Illustration: How to Use Photoshop for Children"s Book Illustration to Save Time
Today we will go over how and why to use Photoshop to create your illustrations.
First we will go over how I found to save money on paper.
Second we will plan our compositions on multiple pages.
Then we will look at important factors in scanning your images.
Fourth we will learn how to merge theses images to make our final illustration.
Then lastly we will learn how to save our illustration ready for print.
Truth will be told, we will be using several sheets of your favorite acid free paper instead of a single large piece.
Choose a paper that balances cost with quality.
Then choose a paper appropriate for the medium you are using.
The last consideration is the surface quality, hot press {smooth} or cold press {rough to medium}.
If you use paper smaller than 8.
5" x 12.
5" you will find it easier to scan than breaking the large piece of paper into multiple scans and combined back together in Photoshop.
My favorite is Canson Bristol XL Recycled 9" x 12" which I use for mixed media illustrations combining graphite, watercolor, acrylic, and Berol Prismacolor colored pencils.
It is an acid free paper that has hot press on one side and cold press on the other.
I find the hot press scans the colored pencil better with less texture.
I found it easier to draw faces large on a single piece of paper.
That way I can get more detail.
Then I draw the bodies next to the face or on another piece of paper.
I will do this for each character I want in the illustration.
They will be scanned and pasted together in Photoshop.
I also found I can use these faces on multiple bodies throughout the book to save time.
Then we will draw minor characters like flying rubber ducks, snails, boats, and other elements that are easier to draw on together on another piece of paper.
These can also be scanned and separated using the lasso tool and pasted onto their own layer in the same file.
These images can be scaled or distorted as we build our composition later.
Then we will paint our background.
This drawing will be to the final size or to scale of the final drawing.
This is also a good time to plan to make this image ready for print.
Think of how your illustration is going to be used.
Is it a spot illustration, editorial, or a full page with bleed? A spot illustration needs to bescaled to the publishers size specifications, but not much else.
An editorial illustration that stretches two pages in a book or magazine needs to take in consideration the gutter size {space inside a book toward the spine}, trim {page size},bleed {extra area to hide the printers inability to cut straight}, and live elements {important elements you do not want falling off the page}.
Now full page illustrations are self explanatory that also need trim, bleed, gutter, and live element margins.
Your top, bottom, and outside bleeds should be .
125" beyond you trim.
Any important elements in your drawing, live elements, must be.
375" inside your trim.
Trim is the final page size that will be printed.
If you want elements to run off the page into your bleed, make sure you use the note tool in Photoshop so the printer knows it is o.
k.
to have those element go beyond the live element margin.
Otherwise they will reject your file and become a real pain in the neck.
to be polite...
I also find it a great asset to scan the original black and white drawings into the computer.
This way I can print out another copy to paint in case I do not like the first attempt.
So have a couple sheets of your paper cut to fit your printer on hand.
Now if you want to use theses illustrations to sell as originals you can print the background off and then print all the elements off separate.
Then cut out the characters and elements to be pasted to the background.
Paste them to several pieces of paper cut out to their shape.
The thicker the final piece the closer to the foreground they will be.
Then paste that piece to the background.
Also you might want to print of things in the background and do the same thing to.
You might consider painting your background larger if you choose to sell your originals.
One last thing, I find it easier to do my black and white graphite drawings on the cold press side and the final paintings on the Hot press side.
Next we will go over scanning.
For many years I had bought HP products.
Using their scanners I had to always color correct their scans which never came close to the original painting.
I had to settle on what I could get.
Then I bought a Canon LIDE 210.
Not only was it cheaper, but it was a much better product.
Using the Canon software I choose the Scanner Driver choice in its options which gave me a perfect interpretation of the colors that existed in the original.
Now you want to scan you images at 300 dpi and 8 bits.
When using 16 bits it limits your file formats in Photoshop later and 8 bits print quite fine in your finished book.
Be careful not to draw to close to the edge, because you are going to have to scan your image twice and fit it together in Photoshop later.
I like to have the scanner output folder on my desktop.
This way I can remember to empty it on regular basis to save memory on my hard drive.
So now we have files for our faces, bodies, minor characters, and a background.
First I use the lasso tool to select a close cropped selection of my first face.
I copy it and then paste it into a separate layer.
Now save this file with the name of the character and add the word face to the file's name.
Then open the file with its body or just repeat the previous process to the body you drew next to your face.
In either case you should now have a body pasted on a separate layer.
Now create a new file large enough to accommodate both of them.
I would scale the face down to fit the body.
You can shrink an object without losing quality, but you lose quality when you enlarge an object.
Now copy merge these together and paste into a separate file.
Make sure not to flatten the image and have the body on a layer separate from the background layer.
Now print the completed person out on good paper to paint.
After painting scan it back into the computer.
Now use you magic wand, lasso tool, and erase tool to select the body in the original black and white file.
Hit copy.
Then paste this image into your painted body file.
Line up the black and white copy over the painted one.
Use the magic wand and select the white space around your black and white copy.
Select inverse under the selection window.
Select the layer with the painted body on it.
Hit copy.
Then paste in to a new layer.
Save the file by the character name with Painted_body added to it.
Using "_" between words in your image name saves time later if you want to post those images to the web later.
Now go through the same process with you minor characters.
Leave those files open and arrange for easy access.
Open your final painted background file.
Pull in the characters and minor characters by dragging them from their files into the background file.
Scale and position them for the perfect composition.
Be careful to keep all of them within the live element margin.
If they need to fall into the live element margin remember to leave a note for the printer.
Now save this file.
You probably saved a RGB file.
Photoshop sets RGB as a default unless otherwise mentioned while creating your file.
Now select all and copy merge.
Convert file to CMYK and flatten the image when asked.
Make sure you saved the file before the color mode conversion.
If you did not, use your history palette to go back a step.
Once the file is converted to CMYK paste your image back into the file.
I do this because I found out if I do not, my yellows once printed lean toward green if I just change my color mode without the extra steps.
Now flatten the image once more {little arrow to the top right of the Layers palette has a submenu to choose merge layers or flatten image from}.
Now we are ready to save our image ready for print.
Double check your bleed, trim size, live element, and gutter specs once more.
Now gutter margins will increase depending on how thick the book is.
The thicker the book more of the page falls into the crack of the spine and takes detail with it.
Check with your publisher for gutter specs depending on book size.
Now make sure your page size reflect your bleed and gutter margins.
A trim size of 8" x 10" with a top, bottom, and outside bleed of.
125" and an inside/outside {Left page full bleed illustration or right page full bleed illustration} or gutter margin of.
145" will call for a page size of 8.
270" x 10.
25" Example: {8" +.
125" +.
145"} wide by {10" +.
125" +.
125"} High= 8.
270" wide by 10.
25" High Now save this file as a PDF.
Name it High_filenameofyourchoice.
pdf.
Choose High Quality Print.
Deselect the preserve Photoshop editing capabilities.
This reduces your file size.
Then save another copy Medium_filenameofyourchoice.
pdf.
Choose High Quality Print again.
Deselect preserve Photoshop editing capabilities.
Choose the newest or highest version of Adobe Acrobat.
Select the compression menu on the left.
Type in 265 dpi in the "compression" field and type in 300 dpi below, for "images above" field for color.
This reduces your image to 265 dpi.
Keep the compression to.
jpg set at Maximum.
This gives the publisher two options if he is faced with maximum upload sizes to a printer.
This can get more complex, but that would be an article on its own.
So remember to copy merge your image, then convert to CMYK, flatten, paste, flatten, and save as PDf without preserving Photoshop capabilities.
Also make sure you saved your original file as a PSD or Photoshop document so you can edit it later.
So the reasons I ask you to use multiple small pages and compose your images later in Photoshop are to:
Look for more articles from the illustrators and writers from Salem House Press.
First we will go over how I found to save money on paper.
Second we will plan our compositions on multiple pages.
Then we will look at important factors in scanning your images.
Fourth we will learn how to merge theses images to make our final illustration.
Then lastly we will learn how to save our illustration ready for print.
Truth will be told, we will be using several sheets of your favorite acid free paper instead of a single large piece.
Choose a paper that balances cost with quality.
Then choose a paper appropriate for the medium you are using.
The last consideration is the surface quality, hot press {smooth} or cold press {rough to medium}.
If you use paper smaller than 8.
5" x 12.
5" you will find it easier to scan than breaking the large piece of paper into multiple scans and combined back together in Photoshop.
My favorite is Canson Bristol XL Recycled 9" x 12" which I use for mixed media illustrations combining graphite, watercolor, acrylic, and Berol Prismacolor colored pencils.
It is an acid free paper that has hot press on one side and cold press on the other.
I find the hot press scans the colored pencil better with less texture.
I found it easier to draw faces large on a single piece of paper.
That way I can get more detail.
Then I draw the bodies next to the face or on another piece of paper.
I will do this for each character I want in the illustration.
They will be scanned and pasted together in Photoshop.
I also found I can use these faces on multiple bodies throughout the book to save time.
Then we will draw minor characters like flying rubber ducks, snails, boats, and other elements that are easier to draw on together on another piece of paper.
These can also be scanned and separated using the lasso tool and pasted onto their own layer in the same file.
These images can be scaled or distorted as we build our composition later.
Then we will paint our background.
This drawing will be to the final size or to scale of the final drawing.
This is also a good time to plan to make this image ready for print.
Think of how your illustration is going to be used.
Is it a spot illustration, editorial, or a full page with bleed? A spot illustration needs to bescaled to the publishers size specifications, but not much else.
An editorial illustration that stretches two pages in a book or magazine needs to take in consideration the gutter size {space inside a book toward the spine}, trim {page size},bleed {extra area to hide the printers inability to cut straight}, and live elements {important elements you do not want falling off the page}.
Now full page illustrations are self explanatory that also need trim, bleed, gutter, and live element margins.
Your top, bottom, and outside bleeds should be .
125" beyond you trim.
Any important elements in your drawing, live elements, must be.
375" inside your trim.
Trim is the final page size that will be printed.
If you want elements to run off the page into your bleed, make sure you use the note tool in Photoshop so the printer knows it is o.
k.
to have those element go beyond the live element margin.
Otherwise they will reject your file and become a real pain in the neck.
to be polite...
I also find it a great asset to scan the original black and white drawings into the computer.
This way I can print out another copy to paint in case I do not like the first attempt.
So have a couple sheets of your paper cut to fit your printer on hand.
Now if you want to use theses illustrations to sell as originals you can print the background off and then print all the elements off separate.
Then cut out the characters and elements to be pasted to the background.
Paste them to several pieces of paper cut out to their shape.
The thicker the final piece the closer to the foreground they will be.
Then paste that piece to the background.
Also you might want to print of things in the background and do the same thing to.
You might consider painting your background larger if you choose to sell your originals.
One last thing, I find it easier to do my black and white graphite drawings on the cold press side and the final paintings on the Hot press side.
Next we will go over scanning.
For many years I had bought HP products.
Using their scanners I had to always color correct their scans which never came close to the original painting.
I had to settle on what I could get.
Then I bought a Canon LIDE 210.
Not only was it cheaper, but it was a much better product.
Using the Canon software I choose the Scanner Driver choice in its options which gave me a perfect interpretation of the colors that existed in the original.
Now you want to scan you images at 300 dpi and 8 bits.
When using 16 bits it limits your file formats in Photoshop later and 8 bits print quite fine in your finished book.
Be careful not to draw to close to the edge, because you are going to have to scan your image twice and fit it together in Photoshop later.
I like to have the scanner output folder on my desktop.
This way I can remember to empty it on regular basis to save memory on my hard drive.
So now we have files for our faces, bodies, minor characters, and a background.
First I use the lasso tool to select a close cropped selection of my first face.
I copy it and then paste it into a separate layer.
Now save this file with the name of the character and add the word face to the file's name.
Then open the file with its body or just repeat the previous process to the body you drew next to your face.
In either case you should now have a body pasted on a separate layer.
Now create a new file large enough to accommodate both of them.
I would scale the face down to fit the body.
You can shrink an object without losing quality, but you lose quality when you enlarge an object.
Now copy merge these together and paste into a separate file.
Make sure not to flatten the image and have the body on a layer separate from the background layer.
Now print the completed person out on good paper to paint.
After painting scan it back into the computer.
Now use you magic wand, lasso tool, and erase tool to select the body in the original black and white file.
Hit copy.
Then paste this image into your painted body file.
Line up the black and white copy over the painted one.
Use the magic wand and select the white space around your black and white copy.
Select inverse under the selection window.
Select the layer with the painted body on it.
Hit copy.
Then paste in to a new layer.
Save the file by the character name with Painted_body added to it.
Using "_" between words in your image name saves time later if you want to post those images to the web later.
Now go through the same process with you minor characters.
Leave those files open and arrange for easy access.
Open your final painted background file.
Pull in the characters and minor characters by dragging them from their files into the background file.
Scale and position them for the perfect composition.
Be careful to keep all of them within the live element margin.
If they need to fall into the live element margin remember to leave a note for the printer.
Now save this file.
You probably saved a RGB file.
Photoshop sets RGB as a default unless otherwise mentioned while creating your file.
Now select all and copy merge.
Convert file to CMYK and flatten the image when asked.
Make sure you saved the file before the color mode conversion.
If you did not, use your history palette to go back a step.
Once the file is converted to CMYK paste your image back into the file.
I do this because I found out if I do not, my yellows once printed lean toward green if I just change my color mode without the extra steps.
Now flatten the image once more {little arrow to the top right of the Layers palette has a submenu to choose merge layers or flatten image from}.
Now we are ready to save our image ready for print.
Double check your bleed, trim size, live element, and gutter specs once more.
Now gutter margins will increase depending on how thick the book is.
The thicker the book more of the page falls into the crack of the spine and takes detail with it.
Check with your publisher for gutter specs depending on book size.
Now make sure your page size reflect your bleed and gutter margins.
A trim size of 8" x 10" with a top, bottom, and outside bleed of.
125" and an inside/outside {Left page full bleed illustration or right page full bleed illustration} or gutter margin of.
145" will call for a page size of 8.
270" x 10.
25" Example: {8" +.
125" +.
145"} wide by {10" +.
125" +.
125"} High= 8.
270" wide by 10.
25" High Now save this file as a PDF.
Name it High_filenameofyourchoice.
pdf.
Choose High Quality Print.
Deselect the preserve Photoshop editing capabilities.
This reduces your file size.
Then save another copy Medium_filenameofyourchoice.
pdf.
Choose High Quality Print again.
Deselect preserve Photoshop editing capabilities.
Choose the newest or highest version of Adobe Acrobat.
Select the compression menu on the left.
Type in 265 dpi in the "compression" field and type in 300 dpi below, for "images above" field for color.
This reduces your image to 265 dpi.
Keep the compression to.
jpg set at Maximum.
This gives the publisher two options if he is faced with maximum upload sizes to a printer.
This can get more complex, but that would be an article on its own.
So remember to copy merge your image, then convert to CMYK, flatten, paste, flatten, and save as PDf without preserving Photoshop capabilities.
Also make sure you saved your original file as a PSD or Photoshop document so you can edit it later.
So the reasons I ask you to use multiple small pages and compose your images later in Photoshop are to:
- get more detail in your faces
- have your faces available to use on multiple bodies
- have characters to be used in multiple images
- have an easier time scanning
- have black and white copies to print out and paint several versions
- create drag and drop compositions
- save multiple composition choices using copy merged on several layers.
Look for more articles from the illustrators and writers from Salem House Press.
Source...