Web Development: How to Create an Abstract Watercolor Effect Photoshop Action

How to Create an Abstract Watercolor Effect Photoshop Action

Final product image — What You'll Be Creating

In this tutorial, you'll learn how to make abstract watercolor in Photoshop by creating an abstract watercolor ink painting Photoshop action. I will explain everything in so much detail that everyone can follow it, even those who have just opened Photoshop for the first time.

What You Will Learn in This Abstract Watercolor Photoshop Tutorial

How to create a watercolour Photoshop action
How to prepare watercolour Photoshop action brushes
How to create an abstract watercolor effect in Photoshop
How to make final adjustments to the watercolor Photoshop action effect
How to save Photoshop actions

Or Try a Ready-Made Watercolor Action!

Abstract Watercolor Effect Photoshop Action (ATN, ABR, PAT)

Using this abstract watercolor ink painting Photoshop action, you can transform your photos to amazing watercolor artworks with no work at all! Just brush over your subject with a color and play the action. It’s really that simple! With this artistic watercolor Photoshop action, creating advanced and realistic watercolor photo effects has never been this easy and fun.

What You'll Need

To recreate the design above, you will need the following resources:

Stock Image

1. How to Get Started

First, open the photo that you want to work with. To open your photo, go to File > Open, choose your photo, and click Open. Now, before we get started, just check a couple of things:

Your photo should be in RGB Color mode, 8 Bits/Channel. To check this, go to Image > Mode.
For best results, your photo size should be 2500–4500 px wide/high. To check this, go to Image > Image Size.
Your photo should be the Background layer. If it is not, go to Layer > New > Background from Layer.

2. How to Create Watercolor Photoshop Brushes

In this section, we are going to prepare several watercolor Photoshop brushes we'll need. You can check this tutorial to follow the process described and create your own brushes from scratch, or you can download my TechnicalArt 2 Photoshop Action and get over 60 high-quality and resolution watercolor brushes. Here are the brushes I'll be using:

3. How to Start Recording a Photoshop Action

In this section, we are going to start recording the action. Go to Window > Actions, and in the Actions panel, click on the menu icon in the top right-hand corner, choose New Set to create a new set, and name it Abstract Watercolor. Then, click on the same menu icon again, choose New Action to create a new action, and name it Abstract Watercolor.

4. How to Create the Background

In this section, we are going to create the background. Go to Layer > New Fill Layer > Solid Color to create a new solid color fill layer, name it Background Color, and choose the color #f2f2f2 as shown below:

5. How to Create the Sketch Effect

Step 1

In this section, we are going to create the sketch effect. Select the Background layer and press Control-J on your keyboard to duplicate this layer. Then, drag this layer to the top of the layers in the Layers panel.

Step 2

Now go to Filter > Filter Gallery > Stylize > Glowing Edges and set the Edge Width to 1, Edge Brightness to 20, and Smoothness to 15.

Step 3

Press Control-I on your keyboard to invert the layer colors. Then, press Control-Shift-U to desaturate this layer.

Step 4

Now go to Image > Auto Tone and then Image > Auto Contrast to make some auto-corrections to the layer tone and contrast. Then, go to Image > Adjustments > Levels and enter the settings below:

Step 5

Change the Blending Mode of this layer to Multiply and set the Opacity to 37%. Then, name this layer Outline Sketch.

Step 6

Now select the Background layer and press Control-J on your keyboard to duplicate it. Then, drag this layer to the top of the layers in the Layers panel. After that, press Control-J to duplicate this new layer.

Step 7

Press Control-I on your keyboard to invert the layer colors and change the Blending Mode of this layer to Color Dodge. Then, go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur and set the Radius to 20 px.

Step 8

Now Control-click on the Background copy layer to select both layers at the same time, and press Control-E on your keyboard to merge them into one layer. Then, press Control-Shift-U to desaturate this new layer.

Step 9

Change the Blending Mode of this layer to Multiply and set the Opacity to 70%. Then, name this layer Detailed Sketch and drag it just below the Outline Sketch layer in the Layers panel.

Step 10

Now go to Layer > Layer Mask > Reveal All to add a layer mask that reveals the whole layer. Then, set the foreground color to #000000, choose the Brush Tool (B), pick a soft brush, and brush over the background area to remove the sketch details in the background.

Step 11

Select the Outline Sketch layer, go to File > Place Embedded, select the Diagonal Lines Texture file attached, click Place, and place it so it fits the canvas as shown below:

Step 12

Now go to Layer > Layer Mask > Hide All to add a layer mask that hides the whole layer. Then, set the foreground color to #ffffff, choose the Brush Tool (B), pick a hard brush, and brush over the area where you want the texture to appear.

Instead of brushing into the layer mask, you can also use various selections and/or filters to modify the layer mask and determine where the texture will be visible.

Step 13

Change the Opacity of this layer to 42%.

6. How to Crop an Image in Photoshop

In this section, we are going to crop the image before we start creating the watercolor effect. Firstly, we are going to pause the action recording. Go to Window > Actions, and in the Actions panel, click on the rectangle icon in the bottom left-hand corner to stop recording the action. Then, in the same panel, click on the menu icon in the top right-hand corner and choose Insert Stop to add the Stop command.

After that, choose the Crop Tool (C) and transform the Crop Box as shown below: