# Turning Traditional Work into Digital Lines?



## Iudicium_86 (Aug 21, 2011)

I'm not very knowledgeable about digital processes and programs but am curious about something. Is there any method or program with a feature that could somewhat turn a sketched drawing into solid lines digitally for a cleaner look and feel? I'm not a fan of scanning the picture, then layering over it manually, line-by-line digitally which takes so much time and is essentially drawing the same image twice.


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## dinosaurdammit (Aug 21, 2011)

i have toyed around with adobe illustrator then copy/paste to photoshop CS


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## Zenia (Aug 21, 2011)

Nothing out there that will magically do it that I have seen. The only thing that is close, is if you have a really clean pencil drawing with dark lines. Then you can scan it in and (at least in Photoshop) play with the 'Levels' to make the dark parts black and the rest white. Otherwise you are stuck going over all the lines yourself. It is really easy in Paint Tool SAI, using the curve/line tools. I am doing some lines in there right now using my mouse.


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## Heimdal (Aug 21, 2011)

Inking, and/or digital inking, is what all the pros gotta do. Or they pass it off to an inker. Regardless, it's a necessary part of the process, and it's probably more damaging than anything to just brush it off as "drawing it a second time." You are polishing off the line work, and maximizing the clarity and cohesion of your black&white drawing. Doing it manually is the best method, and there's nothing about all of that which you shouldn't want for your image.

That's about the size of it. I can't think of any shortcuts that are worth it.


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## Volkodav (Aug 21, 2011)

do the lines by hand or i can show you how to colour under traditional lines


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## Zydala (Aug 21, 2011)

For anyone interested, if you have a later version of Adobe Illustrator:

http://www.adobe.com/designcenter/video_workshop/?id=vid0043

Never played with it myself in all honesty but it exists at least

EDIT: From the example given in the video I'd think you'd need a very clean scan, for one thing, and for another you would still have to mess with the settings, clean up wonky vector lines after, etc. There'd still be plenty of work and I personally don't find the lines to be as attractive as ones that you get doing it by hand. But... like I said. It exists I guess.


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## Ilayas (Aug 21, 2011)

My experience there is no "quick fix" that will be better then what a human does by hand.  So if you want super clean inked drawings either learn how to do it with traditional media or with a tablet on the computer (trying to ink things with a mouse is like a punishment from god).  That said, you don't need super clean lines to color something digitally.  I took this pencil sketch http://fav.me/d2vbmtg and turned it into this http://www.furaffinity.net/full/6340232/

If you don't like doing inking digitally then why not try doing it "the old fashion".  When I was a kid I used to draw things with a pencil scan it in then make the lines really light and print it out and ink it with a felt tipped pen.  It's nice doing it that way because if you mess up you can always print out another copy.  Not the ONLY way to do it (and likely far from the best) but it is a cheep and easy way to get started.


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## Zenia (Aug 21, 2011)

Ilayas said:


> trying to ink things with a mouse is like a punishment from god


Not really... I did this pictures outlines using the vector tool in SAI and my mouse... http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6324625 (nude female).



> I used to draw things with a pencil scan it in then make the lines  really light and print it out and ink it with a felt tipped pen.


I used to do that too.


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## dinosaurdammit (Aug 21, 2011)

I used to have to do lines n shit with a trackpad ;~;


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## Ilayas (Aug 21, 2011)

O I've inked with the mouse before it's doable for sure but it takes forever, makes your wrist hurt, and the results I don't feel are as good as what you get with a tablet.


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## Taralack (Aug 22, 2011)

Iudicium_86 said:


> scanning the picture, then layering over it manually, line-by-line digitally which takes so much time and is essentially drawing the same image twice.


That's essentially what inking is, bro. Digitally or traditionally, it's the same - you put in clean lines over a sketch. There is no quick way to do this and yes, *lineart is essentially drawing the same image twice*. That's the way it has been, that's the way it will always be. Sorry to burst your bubble.


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## Arshes Nei (Aug 22, 2011)

You can make really tight sketches and change the levels and curves as mentioned before. But if you're not good at pencilling like that, you won't get some instant pass in whatever image program. http://batangbatugan.deviantart.com/gallery/#/djm6wi This user does it, and you can see the quality of the work.

I used to ink, paint and color with a mouse with my opposite hand. While a tablet may make it easier, I'm glad I did go through that first because it shows a willingness to work harder at practicing.


