Learn how to turn your photo into a Color Painting Effect in Adobe Photoshop CS3

1. First open the picture you want to apply this effect. Under layer menu click Duplicate the layer. In the layer's palette, change the blending mode to Hard Light.

2. Under Filter menu – choose Artistic – choose Poster Edges (Edge thickness – 2, Edge Intensity -1, Posterization – 2) and click Ok.

3. Under Image menu – choose Adjustments - click Auto Contrast

Under Filter menu – choose Artistic – chose Cut out (Number of levels 5, Edge Simplicity 0, Edge Fidelity 1 ) and click Ok.

Here is the result: