Click View on the menu bar.
Click on 200% to enlarge the image. Or, in the View drop-down menu, click Enlarge or Reduce to resize the image as needed to create an outline.
Choose a color for the outline. To do this, click on one of the two intersecting squares in the upper right part of the screen, and then click on the desired color in the spectrum that is located under the squares. Click on another square and then select the same color.
- Black and white is at the far right end of the spectrum.
Select a tool from the toolbar on the left side of the window.
- Pencil: This tool creates even strokes of equal width (middle and ends). A pencil is great if you want to create a path from small, touching strokes. The Pencil tool icon looks like a pencil and is at the top of the second section of the toolbar. If the toolbar displays a brush rather than a pencil icon, hold down the brush icon, and then click Pencil from the menu.
- Brush: This tool creates tapered strokes that are thinner at the ends and thicker in the middle. A brush is good if you want to create a "soft" path from strokes that look like brush strokes. The Brush tool icon looks like a brush and is at the top of the second section of the toolbar. If the toolbar displays a pencil icon instead of a brush, hold down the pencil icon, then click Brush from the menu.
- Pen: this tool creates a path with anchor points; such a contour can be edited. The pen will do if you plan to modify the created path. Click the ink pen nib icon (located below the T icon in the toolbar) to select the Pen tool.
Adjust the settings of the Pencil or Brush tool.
- Click the drop-down menu next to the tool icon to adjust its size and rigidity. The more stiff, the more similar the strokes are to those made with a real pencil or brush.
- Click the folder-shaped icon on the right side of the drop-down menu to select the shape and properties of the brush or pencil.
Adjust the Pen tool settings. They are in the upper left side of the window.
- To create a path using the Pen tool, open the drop-down menu to the right of the tool icon and select Path.
Start creating the outline. Use your mouse or trackpad to move the tool along the desired lines in the image.
- If you decide to use the Pencil tool or the Brush tool, hold down the left mouse button and drag along the lines. Release the button to move the tool and create another row of strokes.
- If you decide to use the Pen tool, left-click on the image; an anchor point will be created. Now click on the image again; a second anchor point is created and a straight line appears between the two anchor points. In the case of curved graphic lines, create as many anchor points as possible.
Adobe Photoshop is the world's most popular photo editor for creating really cool things. Today you will learn how to get only its outline from an image. This can be useful, for example, for creating a coloring for a child.
Simple drawings that do not have intricate detail are easiest to trace using the Pen tool. It will be faster and easier this way. With images that have more complex details, the scope of work is somewhat different.
Step-by-step instruction
1. Load the original image into Photoshop.
2. Now let's start working with filters. Go to the menu "Filter" - "Stylize" - "Select edges". 
The image will look like this: 
3. Now also open the "Filter" menu and go to "Sketch" - "Photocopy". A window will open, in the right part of which you need to set the following parameters: "Detailing" - 9; Darkening - 5. Click OK. Note: it is not necessary to strictly follow the instructions at this point. Experiment with the detail and shade values \u200b\u200bto get the look that works best for you. 
4. Go to Image\u003e Adjustments\u003e Brightness / Contrast and adjust the sliders until you get the best results. 
Save the finished image to your computer in JPEG format. If you have created a coloring book for a child, just print the image on a printer.
Sometimes you want to outline a selection (i.e. outline the outline). This technique turns out to be really handy when used in conjunction with selection tools. For example, you can combine it with the Rectangular Marquee Tool to add a thin black outline to a photo, or with an oval selection.
When it comes to adding chic to an image, few effects can beat a thin black outline.
Whether you are embedding an image in text or posting it on a blog, adding an outline sharpens the edges a little, giving the drawing a finished look.
Here's how to add an outline around the edge of an image:
Step 1
Open the image and select it. If the image is the same size as the document, choose the menu command Selection \u003d\u003e All... If it is smaller than the document and on its own layer, Ctrl-click the layer thumbnail instead.
Step 2
Select a menu command Editing \u003d\u003e Stroke... In the dialog box, enter a value in pixels in the Width box (I set it to 10 pixels), and then click on the color indicator. Select a color from the appeared palette and click OK. When you're back, set the radio button in the Arrangement group to In, so that the outline appears only inside the borders of the image.
Step 3
Click OK to preview the new outline.
To circle someone in a photo, you will need to follow basically the same steps:
Step 1
Open the photo and select a tool such as. Drag your mouse to draw an oval. Remember that you can hold the Shift key while dragging to create a perfect circle or the Alt key and draw an oval from the inside. Move the selection, if necessary, by clicking and holding the mouse button inside it and dragging the mouse.
Step 2
Select a menu command Stroke, enter the width and match the color. It needs to be at least 2 pixels wide so that the circle will be thick enough to be seen. In a group Location set the switch to position CenterThen Photoshop will place the stroke in the center over the "marching ants". For example, if you entered a width of 2 pixels, the program will position one pixel on the outside of the selection and one on the inside (in other words, it will "step over" the selection).
When processing and creating images with and without inscriptions in a graphics program, it is often necessary to select the boundaries of objects, separate them from the background, or simply draw a contour. For all this, you can use a stroke in Photoshop or paint with a brush along the path. This article is devoted to how to do this.
