Do you like to sketch? Easily make your sketches look like black and white chalkboard drawings and/or word art.
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First, I have to admit I figured this out with a "light-bulb" moment while working on some basketball kits I'm designing. I just had to stop to share what I discovered.
Start with sketches on some kind of drawing paper (a paper that will have a bit more texture to it than regular white computer paper) or from a sketch book like I did. And, yes, I used one of my kids pencils.
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Scan your sketches and save on your computer.
Open in Photoshop (for this tutorial I'm using Photoshop CS6).
Click on Image > Adjustments > Desaturate (this just takes color out of the image - but still keeps the file as RGB)
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Then click Image > Adjustments > Invert
This will turn what is white into black - and what is black into white.
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Last click Image > Adjustments > Brightness/Contrast
Play with the brightness and contrast to get the look you want.
Now your background looks like a black chalkboard and your pencil drawing looks like white chalk.
Bonus: even where I smudged the pencil - it looks like white chalk dust
I hope you are as excited about this discovery as I am!
UPDATE regarding colored chalk:
after you've done the initial tutorial - use the wand selection tool and click on a white section.
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Then click on Select > Similar (from the top menu bar).
Make a new layer in the layers panel.
Fill your selection in the new layer with a color.
In the Layers Panel change the layer to Multiply.
Thanks to Lana for this help with anyone using PSE11:
Click Enhance>Adjust Color>Remove Color
Click Layer>New Adjustment Layer>Invert
Click Layer>New Adjustment Layer>Brightness/Contrast
So fun!!!
It is exciting! And so simple...once someone else figured it out for me. Thanks, Brooke. Now if I could just draw as well as you do.
Very cool! Thanks!
Loved it! Genius work! Thank you so much for the idea - I just loved, I need to try it!
Oh my gosh Brooke... how easy is that? Thank you for sharing this with us... I love chalkboard doodles!
Thanks Brooke so much! Already made a word document!
Thanks, everyone. I've searched off and on for awhile now on how to digitally create chalkboard art - but just wasn't completely happy with the outcome. I had played around with my own ideas on how to do it - but still wasn't satisfied. Then after I scanned in the basketball sketches, I had done the steps in the above tutorial - BUT for different reasons.
Then, after I had inverted the artwork and turned up the brightness - which brought out the texture of the paper - I sat back and looked at my screen and thought "chalkboard" - and was so excited to see that the smearing of the pencil, when inverted, looked like white chalk dust. Hmm, I'm wondering about colored chalk now...??
UPDATE regarding colored chalk: see above in tutorial
So awesome! thanks Brooke!
That's really cool, Brooke!
Down the road I may try to see if I can figure out how to do this in PSP...
WOW!!
This looks awesome!!!
OH MY GOSH!!! I've always wondered how to do this.
So awesome. Thanks so much for sharing!! C:
Thanks for sharing this! I'll have to try it soon.
Brooke this is sooooo cool! And you made it so easy!
Brooke, I can't wait to play with this! Thank you so much!
Wonderful tutorial. Thanks so much for sharing Brooke.
Very very neat! Thank you, for sharing!
Awesome! Wow! What a Light bulb moment! Love it! xoxox Beth
Thanks for the great tutorial Brooke.....Sure wish I could sketch like you.
Thank you for sharing. Now I shall attend some sketching drawing lessons!
Thank you for sharing, I would have never imagined that!
Thank you!!
This is so awesome Brooke! For anyone with PSE11 I played around a little this morning because it isn't exactly the same as with Photoshop. Here is what I did after I scanned and opened it:
Click Enhance>Adjust Color>Remove Color
Click Layer>New Adjustment Layer>Invert
Click Layer>New Adjustment Layer>Brightness/Contrast
Hope this helps someone and thanks Brooke for the great tutorial!!
Lana - thanks for helping out the PSE11 users! I added your instruction to the bottom of the initial tutorial post.

Thank you for sharing your "light-bulb" moment! Chalk Board AND Chalk! So helpful!!!
Great tutorial, Brooke! Thank you for sharing.
Your very welcome Brooke...that is why I love this site - it is all about sharing!
Just tried this out. It´s so cute
Chalkboard is my new favorite look - thanks for the great tutorial!
Wonderful tutorial! I never imagined it would be so simple to make chalk look so real!
Love it! I can't wait to give it a try!
Thank you for sharing this tutorial.
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