Coloring Anime Drawings on Gimp - Part 1 - Setup

[LethalFate2]

!THANK YOU! Finally a relivent video. oh, and your "Generic" cat girl drawing is pretty good. I drew my default and many other things, I also write.... and now I can color those said drawings... Once again, Thank You!

[SharpieZombieParty]

@c00ki3b33 When The Ants Or Watever You Call Em xD Lil Black Dots Are On Your Pic, Go Up To "Select" Then It Should Be Like The 2nd Or 3rd Down And Click "None" (:

[Itachirandamu]

thats a kinda complicated way to get rid of the white background. I just Create new layer<white, then on the original layer, i delete the white background.

[tysonrss]

I didn't come here to say some cheesy opening, I came here to see how to color!

[crystalapril735]

I fixed it :)

[crystalapril735]

actually i kinda fixed that problem now it wont past the pic as a new layer.... it just shows blank

[crystalapril735]

it keeps saying nothind attached to clipboard ut i have version is helps b(or something like that) when i try to do paste as, aand it is aggrivating me!!!! Someone help me.... idk if this helps any but i have version 2.6

[NyxTwix]

I scan my pictures to, but they turn out gross with black splotches all over, and when I try to retrace the lines I can't >.< Gah, I hate it sometimes

[sombersin]

man im trying but this is going right over my head.

[jingmai11]

I wish I knew that I should not have colored my drawing before I scanned it -_- ... So what happens if my drawing was colored before the scan?

[trex1547]

it won't select the whole image it only selects a few pixels and not all of them

[ZynkOxhyde]

I wish this vids were available for dl-ing...

[MsNightstar12]

some ppl can draw absolute straight and nt wiggly lines and perfect curves in a sofware... but how? somebody please tell meee....=.=

uploading a pic from my com is boring..so someone pls tell me how..

[ChaoBreeder13]

@MsNightstar12 There is a way for perfect curves *Paths Tool*... You will have to look into it with a youtube vid

[xXMaDcAsTXx]

I had to increase my threshold in order for it to select all the black lines...

[xXMaDcAsTXx]

You have such a nice voice. Perfect for videos

[oOXxPatrickBeastxXOo]

was that the dark angel opening or no. ive only seen 5 episodes so far of that. O good job it helped out alot!

[Moollyx3]

i need help!! im doing everything right but my background colour is black?!?!?!?

i dont know how it got black but i dont know how to change it back to white for good?!?!??!

[FeralXemnas69]

@shadowlight456

how do you make it clean line art i can't never do it is it a function from something else i need help badly ;~;

[ChaoBreeder13]

@FeralXemnas69 She tells you in another video =D

[FeralXemnas69]

@ChaoBreeder13 what video?

[ChaoBreeder13]

@FeralXemnas69 I'll send it to you through the inbox.

[johnnybaylorn]

nvm............... forgot the alpha channel (maybe i'll watch the whole video before i start commenting next time)...............

[johnnybaylorn]

and the Clipboard Layer (hah, i figured out what it was called) isn't transparent, it's white on mine

[johnnybaylorn]

when i paste the cut layer after making a new whit background layer, in the layer's dialouge the layer i cut will show up, but it won't show up on the part you draw on.

(hope that makes sense) need some assistance!!

[GraciegraceJ]

The drawing isn't yours. Just saying.

[HisPrettyButterfly]

How do I get my lines to look clean and not pixelated? That's my main problem D:

[EpicSoldier27]

haha, you would have Zero biting Kaname in the intro :3 . vampire knight ftw, and great vid.!

[Metatronflaren]

Your constant "um" makes for a good drinking game.

[c00ki3b33]

whenever i try to get rid of the marching ants it always deletes my ENTIRE picture! >.<" plz help...

[greendog452]

it rocks

[TheLinkinparklover2]

i love your videos! they help alot!! :D

[97edsmith97]

i love her voice (i am not a perv)

[KamuiJr]

ugh I always come back to your tutorial and I still can't get the colors the way you do and I can't even cut and layer properly even though I'm doing exactly what you do.

[LuckyNeko123]

ah...this probably sounds creepy,(though I swear I don't mean it that way) but her voice is intoxicating...

Is it just me? O_O Anyways, nice tutorial! :D If only I had a scanner.

[Cleopatrawolf]

This video is the best!! :D Thank you so much for making it, it has helped me soo much with coloring my anime pictures!! I really appreciate it!! <3

[MeiunoftheTakaitribe]

nvm i got it to work but still ur a grat artist *_*

[MeiunoftheTakaitribe]

"crappy" hell no (est 1:29) and i can't get the black thing to work D:

[halolover2dmax]

I'm to retarded to draw manga apparently....

