A Comics Color Tutorial - Sara Turner

On to Photoshop...

I scan my piece in two sections (my scanner is small) at 850 dpi. Because this will be printed as a 2' x3' poster, i need it to be a very large file. Once in Photoshop I piece the sections together and start my cleanup.

First, I go to Image/Adjust/Brightness&Contrast and use the slider with the average adjustments shown above.
This may vary depending on your monitor and preferences.

Then, using my erase tool I will finely go around the image and clean up any stray marks, blemishes, mistakes, etc.

Layers

Once the lineart is clean, I set that layer to Multiply. This drops all the white from that layer, allowing your color (that we will be dropping in lower layers) to show through.

*A sidenote...alot of people assign proper names to their layers...I don't. I'm lazy like that.


Dumping Color

Using a layer below my lineart, I start dumping "base color" into appropriate areas using the Paint Bucket tool. In the options section...make sure that "Use All Layers" is checked. That way color only goes within the lines you have designated. And I usually set my Tolerance around 75 so that it fills in all the smaller areas.

When you color with this method it's important that all your lines are completely closed...or color will spread everywhere.
The Gradient Tool

For the hallway, ceiling and floor base colors I want to use a Gradient, to offer a more dimensional feel. A gradient lets you bleed one color into another within a given selection.

Using the Magic Wand Tool...I select all the areas of the Hallway. An example of this is on the right.

*quicknote* In the options make sure "Use All Layers" is selected and I set my Tolerance (again) around 75.
Then, with the Gradient Tool...

I slide my curser across the area in the direction where I want my color to blend. Play around with the technique...if you're not used to it. It takes awhile to get the hang of.

All my base color is now down...and we're ready to add shadow and highlights!

As you can see in my Layer Window...I duplicated my Hallway/CeilingFloor layer, varied the color and overlayed them on each other. Playing around with these options can sometimes provide color combinations that you might not normally think about. And it's just fun!
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