tutorial image to use or use your own - they all work the same. Skip directly to coloring?
PREPARING
OUTLINE
Step 1
Open the image and the first thing you need to do
is check the image for number of colors; some people reduce the number
of colors to 2 so it's black and white. I don't do that.
Increase number of colors to millions, if it isn't
already.
Step 2
Using the MagicWand selector, set the options (in
the tool options box) according to image below.
Step 3
Click in a broad section of the outline
Step 4
Modify the selections to select similar colors.
modify selections/expand 2 then modify selections/contract
2 (this gets rid of any specks in outline area before floodfill)
Step 5
Add a new raster layer; name it or just click OK.
Step 6
Using your Floodfill tool, the little bucket,
set your floodfill color to whatever you please - I use a medium grey.
Step 7
Click in the selected area to color outline.
Step 8
Activate the background layer.
Step 9
Delete layer. *a person COULD just floodfill
this layer with white if they wanted to, but I don't do that because I
prefer a transparent background; you just never know what you'll
use the image for and for tubing, it's best to just delete it.
Step 10
Modify the selection to feather = 1.
Step 11
Click in the outline about 4 times to strengthen
the outline then save to alphachannel; name it Outline.
Step 12
Activate and set the Freehand selection tool
(lasso) to Pinot-to-Point, no antialias and no feathering.
Step 13
While outline is still activated, you can see small
blemishes or parts you don't want, find them, select an area around each
and delete them using the delete key. Using this tool, you can cut
away odd shapes
Step 14
When you have all the unwanted portions deleted,
select ALL and set your selection by clicking once on the image.
Step 15
Rename layer to Outline and Deselect (Ctrl/D);
Save file as psp format to use again.
This ends the preparation of the outline; you
might want to open a duplicate image to continue with the coloring instruction.
COLORING
OF COLORING BOOK IMAGES
Step 16
With the outline selection saved to alphachannel,
you can recall it anytime. We don't need to load it right now.
Step 17
Add a new layer, move it to the bottom.
Step 18
*Starting here, repeat until
all portions are colored!
Activate the Outline layer.
Step 19
With the magic wand (same settings are okay), select
the first portion you want to color.
Step 20
Using the floodfill tool, select a flood fill color,
pattern, gradient or whatever.
Step 21
Expand the selection by 3; can be varied according
to the width of the lines.
Step 22
Activate new layer by clicking to change checkmark
to that layer.
Step 23
Floodfill the area with the color of choice.
We do this to keep our Outline layer in tact for it's coloring. You
CAN deselect now and use the paintbrush to fill any gaps you might have
but they will more than likely disappear if you intend to resize a lot
smaller.
Step 24
Activate the Outline layer by clicking on it to
move the checkmark.
Step 25
Load Outline selection.
Step 26
Use same color or color of choice to paint the outline
area to blend (or wait to last if you want it all colored the same color).
*Repeat until
all areas are colored.
Step 27
When finished, deselect selection, merge visible,
resize and sharpen as desired and save as psp file using a different name
that the outline.
Helpful notes:
Step 19: IF you depress the SHIFT key after
the first selection and continue to select other area that will be the
same color BEFORE doing step 23, you can select all areas you want to color
the same at once and then click in each to floodfill
Step 23: IF you set your floodfill tool options
Match mode to NONE, you can click once to floodfill all selections at once,
but this doesn't work well when using some types of fill, such as BladePro.
Step 25 & 26: If you want the outline to be all one color, you can skip step 25 & 26 until the whole image is colored and then perform Step 25 and use the floodfill tool instead of the paintbrush. Doing it this way allows for simple beveling; filling with WHITE, will allow you to use BladePro.
If I think of anything else, I will add it later.
Tutorial by CSGreen, 8-9-03
Close Window when finished.