TIP:
Scan the art at the size you want, avoid resizing by resampling. If you resample the line art it becomes anti aliased and the line art can't be selected cleanly.

With the line art scanned at 300 ppi (line art-bitmap), it is opened in PhotoShop. The file is converted to gray scale and saved with an appropriate name. I select the magic wand tool, making sure it is set to 0 tolerance and anti alias is unchecked, and click on the white area of the image. I want to delete the white area (selected area), but to be able to this, the background has to be given a new name. To do this, double click the background in the layers palette, a window opens that allows you to name the layer. You can put in a new name or leave the default name (layer 1, layer 2, ect.) and click OK. Now, with the white still selected, hit delete and the white will be deleted, leaving only the black line art. Switch color mode to CMYK.




With the white gone, you now have the black line art on a clear background. The line art is now very much like line art on a piece of acetate. This layer will usually be the top layer, the exception would be when you want to add special color effects to the line art. If you want to change the color of the black line art, just check preserve transparency, and fill with another color or pick a tool (airbrush, pencil, paint brush, ect.), and paint away. For example, if you would like the line art to have an antique look, pick a dark brown and airbrush the edges. For this illustration the line art will stay black, except for the sky.

Scratchboard Illustration by Michael Halbert
PHONE 636-349-1145 EMAIL michael@inkart.com
Copyright © Michael Halbert 2000