Ever wanted to cartoonize a photo, but wasn’t sure how? Or maybe you just don’t have the time to sit down and work it out! That’s fair enough – to create an authentic and professional-looking cartoon effect on a real-life photo can be tricky, even if you’re well versed in Photoshop and all its settings!
Thankfully, there’s a range of purpose-built Photoshop cartoon plugins out there that can not only help you cartoonize a photo, but will do it all for you in a matter of seconds! It really can be that simple – and to make things even easier, we’ve found a selection of the best Photoshop cartoon actions and plugins out there, including both premium and free options.
Let’s have a look at the best Photoshop actions to help you cartoonize a photo.
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Cartoonize Photoshop Cartoon Action
Next up in our Photoshop cartooning toolkit is the Cartoonize action, a Photoshop cartoon plugin that will turn your photo into a digital piece of art with a realistic oil paint effect in only a single click. It works with Adobe Photoshop versions CS3 and above and is super fast and easy to use.
Paint Cartoon Photoshop Action
For another ultra-realistic and modern-looking paint effect that will help you cartoonize any photo, this fun cartoon filter for Photoshop promises high-quality results using versions CS3 and higher and includes full supporting documentation to get you editing straight away.
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Smudge Cartoon Photoshop Action
The Smudge Photoshop cartoon plugin will help you cartoonize a photo with a sleek and realistic painted effect that features sharp edges and vibrant colors and is compatible with Photoshop versions CS3 and above. It’s a great choice if you’re after a fun and professional cartoon painting look.
Toon-Me – Cartoon Effects Photoshop Action
Next up is Toon-Me, a Photoshop cartooning plugin perfect for creating unique artworks such as posters, flyers, and social media posts. The Photoshop cartoon action works in all Photoshop languages and is non-destructive helping you to retain 100% of the original pictures.
Retro Comic Book Photoshop Cartoon Action Kit
Next, we have a retro-inspired action kit that allows you to cartoonize a photo in an authentic, hand-drawn comic book style. It works best with images that offer a resolution between 72 and 300 DPI, and all comic elements are vector graphics which enables you to scale and tweak the effects as much as you want.
Oil Vector Art Photoshop Cartoon Action
This cartoon filter for Photoshop adds a vector art look to your images that’s inspired by the texture and color profile of a real-life oil painting, and can be applied with amazing results in just a few clicks. You can create up to 40 different color effects, and adjust each layer to your preference.
Balaclava – Photoshop Cartoon Plugin
Balaclava is a Photoshop cartoon plugin containing tools and techniques that help you achieve the most modern, professional, and eye-catching cartoon effects in just a few clicks. The cartoon effect Photoshop Action offers 4 editable Photoshop cartooning styles, 5 face styles, 8 backgrounds, and more than 20 color variations.
Anime – Photoshop Cartooning Action
Our next Photoshop cartoon plugin helps you transform your pictures into modern, creative, and stunning anime-style paintings that are sure to make an impression. It offers fully editable layers, colors, and other elements, plus a video tutorial to help you make the most of the cartoon effect Photoshop action.
Simple Cartoon Photoshop Action
If you’re wanting to cartoonize a photo in a simple yet authentic-looking way, our next cartoon effect Photoshop action will help you do just that – it works with Photoshop CC to give your images a beautifully painted effect in just a single click!
Cell Shader Photoshop Cartoon Action
Our next cartoon effect for Photoshop is the funky Cell Shader action, which adds an artistically contoured element to your images and uses bold lines and edges and realistic brush textures to create a hand-painted look. It comes with a video tutorial and help guide.
Splash Effect Photoshop Cartoon Action
Next up is the Splash Effect bundle of Photoshop actions, featuring five individual filters each with different color scripts, allowing you to create what the designer describes as a “minimal fluid geometry explosion” effect! It works with Photoshop versions CS6 and CC.
Strokes Photoshop Cartoon Action
For an edgy-painted aesthetic, take a look at the Strokes cartoon filter for Photoshop, offering an artistic abstract effect that combines rough paint strokes with a technical hand-drawn style for a unique texture that will add a unique creative vibe to any photo.
Art Vector Photoshop Cartoon Action
Here we have a fun vintage-inspired cartoon effect for Photoshop that will turn your photos into an artistic vector illustration in a single click. It works with RGB color space in any version of Photoshop, and comes with supporting documentation to help you make the most of the technique.
Motion Graphic Photoshop Cartoon Action
The next action in our Photoshop cartooning collection is the Motion Graphic filter which offers a design spread slider control, ten unique color presets, customizable color options, and fully layered and editable graphics. It adds a dynamic, comic-inspired flash effect to your images.
