Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-5354667-20140911221104

Right forum board? I don't know. Move this if it belongs elsewhere.

1st part of this tutorial/walkthrough is photo retouching because there are a lot of images that need to be replaced. This is easy enough, though if you want to get into more advanced things, it gets a little trickier.

Video tutorial explaining all of this (please excuse my terrible voice; I had a cold): Currently in the works, will be uploaded sometime within the next 24 hours

Please excuse terrible descriptions of things, English is not my first language. I tried.

Things needed:

-Image

-Some sort of photo editing software (I use GIMP for pretty much everything, but cropping can be done on pretty much every photo editing program ever)

Other tools I use: Wacom Intuos art tablet, though this is not required.

I call the first three steps “prep” steps.

1. Cropping
I will rarely use GIMP for cropping my images, though the crop tool in the program is much more accurate. For doing simple cropping jobs, I use the preview tool, which comes standard in Macs, though any program will crop an image. The most important thing to make sure of is to only get the target object in the image, and not have any cursor, character parts, etc in the image.

2. Removing backgrounds
I use GIMP for this, and a program similar to it is required for this to make sense. Some commands will be different

Now that we have a properly cropped image, it’s time to remove the background. Some parts may be different because of the program that I use. I decided to get rid of the cursor in the small stick image, as well as the background.

a) Paste the image into your image editor. On GIMP, the command is Shift+Ctrl+V (Shift+Cmd+V on Macs). This will create a new canvas the exact dimensions of the image you posted. The image should now have a transparent background below the layer (if you toggle the layer view, you should be able to see the checkered pattern below, which means that it is transparent). If you cannot create an image from the clipboard, you need to go to Layer > Transparency > Add Alpha Channel. Additionally, you can cut (Ctrl/Cmd + X) and paste (Ctrl/Cmd + V) to get the transparent background.

b) Use a colour that stands out drastically form the background (I use white). I use my trackpad or my mouse to do this part since my tablet can be a little bit shaky at times. Use the pencil tool (or another tool with a hard edged brush), and click around the object. Your brush prints should match up exactly with the pixels. Make the brush size bigger than 3px so that when you get to the next step, you don’t have to be as precise. I use a 5px brush because it is the biggest brush size that is a perfect square without using the “Pixel brush”. http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20140911220045/survival303/images/thumb/6/6b/1A.png/640px-1A.png c) Ctrl (Cmd)+Z is your friend. Whenever I do any image editing, whether it be touch-ups or a full-scale digital, I always have two fingers on those keys.

--If you’re like me and have issues with the cartilage in your knuckles, I strongly disregard using the trackpad. It’s how I messed up my fingers in the first place (over a year and a half of doing complex digital paintings killed my right hand. Also I crack my knuckles a lot, which never helps). http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20140911220045/survival303/images/thumb/9/9f/Screen_Shot_2014-09-08_at_9.55.06_PM.png/640px-Screen_Shot_2014-09-08_at_9.55.06_PM.png d) I like to use my tablet for this next part because it’s easier on my hand, and offers more control than a mouse. Resize your brush and start going over the rest of the background until it is completely covered. Be careful to not go within the initial white outline. http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20140911220046/survival303/images/thumb/f/f2/Screen_Shot_2014-09-08_at_9.58.46_PM.png/640px-Screen_Shot_2014-09-08_at_9.58.46_PM.png e) Once the image is completely white, use the Colour by Selection tool (or the “Magic wand” tool, either will work) and click on the white background. If done right, it should select the area around the main object. Many people call the white and black moving lines “marching ants”, and it’s how you know that something has been selected. Delete the selection and you should be left with the object on a transparent background. http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20140911220046/survival303/images/thumb/0/00/Screen_Shot_2014-09-08_at_9.58.56_PM.png/640px-Screen_Shot_2014-09-08_at_9.58.56_PM.png http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20140911220046/survival303/images/thumb/7/7c/Screen_Shot_2014-09-08_at_9.59.02_PM.png/640px-Screen_Shot_2014-09-08_at_9.59.02_PM.png

3. Removing cursors, GUIs, etc.
Again, I use GIMP for this.

a) You will need to have a clone tool (Press C if using GIMP) and preferably a heal tool. For this part, I used an old image of my avatar standing in top of Snowpeak. As you can see, I’ve cropped out most of GUIs, but there are parts of the image that I want to keep, which are obscered by the remaining parts. To fix this, we need to use the clone tool.

b) To use the clone tool, hold down Ctrl (Cmd) and click somewhere close to the area that you want to cover. This is called the source; whatever the brush goes over, it will copy onto the area below. Because this is tough to explain without making any sense, here’s an image. The dotted circle is my brush, and the other point is the source. http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20140911220047/survival303/images/thumb/d/d1/Screen_Shot_2014-09-08_at_10.08.25_PM.png/640px-Screen_Shot_2014-09-08_at_10.08.25_PM.png c) As you can see, there are areas that look sloppy. No matter what image you’re doing, the clone tool results will always be sloppy. This is where the heal tool comes into play. It is used in the same way that the clone tool is used, but this tool blends the pixels together to make it look natural. http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20140911220047/survival303/images/thumb/1/17/Screen_Shot_2014-09-08_at_10.08.51_PM.png/640px-Screen_Shot_2014-09-08_at_10.08.51_PM.png d) Finished. http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20140911220047/survival303/images/thumb/9/95/Screen_Shot_2014-09-08_at_10.10.15_PM.png/640px-Screen_Shot_2014-09-08_at_10.10.15_PM.png

4. Advanced; recolouring
This is more advanced retouching, and shouldn’t be attempted if you don’t know what you’re doing just yet. A knowledge of how to use the Colourize, Brightness-Contrast, and Curves tools are assumed.

a) Have a fully prepped image (makes it easier to work with if there is no background) open. I also recommend a reference at first to get the colours right. I decided to transform iron ore into coal.

b) My recolouring image is fairly simple since it is going from a dark brown to a blueish-black. Still, there are a few tricks to getting it to the colour that we want. I rarely have a reference image with me since I’ve been working with colourizing for a long time, but if you’re just starting, it’s a good thing to have, as it decreases you having to guess on colours.

c) First, decrease the saturation to -100, as low as it can go, until the image is completely black and white. I find that it makes it easier to work with if you can start from a pure greyscale. Now we want to get the main colour right. I use the colourize tool for this, and my levels are shown. They will vary from image to image. Play around with it until you find good levels to use. Now that we have the main colour right, it’s time to lighten it up a bit, since I thought it looked too dark. I used the brightness-contrast tool. http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20140911220048/survival303/images/thumb/b/b7/Screen_Shot_2014-09-08_at_10.16.40_PM.png/640px-Screen_Shot_2014-09-08_at_10.16.40_PM.png http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20140911220048/survival303/images/thumb/2/23/Screen_Shot_2014-09-08_at_10.17.44_PM.png/640px-Screen_Shot_2014-09-08_at_10.17.44_PM.png http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20140911220048/survival303/images/thumb/9/97/Screen_Shot_2014-09-08_at_10.20.10_PM.png/640px-Screen_Shot_2014-09-08_at_10.20.10_PM.png d) I then went back and added some more blue to the image using the colourize tool. If you get frustrated, don’t worry! You will never get the right colours on the first try. I’ve been recolouring for rears and I still can get it right on the first try. You can always build off of what you have and even go back to greyscale if you want to start fresh.

e) For getting the colour exactly how I wanted it, I use the Curves tool, Colourize, and Brightness/Contrast.

f) Finished; before and after http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20140911220045/survival303/images/a/a4/B%26A.png If my crappy walkthroughs helped you, I’d love to know.  