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Pop Mhan
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 posted on 5/12/2005 at 09:41 PM |
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Photoshop Toning Tutorial WARNING: Huge Files
It just occured to me that some of you who are doing pinups for me for BLANK are having some questions on the process. Hopefully you'll find this
useful. 
Ok, first off, I'm not sure how other people do their toning, but this is how I've been doing it for BLANK. Please keep in mind that there are many
other ways to do this.
So... Anyways, since BLANK is in "published" format there are some simple rules to bear in mind. The most important is that the art MUST be made
up of only BLACK and WHITE pixels. There can be no GRAY pixels commonly found in web based publishing. And ALWAYS tone at the PRINT size. If your
print specs are 350 dpi at 5" x 7", make sure your piece is at spec BEFORE toning. Trying to resize your pic will cause unwanted moire patterns to
form.
Moving on...
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Pop Mhan
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![[*]](./images/corporate/default_icon.gif) posted on 5/12/2005 at 09:54 PM |
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How'r YOU doing?
This is Missy, one of the characters from BLANK. Seems like people like drawing her most. Must be her...eyes... Yeah... so for this tutorial, she be
the one getting the treatment.
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Pop Mhan
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| posted on 5/12/2005 at 10:01 PM |
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First you need to prep you pic for toning. Once you've cleaned the art, getting rid all unwanted artifacts that the scanner picked up, you
"thresh" the line art so it becomes a perfect BLACK and WHITE pixeled marvel. This is done with
Image -> Adjustment -> Threshold
You usually have to mess with it a bit until you are satisfied with the end result.
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Pop Mhan
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| posted on 5/12/2005 at 10:13 PM |
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setting up your layers
What I like to do to is work with a purely "line arted" layer. It saves me some time by giving me the option to "click-fill" big areas. Some
people prefer lasso-ing everything. I'm sure there's probably a better way out there, I'm old school so... there you go.
I select an area of black, then: Select -> Similar
Copy and Paste in a new layer, rename layer to: Black. Delete the old and Duplicate Black layer, and rename: Gray (this will be the layer where I
lay down my gray scale)
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Pop Mhan
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| posted on 5/12/2005 at 10:16 PM |
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When Grayscaling the art....
Dig? If you go too dark, a lot of the times, the tones will look muddy.
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Pop Mhan
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| posted on 5/12/2005 at 10:18 PM |
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Click, fill, click, fill....
I use both the lasso tool and the PENCIL brush to do the grayscale.
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Pop Mhan
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| posted on 5/12/2005 at 10:20 PM |
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More of the same....
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Pop Mhan
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| posted on 5/12/2005 at 10:25 PM |
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A gradient fill
I wanted to cover a few different techniques on Missy, so here we have a gradient fill...
Oh, my chicken scratches are pretty eligible, huh? The bottom right says: "Dark to Light"
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Pop Mhan
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| posted on 5/12/2005 at 10:44 PM |
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The conversion
Ok, so you are all finished with the grayscale? Select a purely BLACK area (left over from duplicating the BLACK line art. If you didn't do that
step, then omit. ) Select -> Similar..... Delete.
Now you have a layer that is purely grayscale.
This the most important part of these steps.
Ctrl + A (select all), Ctrl + C (copy), Ctrl + N (new file), Ctrl + V (paste that shiet)
NEXT...
Image -> Mode -> Bitmap
At the dialog box: Set the "Resolution" to 600 (or whatever resolution you are working at) and the "Method" to "Halftone"
At the next dialog box (pictured above) "Frequency" = 85, "Angle" = 45 and the "Shape" = Round
This converts the the grayscale to the halftone dots.
Then, Image -> Mode -> Grayscale ("ratio" = 1)
Now drag the halftone image back to your original file, making sure that this new layer is underneath the BLACK (line art) layer. Align the halftone
layer to line art/ BLACK layer.
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Pop Mhan
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| posted on 5/12/2005 at 10:45 PM |
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You should have sumthin' like a this...
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Pop Mhan
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| posted on 5/12/2005 at 10:52 PM |
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The last step
I like to add yet another layer on top of the halftone layer and name it "WHITE".
On this layer, I put the highlights.
Alternating between the 3 pixel and 1 pixel sized brush on the PENCIL tool, I etched in the highlights. It's like cross hatching, basicallly, I try
to create a gradient to "texturize" certain areas or lighten up other areas. It can get pretty time consuming.
Here, I did it in her inner thighs. (haha that sounded funny...) ...whatever...
Click to see the Pic
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Pop Mhan
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| posted on 5/12/2005 at 10:59 PM |
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Last but least...
Now, just merge all of your layers and save as a .TIF and you're good to go!
So a reminder, ALWAYS tone PRINT size and make sure your end product is a purely BLACK and WHITE pixel comprised.
Please feel free to ask questions or share some ideas, as I'm still trying to learn the process as well!
Thanks!
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Pop Mhan
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| posted on 5/12/2005 at 11:10 PM |
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The Final and a TIF file
Here's the finished piece (not at spec) I rezzed it down some it was originally 600 dpi. (the resolution of the BLANK pages)
The finished piece can be found here:
MISSY FINAL
And if you're curious, here's the print-ready TIF file: PRINT MISSY
Right Click, Save As.
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TheGoldenChild
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| posted on 5/13/2005 at 07:29 AM |
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Pop, my bradda... thanks for the lesson... thanks for Missy... HOT!... if only she was real.... (slap in the head from the wife)... I'm just
playin'... later bradda...
"So BLIND TO skin tones... they call me the e-RACE-er... LOVE is my alcohol... and
I'm drunk before the chaser..."
Words by Patrick "The Golden Child"
Strange
LIVE. BREATHE. CREATE.
Check me out at MySpace at http://www.myspace.com/patrickstrange |
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mykill
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| posted on 5/13/2005 at 07:49 AM |
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Look closely at the half tone generated here. This is why this technique doesn't quite work for me - the dots aren't round! -Not only that, but
because of the bitmap mode there's no antialiasing so those does will never look round.
Now if you're using a halftone in the first place, it's because you're printing in black and white and each dot has to be large enough for the
printer to print clearly. Which means the final product will have halftone dots that are visable to the naked eye. These bitmapped dots are ugly
compared to the pure round dots available from old school zip a tone.
approaching a Solution: When you export your bitmap - export it at twice the resolution of your master document. 300ppi master - 600ppi bitmap. 600ppi
master - 1200ppi bitmap. Before you place the bitmap -change the mode to grayscale and then down res to the resolution of your master document.
Here's the theory: The oversized bitmap give you more pixels to draw a more perfect circular dot with. When you convert the bitmap to grayscale you
are invoking the ability to antialias your half tones. Now when you down res to the size of your master document - those dots will become antialiased
and look fabulous - as good as any zip a tone.
Warnings: I'm not working in print regularly so I'm telling you this from theory, not practice. You do not want to lose your dots
to a field of antialiased grey, you want just enough grey for the printer dot to look truly round. you may have to fidget with your formulas.
Use this formula with art that is the same size as the final printed piece. When you reduce a halftone - you get unreproduceable grey
- as in the initial image here.
If you want different size dots for different areas - or different style tones for certain areas - you'll want multiple layers of tone you export
separately. The standard tone is the 45degree ellipse. But Photoshop allows all kinds of sizes and also features horizontal line, crosses, pure
circles and more as half tone options. I know Dave Sim uses three different scales of half tone on Cerebus depending on if he's in the foreground,
middleground or background.
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popadmin
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| posted on 5/13/2005 at 02:57 PM |
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dude!
You had too many of those "BT" things going in the background!
NO GOOD! 
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popadmin
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| posted on 5/13/2005 at 02:58 PM |
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^ Golfy 
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Pop Mhan
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| posted on 5/13/2005 at 06:37 PM |
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| Quote: | Originally posted by mykill
Look closely at the half tone generated here. This is why this technique doesn't quite work for me - the dots aren't round! -Not only that, but
because of the bitmap mode there's no antialiasing so those does will never look round.
Now if you're using a halftone in the first place, it's because you're printing in black and white and each dot has to be large enough for the
printer to print clearly. Which means the final product will have halftone dots that are visable to the naked eye. These bitmapped dots are ugly
compared to the pure round dots available from old school zip a tone.
approaching a Solution: When you export your bitmap - export it at twice the resolution of your master document. 300ppi master - 600ppi bitmap. 600ppi
master - 1200ppi bitmap. Before you place the bitmap -change the mode to grayscale and then down res to the resolution of your master document.