[Cancergirl95]

Who's the person playing the violin?

[TheMurrdawg]

would it not be possible to get the black outline by removing the white? it would save having to copy the black, creating a new layer, pasting, re positioning and other stuff. Would this work?

[AlexSpartan]

Don't be so hard on yourself. You got talent. I wish I could draw those images.

[HanaKiru]

I WARSHIP YOOOOU!!

[AuroraMoon31]

Also... I can't select all of the black ><... so the marching ants don't appear on everything...

[AuroraMoon31]

Yours was black and white, but mine's like... light grey and white. I tried the brightness and contast, but it made EVERYTHING lighter or darker or whatever--the whole picture and background. What do I do?

[CaptainNubCakes]

Shugo Chara music @ 0:19 T_T I just finished that anime and I'm trying to get over it......

THAT'S NOT HELPING Dx

[TheFireclone]

after the marching ant thing the light checkerboard pattern didnt show up on mine

[devilsfire67]

Thank you, this was very helpful EXCEPT with a bit of experimentation I figured out a way to make the lineart layer transparent without having to go through the whole color selection thing. I clicked "layers" went down to "transparency" and clicked "color to alpha" and that made all the white parts transparent ^_^

[rylar2010]

What anime is that @ 0:06-0:07 the one with black and white tile?

[CaptainNubCakes]

@rylar2010 Kuroshitsuji.. Also known as Black Butler. It's an amazing anime :)

[SnowSerina]

0:02 wtf i never knew zero bit kaname o_o i need to re watch the anime again x.x

[MultifunctionalMe]

Wow love your lineart :3

Do you have it on deviantart or something? All line-arts I like are not very well to use for GIMP, and I am pretty bad at drawing them myself :$

[Anime508]

What's the song of the intro? :D?

[DarkFluteMaster]

@Anime508 The theme song of DN Angel, look it up

[Latt87]

When I tried using the move tool to center my new layer, the white layer kept wouldn't overlap with the checkered layer D:

[KougasGal101]

What is the camera you are using to record this? Where did you get it? Just curious because thanks to your tutorial here to get me started (Thankyou) I've gotten pretty good with this program , and I've found a technique thats a little bit different that I'd like to try getting a video for it up.

[Loverocket454]

I hand drew mine and inked it - and when I try to select it only highlights certain shades of grey and stuff...How do you get it inked so well? Cause I soooo do NOT want to sit there blacking pixel by pixel...

[xy274]

i try to make the lines, but i just end up quitting.

[5A5AlC1]

for some reason my tool options isnt in my tool box and i wanna put it back so im asking if you know how to do that

[gloomoon]

its not crappy

[YoursTruelyChannel]

I just figured out something. You could just put a transparent layer under your drawing and color on that.

[telamonjr]

Your voice is very cute. =)

[vampireluvergrl12]

It wont work with the pixiels that appear on my pictures

[jisunee602]

i cant find my layer box lol where is it? D:

[Tununias]

The drawing is far from being crappy.

[CruelCat448]

whats the name of the anime girl again?

[FROZONER]

Well whenever i'm cutting and pasting my drawing, it shows up as like a light pencil sketch and not the dark lines

[x3AsiAnmuSicxX]

HELP! The black ants aren't showing up! I was thinking that my tracing was too thin but even though i traced it thickly with the pen, the marching ants still won't show up!

[blissfullyawake]

the drawing looks good umm and how do you scan stuff on the computer i suck at drawing with a computer

[97edsmith97]

does anybody know how to get the drawing to turn out all black with no marks i tried scetching then tracing with sharpy but it just makes the lines brown and fat when i scan it

[blissfullyawake]

@97edsmith97

im not a drawing expert but i know ur not suppose to use a sharpie marker u should use a sharpie flare or go to a art store to get a good result also black color pencil works for a better finished look i dunno but maybe u should try to colorize it but i dunno if thats gonna work

[AnimeObsession1000]

this is great but i do have one question. what is the difference of the select by color tool and the magic wand tool?

[DalmaJones]

the little marching ants will not come up on mine and i dont know why!! PLEASE HELP!!!!

[AnimeObsession1000]

@DalmaJones

I am having the same problem but eventullay they just came back. I've only been using gimp for like half a year so i don't really have a great answer for you.

[Lucy1Nyuu]

i have no idea what the fuck your doing (x_x sorry slow learner)

[TwinPrincessAbby]

do u still have this line art availble?

and where do u get ur larts?

