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Etoli β TUTORIAL: Digital Paint in PS
Published: 2008-01-23 05:22:54 +0000 UTC; Views: 183976; Favourites: 5771; Downloads: 7612
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Whew! FINALLY. I've been busy, but mostly. . .I can just be a lazy arse sometimes. This being the case. I've been telling people I'll make a digital coloring tut for well about a year now. XD Well. . . it's here! Yay!I didn't go into every finite detail of my painting technique simply because that would have been tedium just to read, let alone follow (not to mention the time it would have taken to put it together). What I've included in this tuturial are a number of simple steps and a few tips that will get you well on the way to coloring your sketches and lineart digitally in photoshop. Many of these techniques will apply similarly in programs like OC and Painter.
While some of this might be old news to the more veteran of digital painters, I really hope this can be helpful to those who are just starting out or are struggling with painting on the computer. Give it a try, and have fun!
Much
, Kelli.**Edit** Why won't DA let us have preview images anymore? It's so tacky! I had this great preview all ready and everything. . .
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Comments: 477
awww, it doesn't work for me. The lineart isnt black on the alpha1 layer.
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Hmm, sounds like you may have missed the step where you set the alpha layer's default settings. If the selected color isn't black, then you'll be copying white lineart onto a white alpha layer.
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No i setted it like on your screen shot and the color was set to black, that's why i don't understand.
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This is amazing!! I'm glad you showed a new technique aside from setting the layer to multiply...that always seems to make my lineart look more messed up and smudged than it already is. Thanks!!
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Thanks for this, its very very helpful. ^___^
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Wow, thank you for such great tutorial! I'm going to try it later on.
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You really should do a tut on texture application. This one was awesome!
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Hello! I just wanted to let you know that Used your tutorial for a project!
I dont' know how to make a link, but if you visit my gallery and look for the blue dragon titled "kindness" you will be able to see how it turned out. Please don't laugh too hard!
thanks!
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This is an amazing tutorial!
I'll have to try using the pumpkin/teal shading sometime soon <3
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What kind of paper do you draw on? 8D
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This is far beyond me to apply at my present level of knowledge; however, I can tell that this is a real work of passion.
Thank you for this tutorial; thank you for sharing.
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This is extremely helpful for me!
But I have Photoshop 7, and a lot of the steps you list don't work the way you say they should. For example, when I double click on my sketch layer it turns to Layer 0, but I don't get a new white background. It just changes the name.
Could you maybe modify your directions a bit for lesser versions of Photoshop, for me?
it would be very much appreciated.
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No, the new white background is something that you make after you rename the background layer. 
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Oh!
I'm feel rawther stupid now.
I would love it if everything where that easy.
ESPECIALLY Photoshop.
But alas, it is un-new user friendly.
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Thank you! This is an excellent tutorial. I received PainterX and a wacom intuis tablet last May and havenβt spent much time with it. Iβm a total traditional artist and a lot of tutβs don't give some of the basics... I still donβt really understand brushes, and getting them to do what I want. (Like mask layers... OMG I had no idea what use those had or how to apply a texture) Anyhow, I am having difficulty drawing concept from scratch on the pc, but if I can get my hands on a scannerβ¦ I have loads of stuff that would be perfect to practice this on. Anyhow, I really appreciate that you included some newbie details and all the screen shots. I keep finding βvisualβ tutorials but they donβt do me any good without understanding the basics. I will be using this.
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First off, a very clear and to-the-point tutorial for those who have been using Photoshop for some time, but want to advance to the next level.
However, I couldn't help but notice the way you alpha-fy your line art, so I'm going to list my method.
1] Scan your line art as a grayscale image.
2] Make modifications, such changing the curve to remove impurities and emphasize solid lines.
3] Select the whole image and cut and paste it into a new layer.
4] Hit ctrl+i to inverse the colors. A pretty crucial step.
5] Make sure that the layer containing the line art is selected, and go to [layer] > [layer mask] > [reveal all]. Photoshop created a new mask layer for the selected layer.
6] Select the whole layer and cut the image. Then, hold alt and click the mask portion of the layer. Your image should turn white, since white is the mask color for revealing. Paste the image to create an mask of your image.
