There are times – many times – when Photoshop/GIMP is too much. Sometimes you want to alter the entire image in some way; add a frame, resize it or convert it to watercolour or a sketch, for example. And you want to do all this in less time than it takes Photoshop to even load. If only there was a way…..
FotoSketcher is that way.
It’s a teeny tiny Windows app which….. well, this is what the site says:
FotoSketcher is a 100% free program which can help you convert your digital photos into art, automatically. If you want to turn a portrait, the photograph of your house or a beautiful landscape into a painting, a sketch or a drawing then look no further, FotoSketcher will do the job in just a few seconds.
It’s actually more that it claims too, as it serves duty as a screen-grabber (CTRL-PrintScreen then paste from clipboard straight into FotoSketcher), Resizer (CTRL-R) and more. I’ve set FotoSketcher to show in the context menu when I right-click on an image (Right-click an image>Open with…->Choose Program, select FotoSketcher and it’s in the list!) and it’s replaced a fair number of lesser image utilities on my little laptop. Which is nice.
It’s main strength comes from the Drawing Parameters. This lets you select a Drawing Style from a number of choices ranging from Pencil Sketch to Oil Painting and optionally add a frame, texture & text. There’s a set of sliders for each Style too and it’s worth experimenting with them to find a setting you like. Two images are displayed side-by-side – the original and the modified version, and click on either and it’ll immediately be sized to fit full screen.
Here’s a few samples just to give an idea of the type of effects available.
Overal, this is one polished, tidy app. It’s lightning quick to load and use and is well worth the time it takes to download. It’s 100% free and not limited in any way at all, though there is a coffee cup in the icon bar if you want to buy the creator a nice cup of coffee. I’d say he’s deserved one :D
I like FotoSketcher. Maybe you’ll like it too.
Alas, no Mac version. :(
.-= Elton´s last blog ..NEW WoW RPG PC RACE =-.