How to Color Manga Using CS5

The word for a comic book in Japan is "manga." In the United States, the word "manga" has come to be associated with any type of comic book originating from Japan, and often relates to Japanese animation, or anime. Manga illustrations are typically in black and white, aside from the cover art. You may wish to add color to some of your favorite illustrations, or perhaps you have created your own manga to color. Adobe Photoshop CS5 is a useful program for digitally adding color to manga.

Things You'll Need

• Adobe Photoshop CS5
• Digitized manga illustrations

Instructions

1. Open the manga illustration that you wish to color in Photoshop. Photoshop will automatically set this as the bottom background layer.

2. Create a new layer on top of the background layer and make sure the new layer is selected by clicking on it.

3. Set the layer blending style to "darken." This will make it so that you can color on the top layer without coloring over the outlines on the background layer.

4. Click on the "set foreground color" in the toolbar. It looks like a square of color. This allows you to choose the color you want to work with.

5. Select a base color for the skin.

6. Click on the paintbrush tool and paint in the skin area. You can use the eraser tool if you color outside the lines.

7. Create a new layer for each new color you add and paint in the remaining base colors. Remember to set the blend mode to "darken" for each layer.

8. Create new layers on top of each base color and set the blend mode to "darken."

9. Use the paintbrush to add shading to your artwork. Choose colors a few shades darker than your base colors.

10. Use the blur tool to soften and blend the edges of your shading.

11. Save the file.

Tips & Warnings

• If you are not using original manga material, be aware that you may be violating copyright laws if you post your colored artwork publicly.