Photo today. Sketch tonight.
Drop a photo, get a pencil drawing. Six looks — graphite, sepia, charcoal, ink line, color tint, soft shading. Two sliders to tune detail and contrast. Live preview. Nothing uploads. For brushwork, grab a proper app.
Sharpening the pencil…
Sharpening the pencil…
Six places drawing beats photographing
- 01 for portraits
A pencil-drawn portrait for a thank-you card
Run a portrait of someone through Pencil mode at default settings — you've got an A4-sized piece that looks hand-drawn. Print on cardstock, write a note next to it, mail. Better than a generic Hallmark card; takes 30 seconds longer.
- 02 for kids
A coloring page from a real photo
Ink Line mode produces high-contrast outlines — good source for a homemade coloring page. Drop a photo of the family pet, switch to Ink Line, print the result, hand it to the kid with crayons. Hours of contained chaos.
- 03 for journals
A sepia sketch beside a real photo
Journal spreads benefit from contrast: a glossy photo on one page, a soft sepia sketch of the same scene on the facing page. Same content, different texture — the spread reads as 'considered' instead of 'documented'.
- 04 for designers
A reference sketch for a client mood board
Mood boards mix textures: photos, type, illustrations. A pencil-sketched version of a hero photo sits between 'real' and 'concept' — useful when you don't have a final image yet. Drop, sketch, paste into the board.
- 05 for wedding
A sketched portrait for a save-the-date
Engaged-couple photos make weak save-the-dates because they look like every other engagement shoot. Run through Charcoal mode and the photo becomes an illustration — same couple, different feel. Instantly more interesting in a stack of mail.
- 06 for prints
A sketch print to frame on a wall
Photo prints feel impermanent on a wall. Sketch prints feel like art. Pick a photo from a hike or a pet or a kid, run Color or Soft Graphite mode, print A4 on matte paper, frame in a thin black frame. Reads as 'we commissioned this' even though you didn't.
Frequently asked
Does the photo upload anywhere? +
No. The sketch is rendered to a canvas in your browser. Your photo never touches our servers — we don't run an image pipeline at all.
How does the pencil sketch work? +
Classic image processing recipe: greyscale the photo, blur an inverted copy, then color-dodge the greyscale with the blurred-inverted version. The math turns smooth tonal regions into white and edge transitions into pencil-line marks. Bigger blur produces softer, more gestural lines; smaller blur produces tight detail.
Why is the sketch too dark or too light? +
Drag the contrast slider. Lower contrast (60-90%) gives a soft, faded pencil feel; higher contrast (150%+) gives a crisp graphite or charcoal look. The detail slider also affects density — high detail with high contrast can over-blacken.
What's the difference between modes? +
Pencil is straight B&W graphite. Sepia adds a warm paper tint. Charcoal pushes shadows for a heavier, more dramatic feel. Ink Line is binary — pure black/white, threshold-based — useful for coloring pages and screen-print transfers. Color preserves the photo's hues, multiplied with the sketch luminance.
Will it work on a portrait or a landscape? +
Both. Portraits emphasize edges (eyes, lips, hair) and look closer to a 'pencil portrait'. Landscapes emphasize textures (foliage, stone, water) and read more like illustration. Photos with strong tonal contrast sketch well; flat photos can come out muddy — try Charcoal or Ink Line modes for those.
How big can I export? +
Same dimensions as your source photo. The algorithm runs full-resolution on export, so a 4000×3000 photo exports at 4000×3000. JPG at 92% quality.
now what?
A few ways to display a sketch
next →
Photo Mat & Border
Print the sketch inside a paper mat for the wall.
Opennext →
Drop Shadow
Float the sketch over paper for a portfolio mockup.
Opennext →
Add Text to Photo
Sign it with a handwritten signature.
Opennext →
Polaroid Maker
Wrap the sketch in a paper Polaroid frame.
Opennext →
Shape Crop
Crop the sketch to a circle for a profile pic.
Opennext →
Pinterest Pin Maker
Use the sketch as a Pinterest pin hero.
OpenOther free tools nearby
Background Remover
Cut the background out of any photo in one click.
OpenBackground Replace
Drop your subject onto paper, gradient, or your own backdrop photo.
OpenText Behind Subject
Drop a word behind your subject, magazine-cover style.
OpenPhoto Filters
Nine presets, one photo — vintage to cinematic.
OpenFilm Grain
Tri-X, Kodak Gold, Lomo — pick a roll, see the grain.
OpenHalftone Effect
Comic dots, risograph red, punk-zine textures.
OpenDuotone Effect
Map photo to two colors — Spotify, sunset, riso.
OpenTilt-Shift Effect
Make real cities look like tabletop dioramas.
OpenLight Leak
Sunset, lomo red, golden hour — bleed light into corners.
OpenRGB Glitch
VHS bands, anaglyph 3D, CRT scanlines, chromatic aberration.
OpenASCII Art
Convert any photo to typed characters.
OpenPhoto Negative
Pure invert, cyanotype, blueprint, X-ray, darkroom, sepia negative.
OpenPhoto Mosaic
Photo as tiles with grout-color gaps.
OpenAdjust
Brightness, contrast, saturation, hue, blur — seven sliders.
OpenPolaroid Maker
Any photo, wrapped in paper with a handwritten caption.
OpenPhoto Strip Maker
Four photos, B&W mode, handwritten caption.
OpenDiptych Maker
Two photos, side-by-side or stacked.
OpenPhoto Mat & Border
Paper mat for prints, journals, framed walls.
OpenShape Crop
Circle, heart, star, arch — pick a cookie cutter.
OpenVintage Postcard
Greetings caption, faux stamp, postmark, paper texture.
OpenDrop Shadow
Float a photo over paper for portfolios and mockups.
OpenPinterest Pin Maker
Drop a photo, type a title, pick a layout. 1000×1500 native.
OpenSocial Banner
X, LinkedIn, or YouTube cover with title overlay.
OpenAdd Text to Photo
Handwritten captions, magazine headers, or a quick scribble.
OpenWashi Tape Overlay
Stick paper-mood tape onto any photo.
OpenVintage Date Stamp
LED red, Kodak yellow, camcorder amber.
OpenPhoto Watermark
Corner sign-off or full diagonal tile.
OpenSticker Overlay
Hearts, stars, flowers, smileys, paper tags, HELLO labels.
OpenCrop & Resize
Square for IG, 9:16 for stories, 2:3 for Pinterest.
OpenFlip & Rotate
Mirror a selfie, un-tilt a scan, turn a sideways shot upright.
OpenHEIC to JPG / PNG
iPhone photos that open on everything.
OpenBlur & Pixelate
Hide faces, plates, addresses — drag a patch over the spot.
OpenEXIF Stripper
Remove GPS, camera info, timestamps before posting.
OpenImage Compressor
Smaller JPG, WebP, or PNG — same look, less file.
OpenColor Palette
Pull 5 hex codes out of any photo.
OpenQR Code Generator
Print-ready QR for menus, invites, journals, vCards.
OpenColor Replace
Eyedropper a color in your photo, swap it for another.
Open Make proper illustrations
in a proper app.
One sketch from one photo is a piece. When you want layered illustration — pencil over watercolor, hand-tuned brush detail, color separations for print — a real drawing app handles it cleanly.