DESIGN AND LAYOUT • FREE ASSETS

Ugly Christmas sweater in a few clicks with a free Photoshop action.

Make any image into a sweater: Choose from a range of knit sizes, and press play on this easy-to-use action.

This action is by Pixelbuddha,  a design studio from Volgograd, Russia. A team of design enthusiasts who create high-end resources for creative professionals, artists, illustrators, and entrepreneurs, Pixelbuddha focuses on mockups and add-ons, including actions, effects, brushes, and layer styles.

Need help getting started?

Check out these tips on how to install and run the Photoshop action.

First, load the patterns—

Install the pattern file (KNITTED Patterns.pat) by double-clicking the file or by going to Window > Patterns to open to the Patterns panel. Click the menu in the upper right of the panel and select Import Patterns.

—and the actions.

Install both action files (KNITTED Action Large.atn, KNITTED Action Small.atn) by double-clicking them at their source or by going to Window > Actions to open the Actions panel. Click the menu in the upper right of the panel and select Load Actions.

Prep your image.

Open your image in Photoshop. Make sure the image layer you’re applying the action to is flattened, named “Background,” and shows a lock symbol. If it’s not, go to Layer > Flatten Image. To get the most out of the effect, try to keep your image as simple as possible: a fewer number of colors will give the best results, as the knit pattern abstracts details. 

Press play. 

Choose one of the actions, and one of the pixel sizes, and click Play. To undo and redo the action in a different pixel size, go to History (Window > History) and scroll up to the beginning and select the very first step, “Open.” The pixel sizes correspond to the knit size. For instance, running the action at 10px gives a much smaller, tighter knit — your image detail will show better detail this way — whereas running the action at 100px makes a larger, chunkier knit. 

Posterize.

The Posterize levels slider will appear while the action is running. Adjust the slider as you’d like and click Ok to allow the action to finish.

Make final adjustments.

The action may cause your image to lose some of its brilliance. If so, go to Image > Adjustments and select your favorite editing tools, such as Brightness/Contrast, Levels, or Curves.