# Line Engraving Effect in Adobe Photoshop - review & insight | Gareth B. Davies Source: https://garethbdavies.com/course-insights/line-engraving-effect-in-adobe-photoshop/ [← All courses](https://garethbdavies.com/course-insights/) Illustration & Drawing · Quick win · Rated 7 /10 # Line Engraving Effect in Adobe Photoshop By Gareth B. Davies · Updated July 2026 Evgeniya & Dominic Righini-Brand · Graphic Design & Photography Intermediate · 28 min A fast, narrow Photoshop tutorial that builds one striking smart-object effect, not a broader engraving or illustration education. [Get a Free Month on Skillshare](https://skillshare.eqcm.net/c/3155494/298081/4650?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.skillshare.com%2Fclasses%2Fline-engraving-effect-in-adobe-photoshop%2F1247198927) New to Skillshare? Your first month is free, enough to take this course at no cost. This class has a single, well-defined job: build a reusable Photoshop effect that turns tonal images into something resembling a banknote or etching, using layered line patterns rather than filters or plugins. It does that job efficiently across eleven short lessons, most of them just a few minutes long, and it does not pretend to be anything broader than that. ## What the course actually builds The construction method is the real content here. A single one-pixel pencil stroke becomes a defined pattern, which is dropped into a fill layer, converted to a smart object, and distorted with the Wave filter to give it a hand-drawn waviness. That pattern layer is then duplicated seven times, with each copy rotated to a different angle and given a different stroke weight, so that overlapping copies form a cross-hatch texture that reads as gradual shading rather than a flat repeat. The second half of the build pairs that pattern stack with a source image duplicated the same seven times. Each image copy gets a Threshold adjustment set to a different cutoff, from around 215 in the lightest layer down to roughly 75 in the darkest, and a Blend If tweak that makes the resulting black areas transparent. Stacked in order from highlights to blacks, those transparent cutouts reveal only the matching pattern layer beneath, which is what produces the illusion of tonal shading built entirely from line work. ## Where it succeeds and where it thins out Because every step relies on smart objects, adjustment layers, and blend options rather than pixel edits, the payoff is real: once the seven-layer stack exists, a new photo can be dropped into the image smart object and the whole effect updates automatically, with only the threshold values needing minor retuning. That reusability is demonstrated directly, along with a colorizing pass using a gradient map layer, which is a nice bonus most learners would not think to try on their own. The customization lesson covers genuinely useful variations, changing pattern density, adding a ripple distortion for a rougher line quality, adjusting Gaussian blur on the image layers to soften edges, and the final lesson sketches two straight-line alternatives to the wavy default. These additions are explained more by description than by slow demonstration, so a viewer who has not already internalized the core seven-layer logic may need to pause and rebuild rather than simply follow along. What the course does not offer is any real theory of engraving as an art form, no discussion of line weight logic beyond angle and stroke width, and no troubleshooting guidance for images that do not have the tonal range the technique needs beyond a brief warning to avoid large dark areas. Beginners to Photoshop will likely struggle to keep pace, since terms like smart objects, blend modes, and layer styles are used fluently and without introduction. For someone who already works comfortably in Photoshop, this is a tight, practical lesson in one very specific graphic trick, worth the half hour for the technique alone even if the surrounding instruction is sparse. The standout The pairing of a Threshold adjustment with Blend If transparency to fake a tonal mask without ever touching a layer mask is the one technique worth the whole class. ## What you will learn - · How to build a one-pixel line pattern and turn it into a rotatable, wave-distorted smart object - · How to stack seven duplicated pattern layers at different angles to create cross-hatched shading - · How to use Threshold and Blend If settings on image layers as a non-destructive substitute for masks - · How to pair image and pattern layers by tonal range (highlights through blacks) to build graduated shading - · How to swap in new source images without rebuilding the effect from scratch - · How to build two straight-line cross-hatch variants as alternatives to the wavy engraving look Best for: Photoshop users already comfortable with smart objects, layer styles and blending modes who want a specific graphic filter for prints or posters. Skip it if: Photoshop beginners, anyone unfamiliar with smart objects and blend modes, or anyone hoping for a lesson in engraving illustration or drawing technique. Clarity of Instruction Organization of Lessons Actionable Steps Helpful Examples [Get a Free Month on Skillshare](https://skillshare.eqcm.net/c/3155494/298081/4650?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.skillshare.com%2Fclasses%2Fline-engraving-effect-in-adobe-photoshop%2F1247198927)