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## Sar (Aug 22, 2011)

I used to take photographs of the finished work, run snapter on it then play with the 'levels' feature in photoshop.
But i inked the picture beforehand


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## Arshes Nei (Aug 22, 2011)

Heimdal said:


> Inking, and/or digital inking, is what all the pros gotta do. Or they pass it off to an inker. Regardless, it's a necessary part of the process, and it's probably more damaging than anything to just brush it off as "drawing it a second time." You are polishing off the line work, and maximizing the clarity and cohesion of your black&white drawing. Doing it manually is the best method, and there's nothing about all of that which you shouldn't want for your image.



Sometimes, and in the line of comics the inkers do a better job than the penciller:

http://comicsinkers.blogspot.com/2005/07/scott-williams-on-jim-lee.html


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## mapdark (Aug 22, 2011)

There's no easy way around this one.

Illustrator HAS a tool to turn your lines into vectors and then smooth the lines out, but you still need a somewhat cleaned up lineart to do that in the first place.


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## FireFeathers (Aug 23, 2011)

'Live Trace" for Adobe Illustrator  does that. Though it's not perfect, it's good at picking up the sketch


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## Kailombax (Aug 23, 2011)

Like a lot of people said, it's just part of the process of creating the picture. I at first was not too keen with digital inking but that was until I found easier ways to help the inking (rotating the picture, etc.). Paint Tool Sai is a nice program for inking, at least from my experience and trust me, I'm new to digital inking. Just keep practicing but if you don't want to ink, you can always find someone who can do it for you.


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## Sar (Aug 28, 2011)

FireFeathers said:


> 'Live Trace" for Adobe Illustrator  does that. Though it's not perfect, it's good at picking up the sketch


 Thanks for making my life easier.


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## Tiger In A Tie (Aug 29, 2011)

LiveTrace is kind of alright. I learned about it in my Illustrator class. It's not shitty or anything, but I wouldn't rely on it to do your lines for you. I feel you'd often get better results just doing the lines by hand. 

Why not do it by hand? It's not hard. You could use the Pen Tool or do it freehand. I'm awful at the pen tool, so I do mine freehand. If anything, freehand lineart is good practice. It helps you learn how to control your hand, the steadiness, and just help draw in general. I still need to practice better lineart, mine is still often shaky. Consider every layer of lineart a learning experience. And like Toraneko said, doesn't matter if you do it traditionally or digital, when you ink/outline, you're redrawing it. 

i figured out a trick how to make lineart easier in Photoshop though. Scan your picture and open it. It will appear on the screen just as it looked when it was scanned. You'll notice the layer is labelled "background" and is locked. Go to the top menu, select the layer option, then go down to New > Layer From Background. CLick OK in the box that appears. Now your sketch is Layer 0. Change the Opacity of that layer to however low you want it. You'll notice, however, that the checkered boxes appear. To make this go away, crete a new layer, with a white fill, and drag and drop it underneath Layer 0. Now your pencil sketch is lighter and it will be easier to draw the dark lines over it.


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## Volkodav (Aug 29, 2011)

i dont know but i made this
hopefully itll help someone

http://img600.imageshack.us/img600/3416/colourtutorial.png


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## Iudicium_86 (Aug 29, 2011)

Clayton said:


> i dont know but i made this
> hopefully itll help someone
> 
> http://img600.imageshack.us/img600/3416/colourtutorial.png



Saved. Thanks.
I'm just getting used to photoshop right now, all of yesterday and last night was spent making things and experimenting. But this GIMP looks fun and possibly more user-friendly. Would you recommend it.


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## Taralack (Aug 29, 2011)

I personally wouldn't recommend GIMP, but I'm used to Photoshop after years of using it. I'm a creature of habit. *shrug*
Here's the same technique but for photoshop: http://i.imgur.com/MJsDm.jpg (or at least the way I do it. there are other ways I'm sure)


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## Centradragon (Aug 29, 2011)

With experience it should be easier to make cleaner sketches that require less clean-ups.... at least that's what I've found. If you absolutely have to have crisp lineart, you're going to have to do the lining/clean-up manuallyâ€”no way around that.

I use LiveTrace when I need to vector lines I've made in Photoshop... but it's not good at picking up _rough _(and even not so rough) sketches. It makes sketches look like a really bad photocopy or fax. I mean, it's definitely an aesthetic... but not the clean lines you're probably looking for. XD


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## Tiger In A Tie (Aug 29, 2011)

Iudicium_86 said:


> Saved. Thanks.
> I'm just getting used to photoshop right now, all of yesterday and last night was spent making things and experimenting. But this GIMP looks fun and possibly more user-friendly. Would you recommend it.



