Out of Bounds Sketch

This tutorial takes my previous one (Photo to Pencil Sketch) a step further by creating part of the image as an ink outline sketch and applying it to torn paper. You will learn one method of creating torn edges in this tutorial – there are many different ways to do it. Using free stock images and Photoshop’s built-in tools, create this interesting way of displaying your photos

Note: If you use a different photograph for this tutorial you will have to adjust the settings to suit the image

Step 1

Create a new file using the following settings:

Fill the background with grey #3B3B3B

Step 2

Open the butterfly image

Image>Size – set the width to 1000, auto height, click OK

Select>All (Ctrl + A)

Edit>Copy (Ctrl + C)

Make your project active

Edit>Paste (Ctrl + V)

Rename the layer ‘photo’

Duplicate the layer – turn off the visibility of this layer

Step 3

Double click on the photo layer in the layers palette to bring up the blending options and apply the following Inner Glow settings:

Ctrl + T to transform the object

Rotate the image slightly and move it to the top left corner of the canvas, as shown below:

Step 4

Restore visibility to the photo copy layer

Rename the layer ‘sketch 1’

Image>Adjustments>Desaturate

Duplicate the layer – name this layer ‘sketch 2’

Image>Invert (Ctrl + I)

Set the layer mode to Color Dodge (you won’t see a lot on the screen at this moment – but that is as it should be!)

Filter>Other>Minimum – apply the following settings:

Step 4

Double click on the sketch 2 layer in the layers palette to bring up the blending options and apply the following Color Overlay settings:

Merge the 2 sketch layers together – name the merged layer ‘sketch’

Turn off the visibility of this layer

Ctrl + T to transform the object

Hold down the Shift key to constrain the proportions and reduce the size of the image a little

Step 5

Open the Wrinkled Notebook Paper texture

Image>Image Size – set the width to 800, auto height, click OK

Select>All (Ctrl + A)

Edit>Copy (Ctrl + C)

Make your project active

Make the photo layer active

Edit>Paste (Ctrl + V)

Rename the layer ‘paper’

Step 6

Open the Torn Envelope texture

Select the Magic Wand tool and click somewhere on the white edge of the image

Select>Inverse

Edit>Copy (Ctrl + C)

Make your project active

Edit>Paste (Ctrl + V)

Ctrl + T to transform the object

Hold down the shift key and reduce the size of the envelope until it is a little wider than the paper

Duplicate the layer

Ctrl + T to transform the object

Right click within the transform box and click Rotate 90°CW

Rotate the envelope a little

Place it as required to make the side tear of the paper

Working on both of the envelope layers in turn, create a layer mask by clicking the icon at the bottom of the layers palette and mask out the overlapping parts, so you end up with something similar to this:

Step 7

Merge the 2 envelope layers together

Ctrl + Click on the thumbnail of this merged layer in the layers palette to select the pixels

Select>Inverse

Make the paper layer active and hit the delete key

You can now delete the envelopes layer

Select the Rectangular Marquee tool

Drag out a rectangle at the bottom of the paper to give it a straight edge and hit the delete key

Step 8

Restore visibility to the sketch layer

Reduce the opacity until you can see the paper underneath it

Place the image as required on the paper

Restore layer visibility

Step 9

Add a layer mask to the sketch layer by clicking on the icon at the bottom of the layers palette

Select a hard, round brush

Mask out all parts of the sketch that are not required

You should end up with something like this:

Step 10

Make the paper layer active

Apply a layer mask by clicking on the icon at the bottom of the layers palette

Mask out the holes in the left margin

Merge the paper layer and the sketch layer together

Step 11

Ctrl + T to transform the object

Right click within the transform box and click on Warp

Follow the instructions below:

Step 12

Create a new layer

Select the Brush tool, a soft round brush, foreground colour grey #DDDADA

Paint shadows over the 3 corners of the paper as shown below – don’t worry about going over the outside edges:

Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur – apply the following settings:

Reduce the layer opacity to around 70%

Ctrl + Click on the thumbnail of the paper/sketch layer to select the pixels

Select>Inverse

Make sure the shadows layer is active and hit the Delete key

Merge this layer with the paper/sketch layer

Step 13

Double click on the layer in the layers palette to bring up the blending options and apply the following Drop Shadow settings:

Step 14

Open the Hand image

By your chosen method, make a selection around the hand

Edit>Copy (Ctrl + C)

Make your project active

Edit>Paste (Ctrl + V)

Apply a layer mask by clicking on the icon at the bottom of the layers palette

Reduce the layer opacity so you can see the paper below the hand

Mask away all of the hand that should be ‘under’ the paper

Step 15

Create a new layer below the hand layer

Select a soft, round brush – size around 65px, foreground colour black

Paint a line under the thumb that extends the thumb a little to the left

Reduce the layer opacity to around 35%

You can now right click on any layer and click Flatten Image, then crop the image as required.

The finished project:

I hope you have enjoyed this tutorial and learnt something from it. It is always nice to be able to display your photographs in different ways and there are many tutorials to do that.