[eddiechinglives]

Instead of selecting the black, you can go to colors> color to alpha and it takes the white away much easier.

[zeldaandmidnafreak]

I had a problem when i was doing this, when i deleted the layer and added a new layer on (white) the marching ants came up as well. i got the other layer on. but i cannot get rid of the ants D:

[Amatugold]

@zeldaandmidnafreak

Use ctrl shift a to deselect when you are done pasting.=D

[brieskyezz]

@zeldaandmidnafreak You can click on the fuzzy select tool (4th tool) And click on the outside of the image on gimp.

[11teenthApparatus]

@zeldaandmidnafreak to get rid of ants... press ctrl + shift + a

[Zofnok]

@zeldaandmidnafreak when the marching ants are on the screen and you want them to go away just use the magic wand tool and click a black area with no pxs..

[baileyjustin12]

@zeldaandmidnafreak oh click the magic wand anywhere

[managrey]

@zeldaandmidnafreak crtl + shift + A

[KANSASTHEGREATable]

im having a hard time selecting the black ink i did everything but nothing shows up!!! help!

[gahilovergirl]

what the heck r u sayingyour no manga (really i prefre anime)your drawing is fantastic i thought it was so good that u took it of the internet!!!!!!!!!!!

[DynamicSymphony91]

Just a tip: Adding a Transparent layer on top of the photo and change it to a [Multiply] Layer. This gets rid of the problem with smudged lines. So you can just color over it and the lines, as long as they are black, will still show up =]

[KamuiJr]

great vid its very helpful ^^

[usiek1999999]

did you really draw that?

[ShyBlueEyes93]

How do I cut?? :)

[KishsGirl]

how do you get the butterfly brushes?

[katsume666]

ok i just got gimp 2.6 and it doesn't look the same as yours, then again i have the free one

and my art is drawn by pencil or pen, how exactly do i get it to look like THAT *points to lineart.*

[TheMetalFAN54]

@katsume666 All gimp versions are free. Everything on her gimp is pretty much the same as gimp 2.6 but you can change the size of the windows and change brushes and such. If you really want it to look like that you would go through and trace all of the parts on a different layer on top of your drawing. then delete the original drawing and youll have a strong black outline. Then just do everything she does.

[KougasGal101]

Okay mine is Gimp 2. so can I still fallow along? I tried to but my marching ants at 2:40 didn't go over the whole thing. Why do you have the thing above composite set at 0? Doesn't 15 work better. sorry lots o' questions, new program.

[EGP493]

Also, make layers for every different base color or piece of clothing or skin etc.. When you have all your base colors, you may go back and erase the colors that's stray outside the lines. Once done you can make new transparent layers on top of a base color layer and begin to shade as you wish! Good luck ^^

[EGP493]

EASIER COLORING** make sure the lines are on a transparent layer, and that it is at the top. Make another layer an. Put it below the lineart layer, this way you can color over the lines and they won't erase (and they're still visible!!) oh! all layers must be transparent except for the background layer

[El316]

okay me again! yeah i tried doing line art and stuff but i'm guessing it's my sketch book paper or something but when i get to the part where you click the black stuff to get the "marching ants thing" it just comes out as dots and not the actual drawing. so i need help in that department should i change the type of paper or is there a special way to do this line art thing i don't know about i'm hoping you can help me plz!

[XToni619X]

This anime is good what you talking about! ;D

[REEDEEFEEDEE]

That picture isn''t suck before or after you start.....

[wolfsvsvampirs]

its not working for me. when i go to get rid of the selection or whatever it gos all white! i redid it a few times because i thought i might have messed something up but it just keeps going white! do u know what my problem could be?

[Heemsky]

at 0:02 i got turned on Zero Biting Kaname....again

[HandsThatHold]

I tried the cut and paste thing, I pasted it and it's very thin or light or something.

Tried it a couple of times, the first time was I had it on 0 and composite, then apsted it onto the new layer, it looked like there was nothing there. Then I tried it again with 15 and composite, it looked better than the 0 but still it's very light.

[jdbounce]

Nice tutorial. However, the technique here: "How to color pen and ink drawings in GIMP" is much more fool proof for isolating the lines. It uses a grayscale mask.

I like your teaching manner much better though. :)

[jdbounce]

Nice tutorial. However, the technique here: "How to color pen and ink drawings in GIMP" is much more fool proof for isolating the lines.

