Alright so I don’t know if thread already started and located somewhere else if so just delete this one and show me were its at. But anyways I use photoshop CS3 and Painter X and it seems no matter what I do re size the image both big and small then re size back to the size that I want it just still picks up all the shakes and bumps I’m I doing something wrong. Secondly coloring wow i don’t understand that I can color and shade just fine with traditional tools. But this for some reason completely escapes me. So any help and or links in photoshop and or painter X would be a great help.
You can ask here, but since I’m here I’ll try to help out.
I don’t know diddly about Painter X, so I’ll leave that to someone else [good place to ask though was in here, since I’m sure a lot of the posters who frequent here know about that program].
As for Photoshop, are you using the ZOOM tool [CTRL + “+” or “-”] or the TRANSFORM command [CTRL+T]?
Yes sir
When you reduce the size of an image, there is no going back. Rather, you can make it larger, but it will look like shit.
If you want to reduce the size of something and then enlarge, you sort of need to get involved with Smart Objects. This is primarily only used with vectors.
And, if you’re trying to illustrate with a mouse, you’re wasting your time (mostly.) Invest in a nice Wacom tablet.
Hope that helps some.
I normally re size the image by 250% then when I’m done drop it back by 50% when I’m done something tells me this is not the best way. And I do have a Wacom :wgrin:
I’m not sure what your doing exactly but I can at least let you know how I work.
I’ve learned to start big and stay big. Scan in an image at about 400 dpi and just work right with that. Zoom in and out to your hearts content but when you’re done with the drawing, I usually re-size the whole thing down to 50%. If you just keep resizing the entire image, when you go smaller, you lose details. When you go bigger, all the pixels just get blown up along with the image. Like, what would normally be one pixel now takes up the space of 4. Understand? Not sure if that’s the problem or not but as far as I can understand, that info should help if you didn’t already know.
Ok maybe my problem is right there, what is 400 dpi? Is it the size of the image. I usually scan sketch copy it over to a new file then transform it to be how I want it then re size the image. I understand the pixel size part I think I maybe messing them up on accident I still very new to doing art on the computer.
DPI means “Dots Per Inch”, the higher the DPI, the higher the resolution.
If you scan a drawing, the higher you put the DPI setting, the bigger the drawing will come out because it’s putting more pixels in the same space. In other words, it just makes the drawing look bigger the higher the number but thats so it can fit in alot of details. It’s really just the quality of the drawing. Some really high quality pictures and drawings you see in books are usually printed up at about 400 dpi as it’s resolution even if it’s still only 8.5 x11. It’s easy to shrink things and make it look like it still has all of the details but it really doesn’t keep it at all. And you can see that when you try to make it bigger again that all those small details that you put into it disappear or get blurry.
Ok but does it really matter what resolution I scan the sketch in because I dont use it in the final picture. I just use it as a guide line to ink.
Well, again, I like working in the higher resolution because there’s alot more room to work with. When it’s too small, some of the details can get hard to make look right. In the end I make it smaller so it’s easier for others to view. But thats just me and we all have different ways of working, ya know? :wgrin:
Well it seems like image size is the issue. So what is a good size that wont lag up my computer?
Depends on what you are working on but usually for me I work at around 300 dpi for color/sketch work.
If you’re working off it as a guideline, maybe try 72 to 100 DPI.
Thanx for everyones advice it was very help full. Any tips on coloring would be great. Here is what I did after all your guys input thanx again. :lovin:
What method of coloring are you using?
Gradient and cell shading just trying to do it like i do water colors
Are you using layers? Or is it right on top of the lines?
layers
Ah, Ok, that’s good.
I put my color layer on Multiply most of the time, is that what you did?
But overall, that’s a pretty good coloring job! 
Maybe I can suggest adding more contrast in the shading. I see you have some darks, but there aren’t really much highlights.