Stencil Art

I'm gonna teach you how to achieve this stencil art effect on your regular image just by playing with the filters and adjustment layers in Photoshop.

Step 1: First open an image.

Step 2: Duplicate your background layer two times.
This is your layer palette now.

Step 3: Click the eye icon to the left of Background copy 2 layer to make that layer invisible.

Step 4: Select Background copy layer.
Then go to Filter> Artistic> Cutout and apply these settings:

Step 5: Now select Background copy 2 layer.
Go to Layer> New Adjustment Layer> Hue/Saturation and apply these following setting:

Step 6: Go to Layer> New Adjustment Layer> Levels.
Slide the 3 sliders shown below until you get a good balance of black, gray and white area on your image.
Here's is my setting:



This is my Image now:

Step 7: Then go to Layer> New Adjustment Layer> Brightness and Contrast. Adjust the brightness and contrast settings to further enhance the stencil effect on your image.
Here's the settings:



Now Image looks like:

Step 8: Now select Background copy 2 layer.
Click the box beside the Background copy 2 layer to make it visible.

Step 9: Now select Background copy 2 layer.
Set the layer blending mode to 'Lighten' and Opacity to '68%'.



My Final Result!

More: Photo Effects Tutorials