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Colorizing Tutorial (Teh Shadowcat Way)
http://arwen-undomiel.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=18956		 Page 1 of 1
Author:  Shadowcat [ July 28th, 2008, 4:26 pm ]
Post subject:  Colorizing Tutorial (Teh Shadowcat Way)
So not everyone knows how to colorize. And some people do, but they wouldn't mind colorizing better. Correct? Thought so. Anyway, I've written up a tutorial for you lovely people out there.

Written for PSP, but unless you have a Stone Age program, it should work with most others.


Note: This works best with dark hair. Experiment with blonde hair if you like, but as I said, it looks best with dark hair.



1. Make a new layer and set it to Color (Legacy) at 100%.
Fill it with a Really Light Peach. If it looks too orange or to pink, play around with it. Choose a lighter color or make it a bit grayer. Or maybe lower the opacity.

2. Erase the Icky Bits from that layer. That means over the background and your subject’s eyes, and teeth if they’re showing. You could erase over the clothing, but that tends to get annoying. So leave it for now.
Note: Don’t erase over the lips. Just… don’t.

Optional - If you want your subject to have reddish hair, duplicate the Really Light Peach layer and set it to Color Burn. Play around with the opacity until it looks good.

4. Make a new layer, set it to Soft Light 100%.
Take a round brush and paint over your subject’s iris. I usually use a gray-ish color so it doesn’t look like my subject had an accident with nuclear waste.

5. Make another new layer, set to Soft Light 100%.
Take a big, round, soft edged brush and give your subject’s cheeks some color (unless you’re colorizing a man, in which case you should skip this step). Then go to Blur > Gaussian Blur and set it to 2 or 3.
If the color is too bright, lower the opacity.

6. New layer, set to Color Burn 100%.
Take that soft-edged brush and a very light color and paint over your subject’s lips. Try not to make it into a big smeary mess.
Now you’re done with the face. You can add more makeup if you like, but it’s not completely necessary.

7. For colorizing clothes, I find that Soft Light works best. Pick a color and have some fun. And if it looks bad, go back to the Really Light Peach layer and erase.

8. Once you’re done, Merge All Layers. You could stop here, but it looks pretty basic, so I usually do more.

9. Duplicate the Layer and set it to Screen 100%.

10. Make a new layer, set it to Color Burn 100%. Fill it with a light blue.

11. Duplicate the base and bring it to the top. Set it to Overlay 100%.

12. New Layer, set it to Soft Light 100%. Fill it with a light pink.

13. New Layer, set to Exclusion 100%. Fill with a Navy Blue.

14. New Layer, set to Multiply 100%. Fill it with a light peach.

15. Duplicate the base again and drag it to the top. Set it to Soft Light 100%, and you’re done.


So there you go. That’s how I colorize.
I was working on my own colorization when I wrote this tutorial, so here’s the result. The first is with the optional step, the second is without.
http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk27 ... tea/op.jpg
http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk27 ... ea/nop.jpg
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