7] Go back to your image by alt-clicking the image portion of your layer. Take the fill bucket and paint the whole layer black or any particular base color. You'll notice that only the line art shows up.
The advantage of this method is that a mask can be modified with ease. Since you have mask data now, you can easily copy it, manipulate it and rasterize it.
And now, I'm so going to check out the image you took as an example for this tutorial.
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Hmmmm, I've not heard of this method before. . . I like the editability of it though, that's for sure. I love using layer masks on my layers once I've gotten things separated out. It's a huge step up from destructive editing, and a great time and headache-saver in the end.
Thanks for posting your technique!
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wow, some cool tips here.. unfortunately i can't try them at the momment.. but i'll be back!
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thank you soo much for this! I was having mucho problems with getting the line art separated from the black! This is really good thanks so much!
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Great tutorial and method Kelli. Thanks you.
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OMG thank you so much! That made my life so much easier!
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this is Such a nice tutorial
and the finished piece looks Fantastic
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My photoshop doesnt have a channels tab T_T aww man any other way to do the lines part?
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Hmmm. . . I'd recommend that for now you just set your sketch layer to multiply and paint your colors on a layer beneath that.
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Great work! Very helpful!
PS: And don't you just love the favs you receive from all those greatful souls out there?
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this is so helpful its really good thans so much. ^^
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now that i finnally have photoshop i ca actually uses these!
this one is great too!
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woow, really great tutorial! I always love to see how other people work ^^
but I have a (stupid) question: how do you get your brush-shape like that? mine just doesn't get that fading-pointed shaped tip.. mine always looks like this, even though I've put the settings the same as yours: [link]
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This means that photoshop isn't recognizing pressure sensitivity with the brush stroke. If you're painting with a mouse, then you won't be able to change this. If you're painting with a wacom however, either you need to update your wacom driver, or quite simply all you need to do is restart photoshop or unplug/replug your wacom tablet.
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hmm, I'll try updating my wacom then.. thanks for the help <3
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This is really great! Thank you. 
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I usually scan my sketches in at 200 dpi, 300 if I want to get in closer for specific, smaller details and 600 if the original sketch was really tiny.
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Why does everybody on DeviantART make tutorials these gigantic, confusing images? How cool was the preview image? You ought to have made a swf. Oh wait, can you upload a swf for tutorials? Maybe that's the reason for the unnecessarily large images. Duh, Oliver. Ok, I'll go back to my corner.
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Oh, the preview image was pretty slick. Looked all professional and everything. Pfffft. . . Deviantart, why do you thwart me so?
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I say you just upload the preview image as a deviant. You could pretend like you're rebelling against the system and say something like, "Ha ha! Take that DeviantART!"
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To a beginner like me this looks complex, but your directions look complete so maybe I can get thru it. Should be very helpful. Thank you for making this.
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Hey!~ I just wanted to say "Thank you" again for the tutorial - I tried it out (with my very meager digital-art skills) today while sitting in bed sick, and I'm so happy with the results - your tutorial was incredibly easy to follow, and had way more tips than I even would have expected just reading through it!
I believe you've made my outlook on my costume design class just that much grander!
Here is the deviation, in case you'd like to see it: [link]
Thank you again!~
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Whenever I highlight my sketch layer and press 'new channel' on the channels tab, the little box in the channel tab appears white.
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It sounds like you might be forgetting to copy your sketch and paste it to the new channel (alpha) layer. Make sure you're pressing Ctrl + C to copy your selected sketch before you go and make a new alpha layer.
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Y'know, I've always wondered about the alpha layer and all those channels... this stuff is good to know. Fave'd for future reference!
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I was just wondering is there any way that you can transfer the lineart and change the opacity on another layer in OpenCanvas?
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Hmmm. . . it's been a little while since I've dabbled in OC. It really depends on whether or not there is a channels option in the program. Otherwise, it could be really tough to transfer the lines at all. You may be better off just drawing directly in the program, if that's the case.
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Which version do you have? I've got the 4.5.09 Plus trial version (since I can't get the real version to work right) Where's the channel button (If there is one on OC?)
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