Sketch to Photoshop, assist please?

[Aibbie]

So back in the good old days I use to sketch, a lot. And I always wanted to take those sketches and somehow make them all "professional" and such in Photoshop but never had any luck?

So here's a couple examples of old sketches I would love to touch up on:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/Aibyou/TheCrew-1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/Aibyou/Dayoukor-1.jpg

Currently I have a Photoshop CS4, if anyone can point me in the right direction or even just a place to start it'll be greatly appreciated :p

[Pete for President]

Those sketches look good! I suggest using the adjusting the levels so the paper is actually white. After that, duplicate the layer and start colouring in between. I'm not that experienced in colouring in photoshop, so that's all I can tell ya.

[Rantz]

Yes, start by adjusting Levels (Ctrl+L). What you want to do is bring the sliders under "Input Levels" closer to the main chunk of black that shows on the graph. You'll have to go on feeling, here. You may also want to bring the middle slider closer to the black slider for sketches like these. Something like this should work:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/729269/Images/levels.png

For the second image, you may want to crop away the left edge since it has a shadow you're not going to be able to remove easily. Hit C to select the Crop tool and select the whole image except the left edge, then hit Enter.

Now, as for colouring, there are plenty of techniques and tutorials for how to do it, and you can find a lot by a simple search on google or deviantart.com, but one that I find pretty easy is just to create a new layer, and with that layer selected, change the blending mode (the dropdown menu that says "Normal") to Multiply. Select a colour you want to use and a brush you feel comfortable with. Aside from brush size and hardness, you might want to try changing opacity and flow until it suits you. It's all in the toolbar at the top.

After that, it's kind of up to you. I tend to not care so much if I colour outside, it can always be erased later. Just create one layer for every new colour. Afterwards, you can create a layer in the same fashion and use it for shading. Again, it's not the be-all-and-end-all of colouring techniques, but it's a very simple and quick one.

[Aibbie]

Awesome, thanks :D

I'll go attempt it and report back for further instructions :p

[Rantz]

Good luck! :D

[black orb]

>>> I have Photoshop CS..
Image > adjustments > brightness/contrast..:luca:

[Aibbie]

I actually have a more specific questions.

I kinda wanted to clean up my pictures and make it as neat as possible, is there anyway I can outline my sketch and erase the shadows and such till I'm ready to color?

[Rye]

If you use Adobe Illustrator, you can make really good crisp outline vectors. I dunno if vector art is something you were looking to try or not, but it's an idea!

[black orb]

I kinda wanted to clean up my pictures and make it as neat as possible, is there anyway I can outline my sketch and erase the shadows and such till I'm ready to color?
>>> If you want to get rid of all the shadows then trace (http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20081001171544AA3Rwbc) the drawing..:luca:

[Aibbie]

I kinda wanted to clean up my pictures and make it as neat as possible, is there anyway I can outline my sketch and erase the shadows and such till I'm ready to color?
>>> If you want to get rid of all the shadows then trace (http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20081001171544AA3Rwbc) the drawing..:luca:

Maybe I'm retarded, but when I did this it came out terrible :confused:

[black orb]

>>> Maybe you need more practice..:luca:

[rubah]

You can use the Pen tool in photoshop to draw lines, kinda how Rye was suggesting vector lines, and then apply a "stroke" to those lines.
this page might help explain what I mean a little better
Pen Tool, Photoshop Pen Tool - How To Use The Pen Tool In Photoshop Tutorial (http://www.photoshopessentials.com/basics/pen-tool-selections/)

[Aibbie]

Ohoho, the pen thingy promises hours of frustration, err, fun to come :p

[black orb]

>>> BTW, You dont need to erase the shadows to color in photoshop, in fact the shadows make things easier..:luca: