Digital COMICS Tutorials

0. Initial steps. This penciller is one of my favorites. The very first step is open the image, set this to RGB mode (I usually work in RGB/CMYK mode) changing the "Background" into a layer n' set it to "multiply" mode. We can call this one "lineart".

1. Flats Here we began to color... I've created a new layer under the "lineart" called "color". This one is a normal layer mode, and we need to establish the colors for all the image using only flat colors at this time.

2.Alpha Channel With all the flat colors done, I'm going to select all the image (ctrl+A) copy (ctrl+C) and paste it (ctrl+V) into a new Alpha layer... We need it for select every color area in the future.

3. Airbrush Now, using the brush tool with a soft brush in screen mode I paint some parts of the image, setting the "light source" for Batman. I use the magic wand tool for select the different areas in the "Alpha channel" like active areas to paint over. You need to paint-over using the same color of the part to paint. It may looks like this:

4.Cuts Now, the next step is where the detailed work is. Using the lasso tool we do selections ("cuts"), and paint this areas using a gradient (using the base color like initial color and finishing in transparent). The gradient tool should be in "screen" mode and 35% of opacity. We do the selection, fills with gradient and make the selection again (more small) and fills again. I usually try 2 or 3 times for every area.

You can change this values for every tool... It depends of you! Experiment, and use the tool and values you feel more comfortably.

5. Secondary Light source and Adjustment When all the Batman are fully colored, a secondary light source helps to create more realistic effect in the image. I've choose a pale yellow tone, and using a soft brush (in screen mode) I add some light spots here and there.

Its almost finished... But I wanna do some adjustments for the colors:

6. Final Image