ArtsyTransfers Colored Sketch Effect: A Step-by-Step Digital Scrapbook Technique
Digital Scrapbooking ArtsyTransfers Colored Sketch Effect is one of the most satisfying techniques in digital scrapbooking — you take a flat photo, turn it into a sketch, and flood it with color and texture using pre-built layered transfers. No painting skills required. Just layers, blending modes, and a little patience.
This tutorial walks through Creative Team member Linda Davis’ seven-step process for creating an ArtsyTransfers colored sketch effect using a flower photo as the base. Specifically, Linda photographed her beloved Sarah Bernhardt peonies and used ArtsyTransfers to color the sketch, build a visual triangle, and add depth — all without touching a brush or a color wheel manually. It’s the kind of technique that looks far more complex than it actually is.
In other words, if you’ve been wanting to try photo artistry but weren’t sure where to begin, this is a solid place to start. By the end, you’ll know how to use Photoshop’s Photocopy filter, extract a subject, use blending modes strategically, and let ArtsyTransfers do the heavy lifting on color and texture.
The short version: Apply a Photocopy sketch effect to a flower photo, extract one bloom, layer ArtsyTransfers in Multiply mode to add color, and use a visual triangle of duplicate transfers to lead the eye around the page.
Quick Jump — Table of Contents
- → What Is Sketch Coloring with ArtsyTransfers?
- → What You’ll Need
- → Step 01 — Create the Layout Foundation
- → Step 02 — Sketch the Photo
- → Step 03 — Extract a Flower
- → Step 04 — Add ArtsyTransfers
- → Step 05 — Build a Visual Triangle
- → Step 06 — Inject Visual Interest
- → Step 07 — Embellish the Focal Point
What Is the ArtsyTransfers Colored Sketch Effect?
The ArtsyTransfers colored sketch effect is a photo artistry technique where you convert a photograph into a hand-drawn-looking sketch — usually using Photoshop’s Photocopy filter — and then add color back in using painted or textured overlays instead of the original photo colors. As a result, the layout looks illustrated, layered, and intentional rather than like a straight photograph.
ArtsyTransfers are aA’s pre-built, multi-layer PSD files that include paint strokes, splatters, and textured transfers in coordinated palettes. Because they’re already set up with transparent backgrounds and ready-to-use layer groups, they slot into a layout without requiring any painting from scratch. Furthermore, when you set them to Multiply blending mode, they color the sketch underneath — that’s the core mechanic of this technique.
On top of that, the visual triangle is a design principle Linda layers in deliberately: by placing related colors in three spots around the page — upper left, lower right, and the focal bloom — your eye naturally tours the layout rather than getting stuck on one point. She uses duplicate ArtsyTransfer layers, flipped and repositioned, to create this movement intentionally.
What You’ll Need
- → Adobe Photoshop — this technique uses the Photocopy filter, which is in Photoshop’s Filter Gallery. Photoshop Elements users: the Photocopy effect is available in the Filter Gallery there as well.
- → A flower photograph — any clear flower photo works. High contrast between the flower and the background makes the extraction easier.
- → ArtPlay Palette Aubade — for the solid paper background, transfers, and embellishment elements used in Linda’s version.
- → ArtsyTransfers Romance — the multi-layer PSD files used to build the visual triangle and inject depth.
- → ArtPlay Palette Romance — for the pink paint transfer used in Step 06.
Note: Linda’s layout uses a coordinated palette across three aA collections. If you’re substituting your own products, the technique works with any ArtsyTransfer — just keep blending modes consistent and choose transfers in a palette that complements your photo.
Step 01
Create the Layout Foundation
Start with a blank canvas and a solid paper background. Everything else gets stacked on top of this, so it’s worth getting the foundation right before you add a single transfer.
Anna’s Personal Opinion: I almost always reach for a solid paper rather than a patterned one as my base when I’m planning to use ArtsyTransfers. The transfers bring all the visual texture — consequently, a patterned paper underneath just adds noise that you’ll spend time fighting later.
