Coloring on Photoshop?

[Sae-chan]

I'm pretty sure this goes here, not in the Computing area...

I need some help with Photoshop. I have some pencil drawings I want scan into the computer and color with Photoshop, but I don't know how to. I have Photoshop 6.0. Could someone give me a step-by-step tutorial on how to color my drawings?

Thanks!
~Sae-chan

[Shao Feng-Li]

Well, it depends on what you want to do. There are several right ways to color. Do you know anything about layers?

[Sae-chan]

I kind of do, but not really. There's a background layer, which is locked, right? And then there are layers above that. (Which can be deleted, edited, etc.) Am I right?

[Shao Feng-Li]

The background layer can also be deleted, which is what I usually do. You can lock the other layers also.

what you want to do is have the line art as a top layer and keep your coloring on layers beneath that. You can make a layer for each color or object, depending on what you want to do. If I'm coloring a face with hair, I start with the skin then make a new layer on top of that for the hair, that way you can work on the hair without messing up the skin.

[ChristianKitsune]

also, if you have your clean scanned in lineart (XD an area I still need to work on )

you can make it your top layer and not have to worry about the white...you can set your layer style to "Multiply"

and it pretty much makes anything white transparent and you can color underneath it. ^_^

I use Photoshop Elements (which I think isn't nearly as good as any of the photoshop regulars, as it's mostly for photomanips and stuff) but I also found that if you want to get rid of the white surrounding your lineart...make sure all the little holes are closed, then use the magic wand and select all the surrounding white.

then go to you select area, inverse the selection so it's just surrounding your line art, and then put a thin stroke around the line art and press (for windows) CTL+J and at least for my program, it makes a copy of your selection, completely free from the white, (although inside is probably white too but multiply will help with that! )

so yeah.. I hope that made sense.. :3

[Radical Dreamer]

then go to you select area, inverse the selection so it's just surrounding your line art, and then put a thin stroke around the line art and press (for windows) CTL+J and at least for my program, it makes a copy of your selection, completely free from the white, (although inside is probably white too but multiply will help with that! )

Ah, that's how I used to make my linearts, too! XD Nowadays, if I want to have a lineart, I generally use the pen tool, which is very simple to use, but very hard to explain...XD So use Kitchan's idea for now! XD

I'll also second the use of layers. Layering is what makes Photoshop so painter-friendly. You can create a new layer every time you start to work on a different section of the picture]http://www.loveofanime.com/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=19[/url]

Hope it helps!

[Esoteric]

If you want a good super basic way...

Scan your pencil drawing.

Layers Palette:
(Assuming it's the background layer) double click on it. A dialog box should open asking you to name it 'Layer 0'. Click OK.
It has now become an editable, movable layer, just like all the others.

Layers Palette:
Where it says 'normal', change it to 'multiply'.

Layers Palette: Create a new layer. Make sure that this layer is set to 'normal' and not 'multiply'. Reposition it under 'layer 0' by grabbing it and dragging it to the bottom of the layers list. Do your coloring on this layer.

You can create as many separate 'coloring layers' as you like and edit them independently. It's usually best not to color on your original lineart, but instead, turn it into a transparent layer using the 'multiply' mode.

If you want to learn a more complex method of coloring, this is a good way to learn:
http://www.melissaclifton.com/tutorial-lineart.html

[Sae-chan]

Thanks! I'll be sure to try it out once I scan my drawings in. If I run into trouble, I'll post back here. If not, you'll probably see my drawing in the gallery... ^^

[ChristianKitsune]

Ah, that's how I used to make my linearts, too! XD Nowadays, if I want to have a lineart, I generally use the pen tool, which is very simple to use, but very hard to explain...XD So use Kitchan's idea for now! XD

I'll also second the use of layers. Layering is what makes Photoshop so painter-friendly. You can create a new layer every time you start to work on a different section of the picture]http://www.loveofanime.com/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=19[/url]

Hope it helps!

yes, but some of us are very unlucky and don't have the pen tool ^^; *stabs Elements*

but I guess PS 6 does?

[TalKeaton]

I have CS3, but I don't really use the Pen Tool much... then again, my Photoshop skills are more being used for texturing than lineart nowadays. Still, the above methods are similar to what I do for coloring.

[Popsicle]

There are like a gazillion ways to color stuff in photoshop. I had to learn how to use the program by myself too so I just looked up a bunch of tutorials online. While doing that I also learned how to do many other things besides coloring that were pretty cool. It is kinda overwhelming at first and the process of coloring in photoshop may seem tedious, but you will get used to it.

[minakichan]

Tutorials are you friend. Searching through devART and seeing illustrated examples will teach you even more than just reading descriptions.