Mafia Paint Photoshop Cartoon Action
Inspired by the iconic Grand Theft Auto video game series, our next Photoshop cartoon plugin features a fun digital watercolor effect with lots of layers that you can play around with to create the perfect style for your project. It works with Photoshop versions CS6 and CC+ in all languages.
Artistic Sketch Photoshop Cartoon Action
Here we have a high-quality cartoon effect bundle that includes a Photoshop action, brush, and texture that you can use separately or combine to create a stunning artistic sketch quality. It offers a non-destructive workflow and fully customizable graphic layers.
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Colour Sketch – Cartoon Photoshop Effects
Create a professional colorful effect filled with authentic hatching, technical sketch, and abstract art elements with this highly versatile color sketch action, featuring fully editable layers, colors, and graphic elements for complete creative control over the end result. It even comes with a helpful video tutorial.
MicroPro Oil Photoshop Cartoon Action
Wanting to replicate the style of an authentic oil painting, using your own photo or image? Look no further than the MicroPro Cartoon Oil Photoshop action, which guarantees professional results that are super easy to achieve. Note however that it requires the Photoshop oil paint filter.
Illustration Sketch Photoshop Cartoon Action
Featuring a gouache watercolor paint style combined with fine, detailed pencil sketching, the Illustration Sketch cartoon effect for Photoshop will transform your photos into a beautiful traditional illustration painting. It’s compatible with Photoshop versions CS6 and newer, in any language, and is fully customizable.
Grand Trend Art Photoshop Cartoon Action
Another cartoon filter for Photoshop that’s inspired by the Grand Theft Audio video games, our next action will add a hand-drawn cartoon look to any photo in just a few clicks. It also comes with five frame templates, five collage templates, and fifteen presets for you to mix and match.
Melted Drips – Cartoon Filter Photoshop Action
Experiment with adding cartoon effects to your photos by using this funky creative action that creates melted drops in a range of colors and textures. It’s well layered and fully editable and comes with 25 custom color scripts for you to choose from, plus a video guide to help you use the action.
Urban Sketch Photoshop Cartoon Action
The Urban Sketch Photoshop cartoon effect transforms your city photos into realistic hand-painted watercolor sketch artworks in a matter of minutes. It works best with urban cityscapes and architecture images and provides a fully layered final composition with 15 color presets and loads of customization options.
Grandiose Photoshop Cartoon Action
For another video game-inspired art effect, this time with a more lifelike finish, consider the Grandiose Photoshop action. It comes with a matching poster action, which allows you to combine your masterpieces into a collage in true Grand Theft Auto style, as well as a tutorial for creating authentic GTA text effects.
Free Photoshop Cartooning Plugins
Let’s now look at some free Photoshop actions to help you cartoonize a photo!
Free Comic Poster Photoshop Cartoon Action
The first action in our lineup is this free option from Creative Tacos that adds a subtle vintage comic art style to your image and is best for creating posters and other display prints. It’s compatible with Adobe Photoshop versions CS3 to CC 2017.
Free Photoshop Cartooning Action
To transform your photos into professional cartoonic oil paintings, consider our next free Photoshop Cartoon Action. It offers tools that will help you catroonize a photo in just one click and a video tutorial on how to use the cartoon filter Photoshop Action.
Free EasyComic Photoshop Cartoon Action
Our next option, available from Free Design Resources, features a classic comic book style and comes with a base Photoshop document in portrait and landscape formats to help you create your very own comic strip.
Free Modern Art Cartoon Photoshop Action
Turn your everyday image into a bright and colorful work of modern art with a funky retro-inspired cartoon look, using this amazing modern art-themed Photoshop cartoon action. It’s compatible with Adobe CC, and you can download it for free from Adobe Create!
Free Van Gogh Cartoon Photoshop Action
If you’re looking for the best methods of Photoshop cartooning that will give your images a Van Gogh-inspired effect, consider this set of 10 incredible Photoshop cartoon actions that features a well-organized and structured file for Mac and PC, and is available to download for free from CGI Spread.
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Free Toon Artist Photoshop Cartoon Action
Next up, we have the Toon Artist cartoon filter for Photoshop that adds several customizable layers to your image, creating a cartoon portrait that you’ll love sharing! Download this fun Photoshop action for free from the Adobe Create resource hub.
Free Cartoon Effects Photoshop
Here we have is a Photoshop cartoon action that will help you cartoonize a photo with minimal effort. It offers editable layers, non-destructive effects, editable elements, and a smorgasbord of amazing features for you to take advantage of. A great cartoon filter Photoshop action!
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And there you have it, a range of brilliant Photoshop actions that will save you countless hours in turning your photos into various types of cartoons – and they’re all available for you to download and use instantly. What more could you want?!