Getting

Started
Manual
WWW.DIGITALARTTUTORIALS.COM
ON THE CD:
On the CD-ROM youll fnd accompanying
fles so you can work along to the tutorial.
In the Psds folder youll fnd the full layered
Photoshop fles for you to inspect. Also in
this folder is the original line art for you to
color on.
In the Swatches folder youll fnd a sample
of Brians color palette. Please refer to your
Photoshop manual for installing these.
SOFTWARE:
We use Photoshop for most of our bread and
butter coloring. Most pros seem to favor
versions 3 or 4. Though there are many
other programs from Painter to Illusion for
adding certain special touches.
HARDWARE:
COMPUTER:
LOTS OF RAM AND A FAST SCRATCH DISK
Chuck as much memory as your machine
will take and that you can afford. Dont buy
the cheapest memory as it will probably
not do a good job and can even harm your
machinedo you need to buy the most
expensive? No. Something in the middle
is fne.
The minimum for professional graphics/
artwork would be 128 megs but that
would be tight256 to 512 being more
comfortable.
Have a second hard drive as a scratch disk.
NOT A PARTITION OF A SINGLE HARD
DRIVE!!! And if you can keep it cleanuse
it only as a Photoshop scratch diskand
make sure your operating system is using
your other drive. When two programs hit
the same drive at the same time everything
slows down
And buy (again if affordable) the fastest
drive you can. The higher the rpms the
bettertry to avoid anything less than 7200
rpms. And if the drive you use as a scratch
disk is used for other things as well then
make sure you routinely defragment itI
would do this weeklyusually at the end
of the day when you are done workinglet
whatever utility you choose run, as it takes
some timeI would do a virus check as
well while I was at it.
If the budget is between memory and a
second hard drivego with memory frst.
MONITORS:
I would say a resolution of 1024 by 768
is minimum. You should run at 85hz or
higher to avoid eye strain. (note: this does
not apply to LCD screens but to standard
(thick) monitors.) If you have the luxury
of a multiple monitor set up then even
betterthe more screen real-estate the
better.
Display cardsthe faster the better. The
Geforce and Radeon cards are quite good.
SCANNING:
Most comic originals are drawn on 11 x 17
inch boards and are scanned at 300 dpi.
GETTING GOOD SCANS:
To get the best scans, scan in grayscale or
color NOT IN LINE ART MODE then convert
to grey (if necessary). Then use levels to
adjust the scan until it is a crisp mostly black
and white with little grey. You may have to
use the dodge and burn tools to darken or
lighten parts of the image in order to make
it truly acceptable. Then threshold the line
so as to make it truly only black and white
with no grey. Or convert to bitmap using
50% threshold in the conversion settings*
*note: this is for traditional comicsin
some cases it is okay to leave a grey or
anti-aliased line.
COLORING SET UP:
Dont color at 300 dpi at 11 X 17 inches! It
is over kill and will not be reproduced in a
comic that is printed at only 6.625 x 10.187
inches and about 120 line screen.
To make the coloring go faster we usually
color on a proxy of the line art that is 150
dpi at 11 x 17 inches. So take your origi-
nal scan and reduce it in size but dont save
over the original, instead save as and re-
name the reduced resolution maybe adding
a c to the fle name for color. You need to
keep your original high resolution scan for
compositing later (VERY IMPORTANT).
COLORING IN LAYERS
OR CHANNELS:
If you use Photoshop 4 or higher I recom-
mend using layers with the base layer be-
ing your color and the next layer being your
proxy line art. The line art layer should be
in multiply mode.
For coloring in channelsyour base image
will be your color then place your line art
in a new channel with copy and paste. In
channel options make the channel black at
100%.
Have the eye on the line art channel but
your RGB channels selected so as to have
your line art there as a guide but you are
only really affecting the color.
FLATS:
Most colorists will lay in fat unmodeled
color on a page to start. Then once all the
areas (fesh, costume, background) are
flled copy the colors to a channelthey
will become grey-scale but will be great
for quick magic wand selections later. And
keep them around for quick and easy se-
lections should changes be needed later.
NOTE: TAKE ANTIALIASING OFF OF ALL TOOLS
AND REMOVE FEATHERING. IF YOU DONT AND
YOU MAGIC WAND THINGS YOULL GET HALOS.

