Phot-o-lantern

Step 2 Brightness and Contrast

Since I already have a pattern and pumpkin with myself, I decided to pick a random celebrity to be this year's guinea pig.

Open up your image in your photo software and copy and paste the part of the photo you want to use into a new file. Make multiple layers of this image on top of each other. You will want a minimum of 3 layers, but 5 layers will give you more choice in how your final pattern will look. Convert these layers to greyscale.

Once you have created all your layers, hide them all except for the bottom layer, and select this layer to work with. Open up the Image>Adjust>Brightness Control panel.

Turn contrast to the max of +100. Now, play around with the Brightness setting. You are looking for a basic outline of what you want to carve. Don't worry too much about details at this point. Try to get a feel for what the outside of the head, the hairline, the eyes, nose, and lips are like. Remember to keep enough black for structure. Try not to have any islands of black surrounded by white.

Repeat this step for the next layer. Try a little more or a little less brightness to see how it affects the outlines. One of these layers will become your base layer.