Top 8 Apps to Turn Photos into Drawings for Free
Edit photos on your computer with Movavi Photo Editor!
There are loads of apps that turn pictures into drawings and add loads of other cool effects to images. If you just want to make a fun and quirky design, you can turn a picture into a line drawing or make a sketch from a photo in a matter of seconds using one of many photo-editing apps that are on the market for both iOS and Android.
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Best apps to turn an image into a drawing
Out of all of the apps that turn pictures into drawings, ToonMe is one of the best known, with its cool sketch effect and the capacity for people to use this app on either iOS or Android depending on their preference.
ToonMe is really designed for people to take their pictures and turn them into avatars or cool graphics, but it doesn’t do a great job when it comes to groups, and some of the filters are a little bit basic. The graphic also uses different bodies so the likenesses aren’t amazing compared to some of the other apps.
Pros:
Good for selfies
Fun for individual or couple photos
Cons:
Not good for group pictures
Clip2Comic is an app that is available for iOS with the ability to create a line drawing from a photo or other cartoon style.
The images can be used in high-quality and high-resolution if you upgrade to the premium version of the app, which also gives the option to make HD videos using cartoon and comic-book styles. You can look like you’re in an animated video.
The main functions of the app are free, and you can use this on your iPad and iPhone. There are loads of different styles of comics that you can use, and all you need is to tap the button in order to get the right style for you.
Pros:
Easy to use loads of styles
HD quality
Cons:
Not all features available on the free version
Only works on iOS
Prisma is one of the iPhone and Android art apps that provides loads of different styles, and is not all about turning a photo to a sketch and creating cartoon style images.
The app has a lot of different styles to turn images into drawings, and this includes landscapes and group shots, something that not all of these apps are able to help with.
Prisma has over 500 different styles, meaning a huge number of different options, and there is a specific mode for selfies, the Portrait Segmentation feature.
If you want to download and use the images in full HD, a premium subscription is needed.
Pros:
Good for landscapes and group shots
Specific selfie mode
Cons:
Full HD only available with a subscription
As you may have guessed from the name, this is an app that takes images you’ve taken on your Android or Apple device and helps you to turn them into paintings! The app has 1000+ filters, including a comic book feature.
The other filters can make your images look like a mosaic or many other styles of painting. It can even look like a Van Gogh.
This is a free app, but all of the images created within the free version do have a watermark.
Pros:
Works on iOS or Android
Loads of different styles
Cons:
Watermarked without the pro version
It is inevitable now that a lot of these kinds of apps integrate AI in an effort to help to turn photos into drawings. Vivid AI is a little different when compared to the other options, as it can also use things like text prompts to create images from nothing.
There are over 30 different AI art styles, and you can feed selfies into the software before adding a lot of other effects.
This app has an AI avatar feature, and helps people to “try on the roles of an epic comic book style superhero”.
On top of that, retouching, and even changing clothes and makeup virtually are possible. One of the big downsides of this app is the fact that a lot of the features are paid.
Pros:
Limitless possibilities
Text prompts possible
Cons:
Many features are paid add-ons
BeFunky is a really smart and effective app that can be used on iOS and Android devices. It is powerful for something that can be used on a mobile device, and has the power to turn photos into line drawings, paintings, cartoons, and sketches.
On top of this, you can take advantage of some of the other effects, such as portrait enhancement that can get rid of blemishes. The software has loads of different styles and though you can’t access all of the features for free, it is possible to easily make a lot of alterations without having to pay for anything. Some of the AI-powered tools on offer include an option to remove backgrounds and add a lot of other effects. This helps people to take advantage of the full role of editing functions.
Pros:
Loads of AI-based tools
Powerful editing features
Cons:
Full features require subscription
Requires hardware that is relatively new
Photo Sketch Maker is an Android tool you can get from the Play Store. It doesn’t have as many styles as some of the others, but it is a good option for those who want to take an image and turn it into a simple sketch-style or line drawing.
Photo Sketch Maker doesn’t have loads of ways to tweak and alter the photo, but it does a good job.
Pros:
Free to use
Great for sketches and line drawings
Cons:
Lots of ads
Not many features
Fotor is another app that has a huge number of features, making it pretty powerful for something you can use on your mobile device. It has some AI features that can help people to get rid of things in the background or quickly and easily optimize their images.
The AI enlarger, retouch, and background remove features are fantastic. Among the tools are a lot of different filters, some of which can help people to create a cartoon effect or turn their images into quality drawings.
The app does have a lot of different features that can be difficult to work out how to use on mobile devices, so it can take a while to get to grips with it.
Pros:
Excellent drawing filters
AI-powered features
Cons:
Can be confusing to use all the features
Edit photos on your computer with Movavi Photo Editor
Movavi Photo Editor is a much more advanced piece of software, perfect for those who are looking to access a lot of other features and make detailed edits on their desktop or laptop. Editing on a computer means higher quality and more control in most situations, and Movavi Photo Editor has AI features, including object removal, colorization, and retouching. Of course, as is the focus of his article, the software also has the power to turn the images into a sketch.
This software has a lot of presets which means that you can create quick and simple edits, but you can also take a lot more control over some of the individual aspects of editing, with full control over colors, cropping, and much more.
Summary
There are a lot of ways to take simple images and turn them into pictures and line drawings, or even add cartoon styling. The options on our list can help you to do so on iOS or Android devices, but Movavi Photo Editor is also a great idea for those who can make edits through desktop devices and want even more power and capability from their editing suite.
Movavi Photo Editor
*The trial version of Movavi Photo Editor has the following restrictions: you can save up to 10 images with added watermark, screenshots are disabled.
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