With Photoshop, it takes a hell of a long time to learn. I've spent 6 years with it and STILL don't know much about it (keep in mind that's self-taught for 6 years, I have yet to take the college course for Photoshop). You need to spend a lot more time without before discarding the idea of using it. There are many, many wonderful things you can do in it. I've personally never used GIMP, but I recommend spending a bit more time in Photoshop. However, when it comes to art programs, to each their own. If GIMP is your program of choice, then by all means go for it! Just consider giving Photoshop another try.


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## Arshes Nei (Aug 29, 2011)

I use Corel Painter. I just get better effects with inking http://apps.corel.com/painterix/training/tutorial_inking.html?trkid=tpc1006ft

I don't always like "clean animuuuuuu" lines, so Painter does what I need. I also have fun with the liquid inks category.


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## Bloodhowl (Aug 30, 2011)

FEAST YOUR EYES ON THIS!!!! http://www.geekologie.com/2011/08/wacom-inkling-records-everything-you-dra.php


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## Volkodav (Aug 30, 2011)

f you bloodhowl i was just about to link that


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## Bloodhowl (Aug 30, 2011)

Clayton said:


> f you bloodhowl i was just about to link that


 
lol gotta be faster then a wolf or a hyena for that matter. :3 *hugs ya* sorry about that though.


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## iTails (Aug 30, 2011)

Bloodhowl said:


> FEAST YOUR EYES ON THIS!!!! http://www.geekologie.com/2011/08/wacom-inkling-records-everything-you-dra.php



WANT WANT WANT


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## Arshes Nei (Aug 31, 2011)

Eh...it only works as ballpoint and on A4 sized paper. Plus what if you need to erase?


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## iTails (Aug 31, 2011)

Arshes Nei said:


> Eh...it only works as ballpoint and on A4 sized paper. Plus what if you need to erase?


Photoshop.


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## Bloodhowl (Aug 31, 2011)

more info here http://gizmodo.com/5835739/wacom-inkling-may-become-my-favorite-gadget-of-all-time


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## Arshes Nei (Aug 31, 2011)

Maybe you should read their FAQs on Wacom instead of just linking to Gizmodo before you give people the stupid idea they'll save themselves a lot of time and having "insta inks". People do not generally ink in ballpoint pen and with that wobble. 
http://www.wacom.com.hk/products/Inkling/FAQ




> Q.    Who is Inkling for?
> 
> A.    Inkling is for artists, illustrators and designers who sketch their first rough ideas on paper, then wish to quickly and easily convert their sketches to an editable digital format.
> 
> ...



*SKETCHES AT THE BEGINNING*

Even they tell you to get a tablet to clean this up, and not even a bamboo one at that.

Good luck though spending 200 dollars on rough sketches that will have wobble, missing strokes (especially if you accidentally interfere with the receiver like how you hold the pen, or want to do outside studies where the receiver is sensitive to the sun) and thin lined ballpoint pen drawings, when you probably could spend less on a scanner and clean it up.


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## Stratelier (Aug 31, 2011)

In short, sketching over the drawing "a second time" with ink is, in fact, worth the effort.

When I started drawing "for real", I started out with shaded pencil sketches primarily because that's about all I could accomplish when doodling on the backs of whatever papers/handouts the instructors used for their lecture outlines.  That was -- wow, twelve years ago, 1999.  (Has it really been that long?)

When I started adding color (about early 2000), I found out _real_ quick that you cannot simply add colored pencil on top of a fully-shaded pencil sketch because all that regular graphite muds down your color tones.  For awhile I tried erasing the shading prior to coloring it in, but this quickly led to the qustion of why I should shade it in the first place if I'm just going to erase it so I can do clean coloring.  Transition to pencil line-only sketches.

For the next 3 or so years my drawings were all that:  Pencil line sketch, color it in later.  Somewhere around early 2004 I got the idea that, when cleaning up my compositional lines/etc. to be colored, I should replace the linework from regular pencil to colored pencil, partly as a color guide.  Which ultimately means working on the drawing "three" times:  Compositional sketch/lineart, color lineart, color shading (2004 example).

You could say I was already inking at that point, just without actual ink.  

2006 also saw an artistic BSOD (let's not talk about that), but around October 2006 is when I picked up my first Microns.  By the end of the year I already had several colors for inking various shades of lines with, and unlike pencil, inking has the benefit that you don't have to erase your compositional pencil work -- just ink straight over it, erase all the graphite off later in one fell swoop.

The rest is history.  These days, I think I've probably hit my ceiling when it comes to pencil work.  Trying to break ground on some digital coloring, but that's slow going as it's mostly just experimentation here and there.


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