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Begin by either scanning, or opening the drawing that you want to color. To scan an image with photoshop, click File > Import > Twain. It will open up your default scanner drivers, (the software that runs your scanner) so do everything that you would normally do. Scan in Grayscale, and preferably at 300dpi. After you have scanned the picture, don't resize it. You will get the best results if you leave the picture as large as possible while editing and coloring it. I never resize my images until I'm completly finished.
There are primarily two ways to create the line art for a computer colored drawing. One - you ink your drawing, erase all of the pencils marks, scan the inked version and use that as your lineart. The second method is much cleaner, and easier to color, however it takes more effort and some practive.
First - Inked Line Art
After you have scanned your inked drawing, clean it up using the Levels feature. (Image > Adjust > Levels) Begin by clicking the 'Auto' button. This will calculate the levels automatically, however this usually doesn't quite get it perfect, so you can adjust it more by dragging the small triangles at the base in towards the center more. The triangle to the far right controls the light color, if you drag it more towards the center, the white areas will become lighter - this is useful for getting rid of extra background specks and smudges from the eraser. The triangle to the far left controls the darker areas. If you drag it towards the center, the lines will become bolder and blacker. After you are finished with the levels, you may still have to erase a few extra marks, and clean up any mistakes, or ink blips that the levels didn't catch.
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Open the Layer window (window > Show Layers) so you can see and control the layers better. Duplicate the background layer (click and drag the background layer to the 'new layer' icon at the base of the window, or choose Layers > Duplicate Layer) Name the new layer copy 'Line Art' (to rename layers, double click on them).
Change the layer mode from 'Normal' to 'Multiply'. (it's in the layers window, near the top, under the Layers Tab) Click back on the Background layer, select all (Ctrl+A) right click, Fill > Use: White, OK. Now anything you place above the background layer, and under the 'Line Art' layer, will show up, except for areas where the black lines were present.
Second - Creating the Line Art with Photoshop This is a lot cleaner. The lines are always have a constant width - so they can look smoother. It's also a lot easier to select the areas to fill the color later on, if you use this method. Duplicate the background layer and name the copy 'Pencils', clear the background layer so it is all white (select all - Ctrl+A, right click, Fill > Use: White, OK). Create a new layer over the Pencils layer (Layer > New Layer) and name it Line Art.
Windows > Show Options. From the toolbar, choose the Line Tool (if you can see the line tool on the toolbar, hold down on the pencil tool until a small menu pops out from it, then choose the line tool) In the Options window, you should make sure all of the settings are like this: Mode: Normal; Opacity: 100%; Weight: 2; Anti-aliased should be checked, and both the Start and End Arrowheads should be turned off.
The line tool makes strait lines. To make a continuous, curved line, you need to make a succession of the strait lines. You do this by using a Click-Drag-Release, Click-Drag-Release - method, instead of a click, click, click methode, creating the individual points, like you would with, for example, the polygonal lasso tool.
If you feel that you would be more comfortable with the click, click, click type of tracing that one would use with the polygonal lasso, and are having a lot of trouble using the line tool to trace your drawings, there is another option. The Pen tool can also be used for tracing, and is based on placing points along your picture, and then 'stroking' the points to create a solid line.
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The Pen tool doesn't have it's own setting as to how wide the line will be once you 'stroke' it, so you have to use the settings from another tool. I usually use the paintbrush tool. Before you begin to trace the image, click on the paintbrush tool, and open the brushes window (window > show brushes) Choose the smallest brush size, double click on it, and change the diameter to 2. Leave the Paintbrush set on this brush size, and then use the pen tool to begin tracing your drawing. Unlike the polygonal lasso, you do not have to create an enclosed area. Once you have traced along a line, right click with the mouse, and a drop down menu will appear. Choose to 'Stroke Subpath' and Tool: Paintbrush. This will turn the path into a solid line. Then you have to delete the current path before you can create a new one - right click again, and choose Delete path from the drop-down menu.
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Sometimes you'll come across something that needs to be much thicker then the line, in cases like these, I usually select the area using the polygonal lasso tool, and then fill it in. (after having traced around the shape with the lasso tool, right click inside of the selection and choose fill - use:black)
New
I realized that I had left out the info on getting rid of the pencil lines here - so I've just added this new paragraph to the tutorial. 8-3-00The main reason behind making the line art on a seperate layer, was to make it easier to get rid of the pencil art. Since you've made all the new traced lines onto a seperate layer (You didn't forget to do it on a seperate layer did you?) to get rid of the pencil marks, all you have to do is delete the pencils layer! Simple ne? And now you've got a really clean and constant line throughout the entire picture! No eraser smudges, to fuzzy gray lines.
Once you have the line art completely finished, you can begin to create the flat colors. You always get all of the colors in as flat, single colors, first. You will add the shades and depth to the picture later. First we need to change the picture from a grayscale image, to a RGB image, so that you can use color. Choose Image > Mode > RGB Color. And make sure you choose 'Do Not Flatten.'
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