Note: In no way do I claim this is the only way to color, or do anything in PSP. This is just a way I do it.
This page contains many .PNG images, so it may take a while to load.
Supplies needed:
Paper/Pencil or an already drawn sketch or a computer drawn image ink Pen Digital camera or a scanner Jasc Paint Shop Pro 9 or above (lower versions may do for this, but I am not sure.) atleast a little knowledge about PSP
If you are using a computer drawn outline, skip the steps up until coloring the image.
Steps:
Inking | Fixing the Lines | Coloring and Shading
Okay, let's begin!
First, draw a picture you want to color in paint shop pro in pencil.
I personally like to make the outer-line a bit thicker than the other lines. Just reink the outer-line.
Now erase your pencil lines, and either scan your image into PSP, or take a very good, clear picture of it with your digital camera and open it in PSP. I recommend doing this where there is good lighting, like near a window or lamp, without the flash. If you have a close-up setting on your camera, use that. Make sure the picture is focused. (Since my scanner won't hook up to this computer for some reason, I've been using my camera)
Inking | Fixing the Lines | Coloring and Shading
Okay, so now you have your image. Now it's time to get techincal!
First off, your scanned image or digital picture is probably pretty big. This can make the computer slow at times. And I don't know about you, but resizing in PSP causes my images to get ugly and pixelated, which we don't want this very moment. So we need to resize the long way.
Go to View and click "Full Screen Preview".
Zoom in on your picture by scrolling up the little knob on your mouse, between the left and right click buttons. If you don't have one, just click a button, and full screen will exit out. Click the Zoom Tool (shortcut: Z), which is the magnifying glass. The goal is to zoom in as much as you can without your image getting cut off. Now we're going to take a screen shot! Push the Print Screen button (may appear as "Prnt scrn" or something like that on some keyboards), and exit out of full zoom. Go to Edit--> Paste--> Paste as New Image
.
Now crop the image, so there is only your drawing and a little bit of white space around it.
Now we're going to promote the background layer. To do so, right click the layer (or go to Layers-->Promote Background Layer) and select "Promote Background Layer" from the popup list.
Now select the Magic Wand Tool from the side tool bar.
If you do not see the Magic Wand, it is the 5th icon down from the side tool bar, right under the tool that lookes like a cross-road. Click the little black arrow, and select the MWT from the little list.
Click anywhere on the background with the Magic wand, and click delete. This will delete your background, and should leave you with a transparent background, often represented by a checkered background.
If your background does not completely erase the first time, just click the remaining parts of background and delete them, too. If you took a digital picture and the image is a bit darker in one part, and the color is close the the color of the lines, just erase that part of the background with the eraser tool (shortcut: X). (Make sure to unselect the lines before you try erasing. Do this by going to Selections--> Select None)
When you're done, the image should look something like this:
Notice how the line has different colors- we are going to change that. We are also going to pixelize the image. (Note that I'm viewing my image at 60%, not full view, so it won't look pixelated unless viewed the actual size.)
Select the background again, then go to Selections --> Invert. This will select your outline.
Now select the Flood Fill tool (the paint bucket; shortcut: F). Make sure the opacity of it is 100% (the tool bar for it is at the top of the screen, displaying horizontally. It's right above the tool bar.) and the Match Mode is none. With your image still selected, select the color Black, and click the lines. Your line should turn completely black (if not, click it a second time), and appear pixelized when you zoom in on the image 100%.
Inking | Fixing the Lines | Coloring and Shading
Now to COLOR!
Before we do this, though, duplicate you layer. Do this by right-clicking the layer, and selecting "Duplicate" from the popup list. If you want, you can right select one of them, and click "Properties" and name your layer, and give it a special color (Highlight). (Or go to Layers--> Duplicate; Layers--> Properties)I give my first layer the name "line".
There will be one base color for the image, so you will color that, and make any markings or whatever on other layers. This is to help make the image easy to recolor if you want to do variations of the same image. You will be coloring the layer BELOW the top/line layer.
Unselect your image if it's selected. Using the Flood Bucket tool, and changing its Match Mode to "RBG" or "Color" mode, and an opacity less than 100, pick the base color of your character, and color in your image. If you accidently color the entire canvas, click the undo button, and search for any open outer lines, and fix them.
Looking at the image, you may think the outline looks a bit blockish. If you want smoother lines, click the line layer, and using the Soften tool at a low opacity, brush over the line.
Click your base color layer. With the base color set in, use the magic wand to select the color.
May as well go ahead and get the shading in.
Create another layer. This layer will be your first shading layer. The opacity of the layer itself will be low, depending on your base color. It can be changed without hassle, though.
With you having that selection around the image, you will not color out of the lines. Click the Paint Brush (short-cut: B), the color black from the palette, and color where your shading will be. If needed to help visualize where the shading would appear, thing of there being a little light source, or a sun somewhere.
The shading is kind of blockish, so we're going to soften it. Not with the soften tool, but with the Smudge tool. I keep the opacity for it around 65-71%. The idea of smudging is not to smudge everywhere, but to get the color to go in the direction you want it to, and make it look more realistic.
After I've shaded once, I make another shading layer, and shade the areas where the shading would be deeper. I then smudge that, too.
Afterwards, it's time to do the highlights. It's the same as shading- only the color is white. It's okay to keep the opacity at 100%, because we'll be fixing it so it looks more natural. Color where parts of your character would be lighter, and then smudge. Then click the part that says "Normal" in the layer palette. A drop down list will appear. Click "Soft Light". If the light looks like it's too much, bring the opacity of the light layer down some.
For any markings, make seperate layers. I tend to make layers for colors of the same thing. (Ex: a base color of white, then a layer for black markings, then a layer for tan markings) Make sure your base color layer is still selected, so you can't color out of line. Make sure your marking layers are above the base color layer.
The eyes, nose, and things of the such, I put on a seperate layer all together. If you want, though, you can have a seperate layer for the eyes, another for the nose, or however you want. I color the nose and the eyes, and I'm done... almost.
The next steps are optional.
One thing you can do to make the image look more natural is to make any shading on white areas a blue color. Just use the color replacer tool (after the Masking Wand tool; it's placed together with the Eyedropper tool) to recolor areas a blue color. Do this for all shading layers.
If you want, you can recolor the lines the same way. You can recolor the lines a darker version of the character color. (Ex: white a blue-gray; very dark gray with a black; tan with a light brown)
When you are done with an image, zoom out a bit, since the original image is big, and take a screen shot. Crop the image, then save it.
Voila! You're done!To recolor an image, go to your marking layers and recolor the image. For a quicker way, right click your marking layer/whichever layer you want to recolor, and go to properties. Click the box that says "Lock Transparency". Now, using the Flood Fill tool, you can pick the color you want, and color a part of the image, and the entire layer will change to that color- but only the parts you've previously colored on.
©2007 Emily Stamey; Paw Prints Animal Art