I did a double-take when I opened Formind the other day. The interface had changed.
Not one of those over-the-top redesigns where you can barely recognize the product. More like a "wait, something feels different here, I can't put my finger on exactly what, but it's smoother now" kind of change. Reminded me of when your local cafe gets a new counter setup — the coffee tastes the same, but the whole ordering flow just feels better.
I'd originally dropped in to touch up a photo, but a new feature caught my eye: "Photo to Sketch." Huh, that looked fun.
I grabbed a random street photo I'd snapped the month before — a pretty forgettable shot: buildings, traffic, an overcast sky. Nothing special, I'd barely looked at it since taking it. Formind processed it for about seven or eight seconds, and the result popped up.
My first thought was: whoa.
This wasn't some cheap filter that slaps on a grayscale layer and cranks the contrast then calls it "sketch." It genuinely drew the photo as a sketch. Building lines had variations in weight, pedestrians on the street became a few deft strokes, the clouds turned into expansive negative space, and even the puddles on the pavement had that smudged, pencil-work texture. The whole image transformed from a random snapshot into something you'd frame and hang on your wall.
I tested a few more after that. A selfie became a portrait sketch. A photo of my cat turned into a charcoal drawing. Even a picture of food came out looking like a hand-drawn recipe illustration from a magazine. The best part? It kept the soul of the original — you know it's your photo, but it's also not quite your photo anymore. It's like someone retold your story in a completely different language.
To be honest, I've tried AI sketch converters elsewhere. Most feel lazy, like a one-size-fits-all template overlay. But you can tell Formind put real thought into this one. It doesn't just crudely extract edge lines. It actually reads the lighting, the layers, the mood of the scene, then reconstructs the whole thing using the grammar of sketching.
Redesigns are tricky. Change too much and people get lost; change too little and what's the point? But this update from Formind felt right. The interface is cleaner, the features are easier to find, and above all — this Photo to Sketch feature? I'm actually going to use it.
Because let's be real. Who doesn't want their photos to feel a little more artistic every now and then.