Here's the theory: The oversized bitmap give you more pixels to draw a more perfect circular dot with. When you convert the bitmap to grayscale you
are invoking the ability to antialias your half tones. Now when you down res to the size of your master document - those dots will become antialiased
and look fabulous - as good as any zip a tone.
Warnings: I'm not working in print regularly so I'm telling you this from theory, not practice. You do not want to lose your dots
to a field of antialiased grey, you want just enough grey for the printer dot to look truly round. you may have to fidget with your formulas.
Use this formula with art that is the same size as the final printed piece. When you reduce a halftone - you get unreproduceable grey
- as in the initial image here.
If you want different size dots for different areas - or different style tones for certain areas - you'll want multiple layers of tone you export
separately. The standard tone is the 45degree ellipse. But Photoshop allows all kinds of sizes and also features horizontal line, crosses, pure
circles and more as half tone options. I know Dave Sim uses three different scales of half tone on Cerebus depending on if he's in the foreground,
middleground or background. |
Hmmm, I agree that Photoshop toning will have a hard time looking as nice as "cut and paste" zips. I'm supposed to be beta testing software
that's similar to Comicworks, which I hear is great for computer toning. It's vector based, so you don't run into the anti aliasing problem. I
haven't touched it since they sent it to me though, so I wouldn't know. (It's sometimes hard getting this ol' dog to learn new tricks... I'm
still trying to figure out Painter)
On the subject of rezzing up then down, I've thought of that too. However, I don't think it'll work in this case, because you run into the same
old problem with anti aliasing.
Think of it this way: When you rez up the grayscale 200%, convert to halftone and then back down, PS automatically adds some grays to the dots to
keep that "perfect circle" look. (is there some function you can toggle so that PS will keep the BW bitmap when you rez down?) Unless you do the
work at like 2000 dpi (as some people do), you will still have to "thresh" the rezzed down halftone to make it print ready, thereby going back to
square one with the diamond shaped dots when working at 600 dpi.
Note: Different companies have different printing standards and printing companies they go through. I think generally, magazine and advertisement
companies go through some pretty high scale printing companies. But by and large, most comic companies use some really cheap printing that are on par
with, if not worse than newsprint. I am not discounting your theory at all, because I've tried it and the dots really do look nice and round. But,
for TP's printing standards this wouldn't fly because the art is not BW bitmap... Not to say that TP wouldn't be able to print a vector file....
Hahahaha. 
Shiet, I need to start using that vector based toning program...
mykill, out of curiosity, does Illustrator have some kind of halftone capabilities? And if so, have you played with it? How does it look?
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Pop Mhan
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| posted on 5/13/2005 at 06:59 PM |
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Oh dude, I'm a tard. I think I misread your post, mykill. You trying to say USE anti-aliasing to smooth the dots, right?
If that's what you meant, then the part in my previous post about TP's printing standards explains why you can't have any anti-aliasing in
the work you submit.
On the subject of different sized dots... Yeah... I do it sometimes when I'm not being lazy (or if the shot REALLY, REALLY calls for it). Doing
different sized dots is very cool because you can get different looking textures and variety than everything looking the same in the page.
But, yeah, that's an extra step for every size difference... which = more work you gotta do... ugh.
It takes about 5-10 mins per size, per panel, per page. That's a LOT of Resident 4 time that that process is eating up...
whatevah, whatevah, I'll do what I want... (say it in the Cartman voice)
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Pop Mhan
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| posted on 5/13/2005 at 07:09 PM |
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Oh one more thing....
Don't OVERTONE. I'm just now learning that... Less is definitely MORE. The chapter I'm working on right now is going to look pretty crappy
because of overtone. (I got too deep into the Zen of toning and forgot to get out...) 
I wish I had assistants to blame this on...
anyways, folks, DON'T DO THIS: (it'll get REALLY muddy in print)
part of a panel from BLANK that my... er... wife toned. YEAH, that's the ticket!
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mykill
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| posted on 5/13/2005 at 10:48 PM |
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Wash technique is classic in comics. Pretty much the equivelant to "overdoing" it. It's uncommon to see in comicbooks - but quite common in larger
scale comics magazines. So I guess the 'muddy' problem is eliminated by printing the art larger.
Online the "overworked" example you provide - it actually looks smashing and very dimensional!
Yeah, I meant to use antialiasing to make the dots round. I understand that isn't practical. Too bad. It looks good.