Step 02
Sketch the Photo
This step converts your flower photo into a black-and-white sketch using Photoshop’s Photocopy filter. Specifically, you’ll use two copies of this sketch layer — stacked in Linear Burn mode — to strengthen the line weight without manually adjusting contrast.
Two Linear Burn sketch layers together create darker, more defined lines than any single slider adjustment will — without destroying the delicate petal detail.
Step 03
Extract a Flower
The sketch creates the background atmosphere — but the layout needs a sharp, real focal point. In the ArtsyTransfers colored sketch effect, the extracted bloom is what separates the result from a simple filter. Pull a single bloom from your original photo (before the Photocopy filter was applied) and place it above the sketch layers. The contrast between the illustrated background and the crisp flower is what gives this technique its punch.
Anna’s Personal Opinion: The shadow extraction is one of those steps people skip — and you can always tell when they have. That small bit of shadow is what makes an extracted element look like it belongs on the page rather than floating above it. Worth the extra two minutes.
Step 04
Build the ArtsyTransfers Colored Sketch Effect
This is where the ArtsyTransfers colored sketch effect actually happens. Transfers placed in Multiply mode let the sketch lines show through while layering paint and texture on top — and the page starts looking like photo artistry rather than a filtered photograph.
Anna’s Personal Opinion: The Hue/Saturation clipping adjustment is one of the most underused tricks in digital scrapbooking. If a transfer color isn’t quite right for your photo, you don’t need a different product — you just need to shift the hue. It takes about 30 seconds and most people never try it.
Step 05
Build a Visual Triangle
A visual triangle is a design principle where similar colors or elements appear in three locations on the page — ideally upper-left, lower-right, and a third point (often the focal image). The result is that a viewer’s eye naturally travels the layout rather than staring at one spot. Linda achieves this using duplicate ArtsyTransfer layers from ArtsyTransfers Romance, flipped and repositioned.
The visual triangle isn’t about perfect symmetry — it’s about placing the same color family in three areas so the eye has somewhere to travel.
Step 06
Inject Visual Interest into Your Colored Sketch Effect
This step builds depth — which is ultimately what makes the ArtsyTransfers colored sketch effect look like deliberate artistry rather than a happy accident. Add another ArtsyTransfer layer group close to the paper base to give the layout a sense of layers receding into the background, then use a single paint transfer twice at different stack positions for contrast.
Anna’s Personal Opinion: Using the same transfer twice at different levels of the stack is one of my favorite tricks — it creates cohesion without looking repetitive, because the blending modes change the effect completely. If your page feels a little flat, this is usually the fix.
Step 07
Embellish the Focal Point
The final step uses elements from the ArtPlay Palette to frame and anchor the extracted bloom. A net element adds visual texture behind the flower; a string element crosses in front and adds movement. The layering is deliberate: some embellishments go behind the extraction, some in front, so the bloom feels embedded in the design rather than just placed on top of it.
Take Your ArtsyTransfers Colored Sketch Effect Further
The ArtsyTransfers colored sketch effect scales to any photo and any ArtsyTransfer palette. Try it with a portrait, a cityscape, or a close-up of any high-contrast subject. The Photocopy filter works best when there’s good definition between light and dark areas in the original photo, so keep that in mind when choosing your starting image.
If you want to go deeper on what makes extractions look polished (or awkward), the tutorials below are worth a read. And if you’re new to what digital scrapbooking actually is or wondering how a page like this gets built from scratch, those posts will give you a fuller picture of how everything fits together.
The digital assets Linda used — ArtPlay Palette Aubade, ArtsyTransfers Romance, and ArtPlay Palette Romance — are all available at the aA shop at Oscraps. Post your own version of this technique to the AnnaGallery — the Creative Team loves seeing what the community makes.
See also:
Color. Texture. No painting required.
ArtsyTransfers:
Pre-built layers. Instant artistry.
Multi-layer PSD files with paint, texture, and color — designed to drop straight into your layouts and do the heavy lifting on depth and dimension.
Tell Me More →