Two ways to create a stroke
There are two ways of how to make a stroke in Photoshop: selecting the layer boundaries using one of the specially provided effects and outlining a vector path. The first method is most often used to visually emphasize the boundaries of objects and to separate them from the background (most often this is necessary, for example, in order to highlight text on a colorful background). The second method is more used for drawing, especially when creating clear geometric shapes.
Stroke a layer in Photoshop
Stroke in Photoshop is primarily a layer effect. This layer can be either an image, or a fragment of it, or letters written with the Text tool.
In order to apply this layer stroke effect, you need to do the following.
- Select a layer.
- In the menu item of the "Editing" tab, select "Stroke".
A dialog box will open where you will need to adjust the stroke parameters and confirm the command by clicking the "Yes" button. The stroke will be created in Photoshop, the corresponding layer will be outlined, its borders will become visible.
Stroke parameters are easily adjustable and there are many possibilities. This includes adjusting the line thickness, choosing a color, and setting where the line should go:
- along the layer boundary outside;
- so that the border is its center;
- along the border inside.
You can also adjust the mode - like any fill (color, pattern or gradient). By combining these and other tools in the program, it is easy to achieve a variety of effects.
The great thing about this stroke method is that you can still adjust its parameters in the future, so you can return to this layer effect as the image as a whole changes. For example, if you decide to lighten, and the stroke is no longer in harmony with it, you can correct and tweak it.
Its second plus is that this effect can be copied and applied to other layers or other images, or based on it, create new ones.
Other Stroke Dialog Box
The second way to make a layer stroke is to select the "Layer" menu item, and then - "Layer Style". A window will open where you will see all the options that you can set the layer style. Among them you need to choose "Stroke".
The same window with styles is invoked by clicking the "Add layer style" button in the "Layers" window.
Calling this common window with styles through the menu is, of course, not very convenient, and if you use stroke often, then for dynamic work, you should set this window to a key combination.
To do this, go to the "Edit" menu, then - "Keyboard shortcuts", find one of the above paths for the menu items and set a convenient combination for you.
The Rationale for Two Stroke Dialog Boxes
The two alternative windows for creating a layer effect are similar to each other, so many people believe that they are working with the same tool. However, this is a delusion. The fact is that these are different windows that create different strokes, and it is by combining these two commands that you can draw two adjustable paths around the same layer. This is especially useful for text strokes.
Outline stroke
How to make a stroke in Photoshop? The second way is to create a contour and draw it.
A path in Photoshop means a vector line that defines the direction of movement of the brush. That is, a stroke in this case is drawing with a selected brush along a given path.
Use the Selection tool, Lasso tool, or Magic Wand tool to select the portion of the image you want to trace. Call the "Contours" through the "Window" menu item. In this window, find the button "Make work path from selection". On the Tools panel, select the Brush tool, set its options (shape, color, and so on). Then, in the Paths window, click the Stroke path with a brush button. The area you selected earlier will be outlined. After that, delete the outline.
Thus, to stroke along the path, you do not need to create a new layer, it is enough to define the stimulating line along which the program will draw with the brush of your choice.
Please note that in this case the stroke will be placed on the layer you specified, including the new one.
Stroke text around a path
The possibilities for customizing the Brush tool in Photoshop are very rich, because you can adjust the spacing, texture, dynamics of shape and color, etc. At the same time, this line will differ from drawing by hand with maximum accuracy, and this process will take much less time.
To stroke a text, its layer must first be selected and then converted - like a normal selection area - to a path. After creating a new layer, you can experiment and paint along the line with any brush with any settings. Do not forget that for artistic purposes, you can apply various effects to the resulting stroke, as to a regular layer, place it above or below the text, change its opacity, etc.
The two strokes described above do not interchange, but complement each other. The advantage of the former is that the line can be adjusted and then returned to the adjustment, as well as copied and applied to other layers, including in other files. The advantage of the latter is that strokes in Photoshop will look more artistic, since there are no restrictions on the choice of brushes.
Throughout the last lesson, we drew shapes using the "Shape Layer" mode in the options bar, today we will consider the other two modes - "Paths" and "Pixel Fill".
Contours
The bounding line of the shape is an outline. A work path is a temporary path that appears in the Paths panel and defines the boundaries of the shape.
Paths can be used in several ways:
- Paths can be used as vector masks to hide specific areas of a layer.
- A path can be converted to a selection.
- The contour can be filled or outlined with any color.
At the bottom of the panel there are buttons with the most useful commands for working with paths:
Fill the path with the base color.
Stroke the path.
Load path as selection.
Make a work path from the selected area.
Create a new path.
Delete active path.
So, you have drawn a path, now click on the icon - fill the path with the main color - and now your path looks like a shape. Try other buttons on the Paths panel as well.
Now look at the top of the panel and click on the three parallel lines:
Here you can select a tool to stroke the path. The contour filling can be configured in the same way in the corresponding menu item.
In fact, the main tool for working with paths is the "Pen", this is a very useful tool and the next lesson is devoted to it.
Fill pixels
In this mode, the shape is drawn, rasterized, and filled with the foreground color. Bitmap shapes are created using the current foreground color and cannot be edited as a vector object.
- Select the layer you will paint on.
- Select the desired foreground color from the toolbar.
- Select the Shape tool from the toolbar.
- Select the "Pixel Fill" mode in the options bar, other options as desired.
- Drag the shape onto the canvas with the mouse.
