This week, my friend J. Arthur Davis of www.artreproservices.com showed me a couple of image utilities that let you do some pretty cool stuff with Public Domain photos and images (or any photos and images for that matter).
At www.caricaturesoft.com, you can download shareware versions of two unique programs (Windows only I believe)…
Photo to Cartoon – “Photo to Cartoon converts photographs into cartoons with a few clicks. No drawing required! Use the result cartoons as avatars, to sign emails and letters, make greeting cards and party announcements, or create a unique art gift. A caricature makes an original and amusing present that even that person who has everything would be happy to get.”
PhotoS – “PhotoS converts digital photos into artistic line drawings. Just load a photo, click the button, and you are an author of a fine line drawing, often indistinguishable from an artist work. Drawing never been so easy!”
Both of these image tools are very, very easy to use and with a little creativity, you can do some really amazing things with old photos and even paintings.
Here’s a an image that’s an old personal favorite of mine. I’m not sure why but I have always “connected” with this public domain photo in a way that I can’t quite explain ~ say “hello” to Chief Joseph…
In just a few minutes of playing around with the Photo to Cartoon tool, I created the following really cool image ~ talk about breathing new life into an old black-and-white photograph! I think the result here is beautiful and it would make a fine poster…
A few more minutes spent playing with the PhotoS tool resulted in the line drawing below…
What’s cool about the PhotoS tool (as well as the Photo to Cartoon tool) is that you have all sorts of options for just how much detail you want to capture from the original image.
I set the PhotoS tool to capture just a minimum amount of detail from the original photo of Chief Joseph and ended up with the line drawing above ~ a little clean-up by hand (which you can do right there from within the tool) and I could have a fine line drawing.
Can you say “create your own public domain coloring books”?
My buddy and fellow PDTH subscriber Adam came up with the idea of creating children’s coloring books using public domain images ~ here’s a great way to do it!
Both programs operate as stand-alone applications in other words – no Photoshop required. Also, if you work with Public Domain images a lot and you find these tools worthwhile, the cost of a license is very reasonable ~ $25.00 each.
The trial version on Photo to Cartoon will let you make 10 cartoons while the trial version of PhotoS will allow you to make 30 line drawings. Both trial versions are fully functional so you can play around with them a little and decide if you’d like to add either one of these to your toolbox permanently.
Thanks for sharing these great tools Jim!
About the Author:
 Logan Andrew is an online entrepreneur, information publisher, and author that has been using Public Domain material to create profitable products and businesses since 2001. He is also co-author of "The Public Domain Treasure Hunter's Survival Kit" available here. For more info Logan, click here. |
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Last 5 posts by Logan:
- When U.S. Public Domain Magazines Enter The U.K. Public Domain
- Public Domain Author Spotlight: H. Rider Haggard, Adventure Novelist
- Public Domain Author Spotlight: Orison Swett Marden, Self-help Guru
- 17 Great Online Resources For Public Domain Comic Book Research
- When U.S. Works Enter The U.K. Public Domain
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mr Logan
wow thanks for that important info that you have shared with us here.
thanks a million..
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Hi, Irun a small business using prints downloaded from PD. I don’t have much time to go site hunting. Your site fufills that need and is always coming up with something different that I had never thought of using.
I print downloaded material in various forms ie framed / b&w / colour / hand coloured / laminated etc and believe they do sell.
Best subjects in U.K. are DOGS / HORSE RACING /ROYALTY / VIEWS / WW1/2 / WOMANS FASHION MAGS & SOME ADVERTISMENTS.
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Logan Reply:
March 27th, 2010 at 2:47 pm
Thanks for this valuable input Art!
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Looking for public domain images for my t-shirt company. Any ideas?
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Logan Reply:
March 28th, 2010 at 5:29 am
Hi Matt,
Try http://www.visipix.com – they have an unbelievably rich pool of public domain images to draw from. It’s one of my favorites.
Thanks!
Logan
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Could you tell me where I might find royalty free pd images of ants that could be used for commercial purposes?
My computer and laptop crashed and all of my links and .pdf ebooks purchased are lost.
Thanks
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Logan Reply:
March 28th, 2010 at 8:04 am
Hi Thom,
If you’re looking for photographs of ants, give http://www.morguefile.com a try. They’ve got a bunch of great photographs of ants. Just use keyword: ants.
The images aren’t technically public domain but they may as well be since you can use them for any purpose including commercial without providing attribution.
One other thing – I noticed you said your computer crashed and you lost some material that you purchased from us.
I’ll be more than happy to provide download links so that you can redownload everything you purchased.
Please either forward me your reciept (I realize this may not be an option) or let me know the approximate time frame in which you purchased and if you can remember which of our products you bought and I’ll get you taken care of.
Thanks Thom!
Logan Andrew
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