There may yet be a way - Adobe streamline, Macromedia Flash and CorelDraw all convert bitmaps into vector files. It may be possible to take pretty
antialiased halftone dots and convert them into pure black round vector objects.
Illustrator theoretically could deliver very high quality halftone screening. But it's not built into the software. It is possible to manually create
perfect halftone patterns in Illustrator - it's also a terrible chore.
As long as we're talking theory - any black and white laser printer will automatically generate ideal halftoning at whatever resolution it is capable
of. Is it possible to adjust the halftoning a laser printer delivers? I honestly don't know and don't happen to own such a printer at the moment.
But if you do own such a printer, it's something to investigate.
The OLD way of creating half tones is with a photo stat machine - you place a special acetate sheet with some kind of white grid printed on it over
your master grayscale art. When you shoot the photo the gray scale is automatically converted via film into pure black screentone dots.
I wonder if those photostat halftoning sheets are commercially available and work with computer scanners? Then you could print out an inkjet high res
print of the grayscale art - and simply scan it with an acetate halftoning overlay.
And before you suggest I'm nuts reccomending multiple applications - I have high hopes for OSX tiger's Automater, which allows me to script multiple
applications. I want to click a button and process an image automatically thru multiple applications while I eat pizza.
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Pop Mhan
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| posted on 5/15/2005 at 08:29 PM |
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Interesting.... When i get the time and resources, I'll check out some of those things you mention, mykill.
I've been hear some awesome things about the new mac os. Tiger. Heard it pretty bad ass. That's kinda a given seeing as how it's based off of
UNIX. I hear a lot of UNIX admins prefer to use a mac instead of a pc.
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Tentopet
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| posted on 5/15/2005 at 11:02 PM |
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Weeeeee, tone talk!!!
Wow, your technique for toning on Photoshop is totally different from mine. In some ways it's easier, in some ways harder. Mine is harder in that
the prep work is a pain, but once you get past that, it can be perty quick! Drawing with greyscale is tough for me, because it seems like I feel this
need to be precise in ways that don't end up showing up when it would be converted to halftones. Anyway, my technique involves creating halftones by
making them yourself and saving them as patterns, and then drawing them in with the pattern brush. Here's my long-winded tutorial:
http://www.deviantart.com/view/13587562/
I'm glad to hear what your technique is! I'm honestly not sure if your technique would look good in print or not, but I did notice that with yours,
when you zoom in on the tones, not only are they not too circular, but also, they're not all the same. Some have different shapes than others. It
probably wouldn't create a moire pattern, but I'm not sure, since I've never tried it. But anyway, this is the tone I made with your technique:
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Pop Mhan
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| posted on 5/16/2005 at 05:07 AM |
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I've been concerned about the moire pattern as well. This technique is usually done at about 1200 dpi - 2000 dpi, where you get a nicer, rounder
dot. At 600 dpi, it still remains to be seen. I'll have to see when the book comes out how it'll turned out, but from the test print from
Tokyopop, there were no evident moires.
I've got my fingers crossed since it would really suck to have to go back to the drawing boards on this. I've gotten pretty comfortable with this
process and could do it pretty quick now. ack.
All said, I still totally agree that when you zoom in, those "dots" are very fugly. I hope they won't be too distracting in the printed form.
I may go ahead and try the vestor based one anyways on the current chapter. 
By the way, BLANK is slated to appear in a preview type thing although it's web based, you all will probably get a kick out of how random the first
three Chapters are with the tones. Shiet the style completely changes in those three chapters too. Mainly because of me switching back and forth
between doing American comics and back to the "manga" asthetics. It's pretty embarrassing. However, the style shouldn't change as dramatically
anymore since I've decided to be more dedicated to BLANK. (dedicated, but poor....) 
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Pop Mhan
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| posted on 5/16/2005 at 05:34 AM |
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Oh yeah, your tutorial was one of the latter ones I checked out. It's such a GREAT tutorial and I highly recommend anyone here to use that method
instead of my method.
Mine is, for the most part, unproven at 600 dpi where Tentopet's entry in the RSOM 4 was very nice and badass in print.
I'd switch over to Tentopet's style if it wasn't for the fact that I have a VERY hard time figuring out how to work some of the pattern functions
in PS coupled with my apparent inability to "see" the tones on the page until I've actually laid down the grayscale.
But, yeah, go with Tentopet's version if possible!
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