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Coloring Lineart in Photoshop

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So you have a really nifty picture that you want to color on your computer, but you aren't sure what the best way to go about it is? No worries! Assuming you have photoshop, or a similar art program with the necessary tools, this tutorial will be of great help to you. :)

The first thing you need to do is to open your document.

Next, in the Layers menu, double click on the layer containing the picture to change its name to Lineart, just so we don't get confused. Enter the name and click "Okay".

Then, create a new layer by going Layer->New->Layer...

In the window that appears, type the layers' name: Background. Then hit "Okay".

In the layers menu, layers on the bottom are beneath the top layers. Knowing this, the background layer should go behind the layer that contains your picture. Click and hold on your background layer and drag it beneath the lineart layer. Your layers should now look like this:

Select the paintbucket tool and set your foreground color to white.

Make sure the Background layer is selected, and then click anywhere on the image to fill the background with the color white.

Now, select the Lineart layer and set the layer mode to Darken, as seen below.

Now its time to start coloring! Create a new layer (you can click this button in the layers menu if you want, as opposed to doing it the long way: ), and drag it between the other two to make a sandwich.
With this new layer still selected, select the paintbrush tool, change the colors to the ones you desire, and get coloring.

Wharg! I can't color in the lines!

Don't despair! The magic selection brush can get really useful here. If the area you are trying to color is closed in, select the magic selection brush tool (it looks like a wand) and click on the area you want to color with the lineart layer selected. In the layers menu select the layer you are coloring in, and the area will remain selected! Now you could even use the paintbucket tool to fill the selection. Sometimes coloring out of the lines can look cool though, so don't banish the concept entirely from your mind.

You can also select areas you have colored in order to add shading, highlights, and so on and so forth.



I'd advise you to create a new layer for each color you use. This is useful if you mess up or decide you don't like a color and want to change it without much hassle. Remember, the largest layers should be below the smaller ones.

My final outcome is the following. Happy coloring! :D

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