icon in the top right corner. When the dropdown menu appears, select the second option, “new action”. This will then pull up a menu that will allow you to name your action. Again, give it a name that you will recognize, and also assign a function key to this action, from the “Function key” dropdown. I, personally assign “F1″. Then click “Record”. Once you hit record, any action that you take is recorded, so make sure that you don’t do this until you’re sure that you’re ready. Below lists the actions that you will take:

1. Make sure that the “styled” layer is selected and then “Merge Layer” (apple + e, on the mac)
2. Create a new layer to replace the old one
3. Add the layer style you created in step one, to this new layer. To do this, make sure that the layer is selected. Double-click next to the name of the layer to pull up the “Layer Style” menu again. Highlight the very first attribute, “Styles”. Now find your style and click it. Now close the “Layer Style” menu, by clicking “OK”.
4. In the “Actions” palette, click the little square in the bottom to stop recording your action

So what did we just do? Well, we created an action that would apply a new level of paint each time we hit the “F1″ key, or whatever function key you assigned to the action. Time to paint.

Step 3: Our “Action” in action

Select the brush tool. Give your brush whatever settings you like and begin painting away. The first thing that you will notice, is that your brush stroke now looks “raised”. This is what our layer “style” did. Second, you will notice that each brush stroke blends in to the other, without any added level of “depth”. To create another “level” of depth, hit your assigned function key (Example: F1) every now and then to create a new “layer” of depth. As you continue to repeat this process as you go along, your painting will begin to look like it has physical “height” or “depth” to it, rather than the typical “flat” look of a normal digital painting.

Paint on my little Van Gogh, paint on!

Hope this was helpful ; )

Step 1: Change your brush shape

Go to the Brush Tip Shape in the “Brushes” palette (F5). Here, you will find a diagram, similar to the one below, for your brush tip:

Click on one of the points around the circle and drag in to “squeeze” the brush tip into something more akin to a “hair” strand. You can also rotate the angle by grabbing the diagram at the “arrow” and rotating it at whatever angle you like. Refer to the example below:

This takes care of the brush tip shape. Now let’s set it up for “hairs”—plural.

Step 2: Scatter

Now, click on and highlight “Scattering” (Fig. 1 – 1).

Fig. 1 - 1

The default setting should work fine, but if not, set your “Scatter” to something like “38%”. Everything else, you can leave alone. Go to the next step.

Step 3: Shape Dynamics

Click on and highlight “Shape Dynamics”. For “Size Jitter,” I highly recommend setting “control” to Pen Pressure. This will cause your brush to shrink and expand depending on the level of pressure applied. This way, you can get “strands” of varying length, for a more realistic look.
Also, change the “Angle Jitter” control to “Direction.” You can also use “Initial Direction.” These settings will control the “grain” or “direction” of the strands of fur. Everything else, you can leave alone. Refer to Fig. 1 – 2:

Fig. 1 - 2

Step 4: Other Dynamics

Finally, click and highlight “Other Dynamics” and change the “Opacity Jitter” control to “Pen Pressure” and the “Flow Jitter” to “Pen Pressure,” as well. This will add softness and hardness, accordingly, to your brush strokes, according to the level of pressure that you apply. And that’s it. (See the final settings below.)

Final Settings

Some months ago, I learned a nifty little trick in Photoshop which allows you to take a scanned drawing and remove all of the background while keeping the drawing. This method is done without any use of the magic wand tool, the background erase tool, or any other messy manual erasing tool. “But how,” you ask. It’s simple. Just follow along below:

Before we do anything, we have to, of course, get our image into Photoshop. So scan your beautiful line-drawing, and open it in Photoshop. Once this is completed, go to step 1.

Step 1: Change image mode to Grayscale, and make a copy of the background layer

Go to the main menu and select: Image > Mode > Grayscale. It will ask you if you want to “Discard Color Information?” Have no fear! Click “discard.” (Note: if it first asks you if you want to flatten all layers, this is because you had more than one layer, so go ahead and hit “OK”) Now in the Layers palette, drag your background layer down to the icon and drop it on top of it. This will create a copy of the background layer called “Background copy.”

Example

Step 2: Create a Selection out of the line-drawing

Select all of your new copy layer. You can do this by simply holding “command” (control on the PC) and hitting “A” for “all.” Now, you should see “dancing ants” around the border of your image. In the main menu, select: Select > Load Selection. You should get the following dialogue box:

If it says, “Background Gray” —as it says above—in the “Channel” dropdown menu, then you’re on the right track! If not, check your steps and make sure that you did everything in the right order. Your “mode” may be the culprit. Make sure it’s set to “Grayscale.”

Once you hit “OK” you will now notice that the “dancing ants” are surrounding your line-drawing now, as well. Isn’t that awesome? Oh yeah, it’s way awesome!

Now, all that you really have is a simple selection like any other. Anything that you can do with a normal selection, you can do here. So, Let’s first delete the background . . .

Step 3: Isolating the line-drawing

In the Layers palette, highlight the “Background” layer. Now hit the little trash can icon at the bottom to delete it.

Example

OK, now make sure that the “Background copy” layer is still selected in the Layers palette and hit delete. You should see the background disappear and, in its place, the checkered background indicating “transparent” or “lack of any pixels.”

Now, if we want to do anything to our line-drawing, we have to invert the selection. Do this by going to the main menu, selecting: Select > Inverse, or simply hold “shift,” “command” and hit “I”. Once this is done, anything that we do will effect the line-drawing part. Go ahead and make sure that your foreground color is black or at least really dark. Now hold “command” and click the large “delete” button (backspace on the PC). This will fill the selected area with the foreground color; the reason that I had you check to make sure it was a dark color.

Finallly, hold “command” and hit “D” to “deselect” everything, and there you should see just your line-drawing. If you want a white background, simply create a new Layer in the Layers palette, move it below the line-drawing layer, and fill it with “white” either by our little “foreground color” fill trick, or by simply using the paint bucket tool. Now, you have a white background! If you need to add any color to this image, don’t forget to change the color mode back to “RGB” or any other color profile that you wish (CMYK, etc)