How Do You Color A Manga Page?

A quick how-to guide, since I've been asked a few times how I brand things (like my icon!)

This guide is for Photoshop, merely I'm certain you can find a way to convert it to drawing programs.

Gonna put this bad boy under a readmore since It'll prolly be long.

1. Go your cap.

This is kind of a given, I know, but I'g calculation it even so. For this guide, I'm going to be coloring this mangacap of Mirio, from heroacacaps!

2. Open up or paste your cap into Photoshop in a new document.

Photoshop has a nifty thing where the first pick it will give y'all for new canvas size is proportional to whatsoever you have copied, then I generally employ that!

Note: Don't forget to change your image mode! About times, mangacaps copied from heroacacaps will be set to Grayscale way. You'll want to change it to RGB colour! (This can washed in Prototype > Mode)

3. (Optional) Colour your lineart.

Every bit stated above, this pace is entirely optional, but I observe it helps give some pop to a mangacap. To do this, make a new layer and fix it Hard Light mode. And so, option an unsaturated color; I by and large employ warm purples and pinks, simply you can use any color. Now, start drawing over the lineart. Hard calorie-free mode makes it so that your color only alters the blacks and greys of the paradigm. Neat, huh?

When you're satisfied with your lineart, merge the Hard Light layer down onto the original layer and set that layer to Multiply.

four. Make a color base.

You lot can do this by hand, but I find it easier to just use pick and inverse. (Note: You can use this for normal fine art, as well!) To do information technology, just select outside of the graphic symbol (make certain sample all layers is checked on your selection tool!) like so:

Then, get to Select > Modify > Aggrandize. Since mangacaps are generally pocket-sized and low-res, I usually only expand by one pixel (I utilise two on regular art). This keeps your colors inside the lines. Then, one time you've done that, become to Select > Inverse (Control+Shift+I). This inverts your selection.

Now, you can either become alee and starting time filling in colors or use the fill saucepan to make a monochrome color base. First, make a new layer underneath your multiply one. I by and large fill up the layer with a color that contrasts whatsoever the colors volition be, and then that I can tell if I've missed whatsoever spots. Then, I opacity lock that layer (footling checkerboard above the layers column).

5. Color!

This is self explanatory. You can either color direct on your base or use clipping masks. I apply both, depending on whether I'g using flat colors or gradients for specific areas.

6. (Optional, I guess) Shading!

Also self explanatory. I ordinarily shade with a calorie-free purple on a clipping mask prepare to multiply, only feel costless to play effectually with shades! The color of your shadows greatly effects the overall tone of the image, so mess around with warm vs. absurd colors. Gradients help mix things up, as well!

7. (Also optional) Accommodate overall colors!

By now, your image is probably looking pretty great, but mayhap it could look better. The trick to that? Soft light layers! They help add subtle changes, but when used correctly, they can really make an image popular!

To do this, I by and large put all of my layers and so far in a folder, and and then add a clipping mask on top of (exterior) that binder. I fill information technology with a single color (generally the same kind of warm, unsaturated color as the lineart)

See the difference?

(Here's a side by side comparison of some other contradistinct mangacap, which I made and am currently using as my icon!)

And that's virtually all there is to it! You lot tin add a background, or get in transparent, or leave information technology white! Information technology'southward all up to you lot!

Now get out and brand some sick donkey manga colors!