I like your teaching manner much better though. :)

[ravennrichards]

u said ur lineart was clean and thin. howd u get it thin? do u go through and edit it before hand? if so, does ur art look all boxy when you zoom in? i always have that problem no matter how perfect i get my lines

[lizzyfunizzy]

My picture isn't showing when i paste it on a new layer. Only some parts show but not all. What could be the problem with the picture?

[bladethorn]

-bows to your awesomeness- THANK YOU! Omg, I've been trying to figure this stupid thing out for almost 3 days now. I'd sit down and burn hours just trying to figure it out. I used pathtool, and the fuzzy magic-stick thing and was so confused xD

So, thank you very much! And thank you for having a mic we can hear you on, most people don't xD

[hauhi01]

i followed your instructions but when i got to edit/paste as/new layer my image looks very light.

like the black lines fromt the art hardly looks like black. it looks

like a gray color and half of it is gone.

[michelley31]

do you have to pay for the gimp program thing

[LouiseLyster]

@michelley31 Nope :)

[phantomswordsmen]

Man I'm trying to get good at graphic arts! I'm a computer programmer but I have not artistic talents what so every your tutorials are helping me a lot!

[twilightwolf111]

THANK GOD. I REALLY GET A TURTORIAL THATS NOT JUST DRAWING AND NO INSTRUCTIONS. *praises*

[YoursTruelyChannel]

WOOT WOOT! FINALY GOT MINE TO WORK!!!

[wherethehigurashicry]

i got it but when i cut the little moving ants wont go away

[liltheo88]

Sorry for that retarded comment.What i was trying to say was How do a cut out the black part of the draw again.

[liltheo88]

Okay,How do i cut the out of the the drawing again?

[Sharly48625]

*trembles* F-first of all, I love you. Marry me even though I'm a girl. This is amazing, its so helpful. At first I didn't get it, then I realized I was doing it wrong XD THANK YOU SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MUCHAA!~

[xXKissMeWithPassionX]

I ran into a problem...I couldn't move teh transparent picture =/ and I had alpha channel on so how do I fix that?

[angelluver101]

is there any way to download it w/ paying a fee?

[LadyDiamond33]

when i try to paste as the new layer goes to Clipborad??

[ALostSoul13]

You are a amazing teacher. watch all the steps and it really help me. But I was wondering, when you made the black and white drawing to scan on Gimp, what media did you use? been having trouble with e color selection tool to cut and paste to a new layer (black marker doesn't read as all back)

[Shadowlight456]

@ALostSoul13 thanks :) im not quite sure what you mean, i scan my drawings with my scanner which is HP and the scan software I use is called "Dlink." If you're having problems, you can always fiddle with the contrast until the lines turn black. They don't have to be black originally to work, just uniform and darker than the background

[polachii1]

it don´t let me paste it like yours! I don´t know what to do

[Shadowlight456]

@polachii1 make sure you hit "paste as new layer," unless you computer has some sort of issue I don't know why there'd be a problem with pasting O.O

[myfunnyshtuff]

you are a manga artist but you kinda draw mid-90's style

[Shadowlight456]

@myfunnyshtuff my style is unique i know....dude this drawing is so old, I should make a new tutorial with some of my newer stuff :P

[princesde100]

mine turns out black when i hot crtl+x

[Shadowlight456]

@princesde100 go to your layer on the layer dialog, right click, and hit "turn on alpha channel" or similar. this should assure that your background will be transparent, not black.

[Ms202Tinky]

OMG you can draw relly good i wish i could od it like that

[Shadowlight456]

@Ms202Tinky im sure you can draw very well ^^ keep practicing

[Laylaleona]

I like your drawings! :3 

[Shadowlight456]

@Laylaleona thank you so much :) I'd love to see your artwork as well!

[imateentitan123]

When I hit "Ctrl-X" and then "Ctrl-Shift-A", everything disappeared...what happened?

[borontheborelord]

@imateentitan123 you cut out the image then selected nothing on the image. you erased all the 'marching ants' that told you what you selected.

[imateentitan123]

@borontheborelord Oh, I see....I got it now, thanks :D

[Shadowlight456]

@imateentitan123 Ctrl x cuts and ctrl shift a deslects. right click and hit "paste as layer," your lines should come back.

[mamobster1500]

um.. you have an attractive voice..

[Shadowlight456]

@mamobster1500 thanks so much :)

[carolynn515]

@mamobster1500 wow, that sure is rude :|

[XTheShadowsParadeX]

@SnRGameReviews Yes I did. It just took the bottom layer for some reason (pasted layer)...It did even show the ink layer on top.

[xkamiXkokorox]

Okayy.. I followed all the instructionsand I got it all right. However, when I tried making a new layer and then pasting it to the clipboard thing, it won't show up?

