Expert: Brad J. Guigar - 11/3/2006

Question
How do you shade a comic strip using a computer?
Like in the Comic Strip LUANN you can tell they are getting help by a
computer to shade.  Is this process easy or do I need a program that cost
$1000+?

Dustin Neufeld
Abbotsford, B.C.
Canada  

Answer
Hi Dustin,

Let me start with scanning and then move into shading, since the two tend to be linked. If you're now scanning in your work, skip to the second section.

First of all, scan that lineart in as "Greyscale" at 600 dpi. Yes, it will be a huge file -- but trust me, it gets better. Open your scan in Photoshop. Go to IMAGE on the menu, pull down to ADJUST and then over to THRESHOLD. You'll get a dialogue box that features an arrow you pull to the right or left. The effect this dialogue box gives is to bump all pixels above a certain percentage of grey up to pure black and turn all pixels under that value to pure white. The pointer you drag, effectively, determines that value of grey.

Experiment here. Pulling the arrow way to the right will cause your lines to actually get thicker (sometimes this is a neat trick to know). Pulling the arrow all the way to the left will leave you with wispy, spiderweb-like lines (not great for reproduction).

Find the placement that best reflects how you want your line art to reproduce and hit OKAY.

Go to FILTER on the menu bar, pull down to SHARPEN and over to UNSHARP MASK. Enter 500 for the amount, 1.5 for the radius and 10 for the levels. Hit OKAY.

Repeat this step.

Now you have a document that has very crisp lines ... all the pixels are either black or white and all the pixels that form lines are tight and compact to the form. But it's still a whopping 600 dpi, right!? How are you going to save all those scans on your hard drive?

Easy. Remember: all those pixels are either black or white. So, why do you need that art saved as "Greyscale?" Go to IMAGE, pull down to MODE and over to BITMAP. Now your file size is completely manageable and you haven't harmed your file in the slightest. If you find a mistake, Go to IMAGE, MODE and pull to GREYSCALE to undo the process (with no breakdown of image clarity). Make your fix and then convert that puppy back to a bitmap.

You'll get work that prints wonderfully, stores nicely on your hard drive and can be e-mailed to clients with no hassle.

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SHADING & COLORING:

Now you can go back into the file and add color or shades of grey. Simply convert the image from a bitmap mode to either greyscale or CMYK. Greyscale mode is for black-and-white reproduction. CMYK mode's for color work.

Open your lineart in Photoshop. Open the Layers palette. Double click on the Background layer. A dialogue box will appear. Rename this layer "Lineart" and OK.

Select your "Lineart” layer by clicking once on it in the layer palette box and then click and hold the arrow on the right hand side of the Layer palette box. Choose Duplicate layer. Name this new layer “Color.”

Move the "Color" layer so it's under the “Lineart” layer. Click on "Lineart" and then select "darken" from the layer options. Now select the "Color" layer. You will do all your color work on this layer.

It's easiest to use the fill tool to apply larges areas of color. Use the paint buycket to fill closed-off shapes. Use a fill color to close off open shapes.

You can use Photoshop’s other tools to add highlights and shading as well as more advanced visual effects. Select the areas you want to refine with the Magic Wand tool. Once these areas are selected, use the Burn Tool for highlights and the Dodge Tool for shadows.