Convert your photos into unique works of art

With digital cameras getting better and cheaper every day and memory cards that can store hundreds of photos, many of us are taking more pictures than ever.

Often, though, these will simply sit on your hard disk, doing nothing. If you want to make more of them, why not get creative? It’s easy to convert a digital photo into a unique work of art – in this article we will show you how.

Getting started
There is lots of software available that can help you make your pictures look creative. Some programs must be paid for, such as Adobe’s Photoshop Elements (around £65), but if you don’t want to part with your cash there are plenty of other programs you can download free of charge.

We will show you how to get arty using a program called Paint.Net. This free tool allows you to be as creative as you like, with options ranging from turning a photo to black and white to more advanced effects.

If you already use another photo-editing program you are likely to find similar options to the ones we mention here.

Visit the Paint.net download page. Click the download link at the top and you will see a list of locations from which you can download the program. Choose one, click it and follow the instructions to download the file.

You may see a dialogue box asking whether you would like to save or open the program. If so, choose Save and save the file to your computer’s desktop. Once it’s downloaded, right-click this file and choose Extract All.

Follow the instructions to extract the setup file, then double-click that and follow the steps in the wizard to install the program.

Now you have the program it’s time to get creative. Start Paint.Net, click File in the menu bar then click Open. Browse through the folders on your PC until you find a photo that you want to work with and open it.

Paint it black
Let’s start by trying out some simple changes such as turning a picture into a black-and-white image.

Click on Adjustments in the menu bar, then click on the Black and White option and your photo will change. Now let’s make your photo look old-fashioned. Click the Adjustments menu again and then click Sepia.

If you decide you don’t like an effect, don’t panic. Remember that your original photo will remain unchanged unless you click Save. To remove an effect, click the Edit menu then Undo.

The history box, which sits on the right-hand side of your image, can also be used to go back a step by clicking on the previous action.

These changes give a new look to the photo, but let’s try something more drastic. Undo the changes, or open a new photo, then open the Effects menu. Here you can select from a number effects. First try hovering the mouse over the Artistic menu item and then selecting Oil Painting.

This will open a dialogue box that will let you choose the brush size and coarseness. As you move the sliders across you will see that your image changes. Once you are happy with the effect click on OK.

The Effects menu contains other similar options. The ink sketch option is particularly impressive and changes your picture into a cartoon-like drawing. Click Effects, hover the mouse over Artistic then click Ink Sketch.

You will see a control labelled ink outline ­ - adjust this to make the brush strokes thicker or thinner ­ and another for the colouring. This adjusts the brightness of your image.

Experiment with both or, for more precise control, type numbers between one and 100 in the boxes to the right of the sliders. When you are happy, click OK.

If you want something more delicate, try the Pencil sketch (click Effects, Artistic then Pencil Sketch) option. This will change your picture into a black-and-white charcoal drawing. Again you will be given slider controls to adjust the fineness of the pencil and the colouring.

For something completely different, try turning a photo into a frosted glass image. Click Effects, then Distort and Frosted glass. This will bring up a slider bar to change how frosty and blurred the glass looks.