In this quick and easy Photoshop tutorial we’ll look at how to make a photograph look like a black and white graffiti stencil.
Here’s our starting image by insidestory. You probably want to go with a photo with good contrast and not too much fine detail.

stencil-1

Add a Threshold adjustment layer and move the slider around until you get an image that shows the details you want in the right areas.

stencil-2

When you’re happy, stamp visible (Ctrl+Shift+Alt+E) to create a new layer from the visible image and then apply a gaussian blur to the new layer. The radius of the blur will depend on the size of your image but essentially we’re just trying to soften the edges. At this image size (500px wide) I’ve used 0.8 pixels. It should look something like this…

stencil-3

You might like what you’ve ended up with and just want to leave it at that. If, however, you want to see what your stencil might look like on a wall, find a photo of a wall (this one’s by Mr Thinktank) and then add your stencil as a new layer and set the blend mode to multiply and it should turn out a bit like this…
stencil-4