COLORING:
Most will select each area i.e. A characters
face and begin to airbrush or use the grad
tool.
But experiment and fnd what tools work
best for you.
Once the color is fnished depending on
whether you used layers or channels will
determine how you proceed.
FINALIZING
YOUR IMAGE:
LAYERS:
Image size your picture back to your
original scan size. Replace your proxy line
art with the original clean scan.
Flatten layers. Then cover to CYMK mode.
Then trap using a setting of .5 points.
You are done.
CHANNELS:
Image size your picture back to your
original scan size. Replace your proxy line
art with the original clean scan.
With the RGB channels selected under the
Image menu select APPLY IMAGE. Use the
channel your line art is in and apply it in
MULTIPLY mode at 100%.
Then convert to CYMK mode. Then trap
using a setting of .5 points.
You are done.
RGB VS CYMK:
The simple reason I use RGB mode is for
the screen layer special effects. To make a
special effects layer create a new layer (it
should be the top most layerusually). Fill
the layer with blackthen you will panic for
a moment because you cannot see your im-
age anymore. Its okay. Switch the layer
to SCREEN mode and the black becomes
totally transparent. You can then apply
glows, power, and other special effects by
painting in that layer. Experiment but usu-
ally bright and saturated colors work the
best*.
*NOTE: IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT IF YOU
COLOR IN RGB THAT YOU HAVE CMYK PREVIEW ON
(OR PROOF COLORS IN HIGHER NUMBERED PHO-
TOSHOPS. IF YOU DONT THE COLORS YOU WORK
WITH WILL VERY LIKELY NOT BE THE COLORS YOU
GET WHEN YOU CONVERT TO CMYK AS THE GAMUT
FOR RGB CAN GO OUTSIDE THE RANGE OF PRINT-
ABLE CMYK COLORS.
SEPARATION SET UP:

UCR
INK LIMIT WILL DEPEND ON YOUR PRINT-
ING PAPER STOCKCOVERS CAN GO AS
HIGH AS 300 PER CENT COLOR FOR IN-
TERIORS 240-260 IS A GOOD RULE OF
THUMB.
In both cases keep your black ink at 100.
*NOTE: THE ART OF COLOR CONVERSION IS SUB-
TLE AND DIFFICULT TO MASTERTHE ABOVE IS
THE MOST BARE BONES OF DIRECTION FOR THOSE
WHO WANT TO TAKE WORK TO PRINTTHERE ARE
MANY MUCH LONGER WINDED VERSIONS AND
MORE THOROUGH EXAMPLES YOU CAN FIND ON
THE INTERNETTHIS WAS INTENDED AS A BASIC
RULE OF THUMB.
Here is my CMYK conversion set up:
MONITOR:
1.7 GAMMA
6500K
TRINITRON
AMBIENT LIGHT: LOW
PRINTING INK SET UP:
SWOP COATED (for cover stock and glossy
very nice interior stock ie: what SPAWN is
printed on)
SWOP UNCOATED (for most comics ie:
most of the DC and Marvel line)
STYLES:
There are many different techniques used
to color. I think the work being colored
should dictate the style it is colored in. The
color should seek to accentuate the line
art. Completing itnot overwhelming it
(unless the line art is really bad and has to
be overwhelmed).
FLAT COLOR
How comics have been done for decades.
Most comics people have grown up with
are done this way with fat areas of color
with no shading or highlights.
Some modern masters prefer to have
there work colored this way. Mike Mignola
on Hellboy is one such example. Coloring
this way is little more work than fats.
CUT/FRISKET AIRBRUSH STYLE
The coloring style that is most commonly
done in U.S. comics. The style is based
on the work Steve Oliff pioneered using
the Codd Barrett coloring systema vector
based comic coloring system (now de-
funct).
ANIME STYLE
I think the term Anime more accurately
describes this style than manga as manga
books are mostly printed in black and
white. The style strives to match the look
of a high end animated cel often going as
far as to have painted background work.
PAINTED STYLE
When the coloring more closely resembles
traditional mediafrom oils to watercol-
ors.
MIXED MEDIA
A mix of hand work done outside the
computer and computer work.
Samples of each style.
THINGS TO THINK
ABOUT WHILE
COLORING
Think like a cinematographerset up light
sources in your head.
Remember the visual cues to reality.
Warm light cool shadowand visa versa.
Try to avoid tinting colors with white.look
at a coke canthe highlights, other than
those that are refections are not pink.
Proper stylization can only come once there
is an understanding of what makes some-
thing work in reality.
Contrast pushes things forward
Warm colors push things forward
I realize this is all too brief but it should
get you started on the right pathor totally
confuse you.
GOOD LUCK!
Brian Haberlin.