Need some Photoshop help!

OK, so I've drawn this pic of Skeletor and the baddies that I was really happy with and proud of and scanned it to paint and put on here... problem is, some of the lines didn't come out dark enough (I think it's the new pen I've tried) to allow the Magic Wand to grab the area. Instead it slips through some light areas and selects a ton of extra crap. Is there a way to ignore small gaps in a selection?

I've tried using the levels to darken the lines, but it still leaves gaps that the Magic Wand goes through. I don't want to have to draw over these lines with a paint brush because my mouse drawing is so horrible it'll just mess the picture up.

My final option would be to use a thicker pen and reink over the whole thing and I'd hate to do that.

Please help? I'm pretty frustrated that I've got this pic I spent time on and now I can't color it.

That's pretty easy. Make sure the layer that has your line art is set on multiply.
Then create a new layer that goes underneath the lineart layer to use for the coloring..

I have to add though that it's best to never use the magic wand tool..

Originally Posted by Neo

That's pretty easy. Make sure the layer that has your line art is set on multiply.
Then create a new layer that goes underneath the lineart layer to use for the coloring..

I have to add though that it's best to never use the magic wand tool..

How would you suggest coloring in sections? I've used the other selection tool and it doesn't select close enough to the line. And I've even colored by hand with the paintbrush and it takes SO long and my unsteady mouse drawing hand makes it impossible.

Originally Posted by sonofblaine

How would you suggest coloring in sections? I've used the other selection tool and it doesn't select close enough to the line. And I've even colored by hand with the paintbrush and it takes SO long and my unsteady mouse drawing hand makes it impossible.

Well If your line are is the top layer then you can make selections on the layers beneath that one using your lasso tool. It's not the official wat that comic artists do it, but it works for the casual user.

Btw, if you hold down the shift key, after you used your paintbrush on let's say area A, Photoshop will draw a straight line between that point and a second point B. That's really handy when you use a mouse instead of a Wacom.

Originally Posted by sonofblaine

How would you suggest coloring in sections? I've used the other selection tool and it doesn't select close enough to the line. And I've even colored by hand with the paintbrush and it takes SO long and my unsteady mouse drawing hand makes it impossible.

If all you have is a mouse, use the polygonal lasso tool. Zoom in and make as many stops along the line as needed to really follow the line. It's a little time consuming but once you have your shapes blocked in it makes it very easy to pick select by colors. (Don't forget to keep your base colors on a separate layer and lock it).


Edit: Also, what Neo said lol.

Yeah, I agree with what the previous posters said. This is the way to go.

Using layers makes everything millions of times easier, and more flexible. When you advance your PS-use you can also start using the professional methods, that involves using Channels instead of, or as a compliment, to layers. ( I use both, as I immagine most modern colourists do.)

this may just be me but I sometimes find coloring thin areas or lines easier by holding by holding the shift button while I click the mouse / cursor in different places, holding the shift causes each "dot" you make to be automatically joined so this is also a good method for making straight lines

oh and ya layers are great, even my simple pics have at least 15 layers while my Sir Seror had around 40

I tend to use a lot of layers myself, and I think that you'll find the more you color/paint using the mouse, the easier it becomes ... at least, it did for me.

My first couple attempts took forever, it seemed, but you'll gradually pick up little things that help you along and develop your own method.

Of course, I'm not the best colorist on the .org either, but I manage to get by.

Originally Posted by wolfsfang

this may just be me but I sometimes find coloring thin areas or lines easier by holding by holding the shift button while I click the mouse / cursor in different places, holding the shift causes each "dot" you make to be automatically joined so this is also a good method for making straight lines

Yah, that's what I said..

Right on. Thanks for the good advice. Also, how about some "whys" as well. Simply, "Why" is lasso better and why a ton of layers better (I do use a few layers to seperate my lines from my base colors and shading, but usually don't end up with more than a few layers). The way I've been doing it with magic wand, selecting and filling an area seems to look ok, and in the end, when it's all been turned into an image file and all layers combined it seems to look good (at least to my casual, untrained eye). I'm not questioning, simply looking for the technical reason to go with the advice.

Also, what are suggestions on shading? The tutorial that I've learned with told me using burn and dodge. and I admit, I'm not always happy with the results. I'd like to do a more solid shade, like in anime or simpler cartoons, but imagine that that might require me to draw my shade lines before hand as well and erase them perhaps? Unless it's instead something I'd do by painting my lines in shop (which again isn't really doable for me. I can't draw a smooth line with a mouse ).

sonofblaine -

Layers are nice because it allows you to work on more ways - giving you more options to create better results.

Lasso is better than the magic wand because it gives you more control over your selection. I prefer the path tool as I'm an old-school Adobe Illustrator guy. I've gotten quite fast over the years.

Learn what each tool does and why it does it. Dodge and burn are old school photography tricks and may or may not work well for illustration coloring purposes.

Discover the blend modes in the layers palette and how to use them (the drop down menu in the layers palette). You'll be surprised at the results. Check out non destructive filters and adjustment layers as well.

There are some really great resources out there. Check out the National Association of Photoshop Professionals. Their membership fees are minimal for the amount of knowledge you gain access to (it's like the Jedi Archives for Photoshop).

Check out ImagineFX and ConceptArt.org. Sites like DeviantARt are great for sharing, but you'll learn technique on ConceptArt.

Best advice I can give you - practice, practice, practice.

Good luck!

Bluestreak is right.. Layers give you more controll and it's easier to go back and fix stuff you don't really like much faster then if it was just one layer.

The magic wand tool is very crude and clumsy. It only barely works if there are very sharp non aliased edges. Otherwise it will leave pixels or include some that you don't need.

The shading can be done with numerous tools, however I kind of prefer to just use a colored paintbrush to do so. Again, everything I do is in a new layer. This gives me the control I need, you can set the transparancy and blending. But again this is not how comicbook artists do it. I am not a comicbook artist but I am a graphic designer.