Easy Stencil Effects

Brief Background
My main source of insertion for the Inauguration Poster came from the Shepard Fairey “Hope” Poster we have all seen so much of. Here is the final version of my poster.

This is a quick tutorial on how I created the stencil effect for the poster.

Quick Steps

• Select background (expand and smooth your selection).
• Fill with white.
• Black and white (not an adjustment layer) your photo and up the contrast.
• Merge the photo w/ the background.
• Make your photo a smart object.
• Apply Gaussian Blur and Cutout(In that order).
• Tweak both filters (every photo is different).
• Live Trace it in illustrator to and color each shape.
• Expand and Tweak the trace.

Detailed Steps
Select background (smooth the edges out)
Using your favorite selection tool to select the background of your image. Smooth out your selection by going to Select>Refine Edge and use the smooth slider to smooth out your edges.

It also helps to contract your selection a bit this creates a darkened border around your subject.

Fill with White
Fill your Selection with white.

Black and white (not an adjustment layer) your photo and up the contrast
You have to use the Image>Adjustment menu for this step because you want the filters applied in later steps to affect the edited version of the image and not the original. Not the best practice to completely destroy your image but a necessary one.

Merge the photo w/ the background
Fairly self-explanatory when you apply the filters to the image you want to make the entire image reside on one layer.

Make your photo a smart object
Go to Filters>Convert for Smart Filters to make your image a smart object this will let you adjust filters to get the best image later.

Apply Gaussian Blur and Cutout(In that order)
I used about 4px Gaussian blur. For the cutout I used 3 levels with 0 edge simplicity and 3 edge fidelity. If your image doesn’t have enough detail and is muddy, try taking down Gaussian blur. If your image has to much detail for you take the blur for edge simplicity up.

Tweak both filters (every photo is different)
If your image doesn’t have enough detail and is muddy, try taking down Gaussian blur. If your image has to much detail for you take the blur for edge simplicity up.

Live Trace it in illustrator to and color each shape.
Open your image in Illustrator and release the crop area and delete it. Also get rid of any clipping masks ect. Then go to Object>Live Trace>Tracing options. You can use my settings below or find your own.

Expand and Tweak
Live Trace is hardly ever perfect, by expanding your trace you can tweak individual paths. Go to Object>Expand and then click OK. Now you have all the individual paths for your tweaking pleasure.