Gimp Tutorial #2 - How to colour manga scans
This time, I'll show you how to add colour to black/white manga scans. Of course, there are various ways to do it, but I'll explain to you the way I do it. :)
You need:
- Gimp
- a manga scan of your choice
Step 1:
Open Gimp and open the scan you want to use.
If you want to cut the picture to size, use the tool "Rectangular selection" from the toolbox to select the part you want to edit. Click "Image" -> "Crop to Selection" and then "Selection" -> "No selection".
Step 2:
Click "Image" -> "Mode" and check if "RYB" is selected. If not, click on it.
RYB stands for Red Yellow Blue. It means that you can now work with colours. As long as "Grayscale" is selected, you can only work with black and white.
Step 3:
Click "Colours" -> "Colour to Alpha". A new window will appear where you can now choose the colour you want to be transparent. Click on the displayed colour and select the whitest white you can get (HTML-Notation: ffffff). Now click "OK".
Don't panic if your picture is kind of checkered right now - if this is the case, you've done everything right. The grey checks stand for transparency. Everything white should have disappeared now.
Step 4:
Now we need a second layer under the first one.
To achieve this, click "Layer" -> "New Layer". A new window will appear where you have to choose "White" as levels fill type. Then click "Ok".
You've created a second layer now, but probably, it's not lying under the first layer as it should, but on top of it. If this is the case, you won't see your lovely picture anymore, but only whiteness.
To put the white layer unter our first picture, where it belongs, you have to use the second toolbox named "Layers, Channels, Paths, Undo". Here, you see the two layers we have by now. Just click on the white layer and pull it under the other one per drag and drop.
Step 5:
Make sure that you have selected the white layer in the second toolbox because we're going to add colour only to this layer. If the "New Layer" is not greyed in the toolbox, just click on it to select it.
Step 6:
It's finally time for the colouring!
Use the Pencil or the Paintbrush from the "Toolbox" (the one on the left side) to draw. In the "Toolbox", you can also choose the colour and the size of the Pencil / Paintbrush.
Step 7:
When the picture is finished, save it by clicking on "File" -> "Save as" and give the picture a name. Again, don't forget to put ".jpg" or ".png" or ".gif" instead of ".xcf" behind the name of the picture!
Of course, you can additionally save it as an ".xcf" file, but then it's a picture that you can open only with Gimp.
Finished!
Now you can upload your picture everywhere. If you want to use it as an avatar, follow the steps of my first Gimp tutorial which explains how to make an avatar.
(This is what I did - you can see my coloured picture as an example as my avatar at this post. ^_^)
I hope you found this helpful! :)
You need:
- Gimp
- a manga scan of your choice
Step 1:
Open Gimp and open the scan you want to use.
If you want to cut the picture to size, use the tool "Rectangular selection" from the toolbox to select the part you want to edit. Click "Image" -> "Crop to Selection" and then "Selection" -> "No selection".
Step 2:
Click "Image" -> "Mode" and check if "RYB" is selected. If not, click on it.
RYB stands for Red Yellow Blue. It means that you can now work with colours. As long as "Grayscale" is selected, you can only work with black and white.
Step 3:
Click "Colours" -> "Colour to Alpha". A new window will appear where you can now choose the colour you want to be transparent. Click on the displayed colour and select the whitest white you can get (HTML-Notation: ffffff). Now click "OK".
Don't panic if your picture is kind of checkered right now - if this is the case, you've done everything right. The grey checks stand for transparency. Everything white should have disappeared now.
Step 4:
Now we need a second layer under the first one.
To achieve this, click "Layer" -> "New Layer". A new window will appear where you have to choose "White" as levels fill type. Then click "Ok".
You've created a second layer now, but probably, it's not lying under the first layer as it should, but on top of it. If this is the case, you won't see your lovely picture anymore, but only whiteness.
To put the white layer unter our first picture, where it belongs, you have to use the second toolbox named "Layers, Channels, Paths, Undo". Here, you see the two layers we have by now. Just click on the white layer and pull it under the other one per drag and drop.
Step 5:
Make sure that you have selected the white layer in the second toolbox because we're going to add colour only to this layer. If the "New Layer" is not greyed in the toolbox, just click on it to select it.
Step 6:
It's finally time for the colouring!
Use the Pencil or the Paintbrush from the "Toolbox" (the one on the left side) to draw. In the "Toolbox", you can also choose the colour and the size of the Pencil / Paintbrush.
Step 7:
When the picture is finished, save it by clicking on "File" -> "Save as" and give the picture a name. Again, don't forget to put ".jpg" or ".png" or ".gif" instead of ".xcf" behind the name of the picture!
Of course, you can additionally save it as an ".xcf" file, but then it's a picture that you can open only with Gimp.
Finished!
Now you can upload your picture everywhere. If you want to use it as an avatar, follow the steps of my first Gimp tutorial which explains how to make an avatar.
(This is what I did - you can see my coloured picture as an example as my avatar at this post. ^_^)
I hope you found this helpful! :)