[Tutorial] How to Color Pre-Made Lines

Transparent Lines

First you open your lines in your program and make another layer beneath the lines; (the lines don't actually have white on them that's just how SAI shows up)


Then you color on the layer below until you've filled in the entire space behind the lines that needs to be colored;



Once you're done with that you need to opacity lock the layer before you attempt to do anything else with it;




Lines with a White Background

If the lines you want to use aren't transparent, don't fret, it's not that hard to fix.



All you do is you create a new layer below the lines (if black is the only color on the "Lines" layer) and you set the "Lines" layer to multiply which will force it to ignore the white color.



Then you color on the layer below until you've filled in the entire space behind the lines that needs to be colored;


Once you're done with that you need to opacity lock the layer before you attempt to do anything else with it;




Coloring with the Magic Wand by Cinch (#31323)


Step 1 - Select "Magic Wand Tool" (Gimp does have this, just not sure if it's called the same thing)
Step 2/3 - Using the tool, click on the OUTSIDE of the lines. Clicking on the inside of the lines will result in only select portions of the "interior" of the lines being selected.
Step 4 - Go to "Select" and then click "inverse"
Step 5 - Create a second layer (if you haven't already) and make sure its the layer below the lines. Use your paint bucket to click inside the lines and it will "fill" the lines for you.
Step 6 - The end result - You'll need to erase around the outer of the edges (especially around mane/tail/hooves and signatures).
Step 7 (unshown) - Lock the layer and color however you'd like

(note from Arty: be sure to un-select any sections within the lineart that is not supposed to be colored before proceeding with the coloring!)



Grayscales by Kite (#45955)

Load the greyscale as a selection (ctrl + click the layer)
Create a new layer beneath the greyscale to create your color base
Then go back to the greyscale itself and duplicate it
Set one of the greyscales to softlight and the other to overlay. (I usually use 50% opacity, but this can vary depending on the greyscale in question)
This usually gives the shading more "pop" and doesn't look so dull.




Clipping Masks

Clipping Masks are kind of confusing but a very good asset, I'm not sure how to use them in GIMP or if you even can but here's for SAI and PS;

First you have your lines and your colors;



Create a new layer above your "Color" layer;



Set that layer to be a clipping mask;



In SAI you do it by checking "Clipping Group" next to "Preserve Opacity"
In PS you do it by going Layer > Create Clipping Mask or Alt+Ctrl+G


This is good for when you want to add accents to your design without jumping through hoops to have it all have the same transparency or having everything on one layer;





NEVER EVER USE A PAINT BUCKET ON YOUR LINES!!!
It ends up looking like a turd and most people won't want it even if the design is good;


Wouldn't you rather it look like this anyways?;





WIP, let me know if there's anything else you need help with as I will make more later