[Shadowlight456]

@xkamiXkokorox make sure you right click and hit "paste as new layer," and make sure you really cut the part that you wanted and not the whole background on accident.

[Grimbyl]

wouldnt it be easier just to go to colors/colors to alfa and then select white?

[Shadowlight456]

@Grimbyl idk, i dont like using the alfa stuff for some reason, maybe because when i first started using gimp i didnt know what the heck alfa meant, so now i just stick to my old methods cause they're comfortable for me. use that if you want, its the artist's choice.

[nietjepetietje]

@Shadowlight456 you can alsomake a layer beneath the lineart layer, and set the lineart layer to multiply...

[XTheShadowsParadeX]

Question. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong, but I draw all my art on paper first, then scan it and put it on my comp. So I inked it in Gimp. Now, I deleted the original pasted layer, and then tried following your instructions with what I had traced over (everything I inked). But when I pasted my outline as a new layer, it pasted my original drawing instead. Help?

[SnRGameReviews]

@XTheShadowsParadeX did you ink on a new layer? if not that is why your paper drawing shows up

[Shadowlight456]

@XTheShadowsParadeX yeah you have to ink on a new layer. If you forget, you can always select all the black lines (just the part you inked) by using the orange hand selection tool, and paste these lines onto a new layer and delete the background.

[TheNeiluciukas]

where did u get this pic?

[Shadowlight456]

@TheNeiluciukas i drew it. im not a lame person who steals stuff off of google images.

[KuroHinata0321]

Ah! Thank you sooo much for making this! <3

[Shadowlight456]

@KuroHinata0321 thanks so much for watching <3 <3

[sethofthevampires]

Whenever I open a line art, It opens as 'background' and not 'new layer'. Is there any way I can change this?

[Shadowlight456]

@sethofthevampires it always does that. In order to make it NOT do that, you should follow the procedure in my Line Art video, which will move the lineart from the background to a new transparent layer ^^ hope this helps

[InuKakasha234]

IT'S NAWT DA C-WORD(SORRY ME DONT LIKE SWEARING) IT'S AN AWESOME DRAWING AND IT'S KAWAI x3 =3 ;3

[Shadowlight456]

@InuKakasha234 awwww, thank you so much!

[XxTotalRandomnessxX]

When i did the white layer thing and then put my line art picture back on it my lines are practically white... i can barely see them! Help????

[Shadowlight456]

@XxTotalRandomnessxX its probably because #1 your lines aren't thick enough or 2# they're not completely black, i.e. parts are actually dark gray, so when you select it it doesnt select the whole thing. Try setting the contrast to 100%, and watch my lineart video about more info on how to make lineart work for you on GIMP.

[Missycandygirl]

 your art is alsome

[Shadowlight456]

@Missycandygirl thank you so much!

[El316]

teh drawing is awesome! and thank you soo much 4 this tutorial! i only wish that when i finished u could see the results lol

[Shadowlight456]

@El316 haha im thinking of creating a website where people can showcase their drawings and watch my videos! Id love to see your artwork :) what do you think?

[El316]

@Shadowlight456 dude that would be awesome!! i would do it too i'll show u a drawing someday definitly i lost my latest one because it was deleted in a deleting frenzy to make room for stepmania DX i know i'm sad i'll try and make a next one once i get my new back up harddrive! XD

[dazzleman600]

mine doesnt have zoom in and stuff it says drop dockable diologs here

[Shadowlight456]

@dazzleman600 okay, go to "windows" => "dockable dialogs" => "tool options." A little box with "tool options" at the top will pop up. Put your mouse in the little grey part at the top (NOT the bar that says "tool options") and drag it into the area in your toolbar with "dockable dialogs" in it. It should stick there. Hope this helps!

[MissBlueSmile]

nvm =P

[MissBlueSmile]

Hey I'm new, I Went to the link for downloadin' Gimp, but I Got Lost XD,, Which links shall I choose .. ?? thnx btw 4 ur gd vid ..

[CPCandyheart9]

This helped me so much! Thanks!

[Shadowlight456]

@CPCandyheart9 i love to be helpful! :D

[Marinaangelconde]

BIG IMPORTANT QUESTION! lol.

How do you costumize the brushes I know how to turn them into stars, and circles but nothing else. can you help me plz?

[Shadowlight456]

@Marinaangelconde I'm going to make a video about brushes soon, but for now you can google "customizing brushes on gimp" for the basics :)

[NyuuNyuuNana13]

Thank you so very much for this tutorial!

And how could someone think your drawing is crappy?! >w<