Open your Actions panel (Window menu) and you’ll find the new lithopane action listed at the bottom, in a folder named Make Lithopane.

A recognizable face helps the process, someone like Mr. But don’t just use the Image > Mode dialog box to do this, as this is likely to result in a washed-out portrait instead, use the Black and White conversion (Image > Adjustments > Black & White) to get a highly-contrasted result. If your image isn’t black and white to start with, convert it to grayscale first. Images photographed in black and white will generally return better results, as will large images of faces subtle landscapes simply won’t make sense. To make a good lithopane, your source image needs to be bold, clear and, above all, high in contrast. Then, you can create your first lithopane by following these steps.

There’s no need to restart Photoshop after installing a new Action. Once you’ve downloaded the Action, locate it on your hard disk and drag it onto your Photoshop application icon to install it. Now it’s easy to make your own, using a custom Photoshop Action. They were also hard to design, since the balance of light and shade in the finished product is produced entirely by the thickness of the material from which it’s made. Lithopanes were tricky to make, and consequently both expensive and highly valued. Invented in the 1820s, they were originally carved in warm wax on a glass plate, which was then duplicated in porcelain. However you spell them, lithopanes are three-dimensional versions of photographs that only make sense when held up to a light. An interesting twist is the automation of Lithopanes-sometimes referred to as Lithophanes, from the Greek lithos (stone) and phanein (to cause to appear). The introduction of 3D printing direct from Photoshop opened new gateways for many folks, but 3D printing isn’t limited to making models.

Photoshop lithograph effect