Photo Background Technique

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Menu

Menu ................................................................................................................................................................................ 2
Introduction .................................................................................................................................................................. 2
Step 1: Find A Suitable Photo ............................................................................................................................... 4
Step 2: Adjust The Photo ........................................................................................................................................ 5
Step 3: Convert The Photo To Black & White ................................................................................................. 6
Step 4a: Adjust The Levels .................................................................................................................................... 7
Step 4b: HDR Toning ................................................................................................................................................ 8
Step 4c: AKVIS Sketch ............................................................................................................................................ 9
Step 4d: Tiffen DFX ................................................................................................................................................. 10
Step 5a: Import Into Manga Studio (Normal) .............................................................................................. 11
Step 5b: Import Into Manga Studio (2DLT) .................................................................................................. 12
Step 6: Draw The Lineart ...................................................................................................................................... 13
Step 7: Special Effects ........................................................................................................................................... 14

Introduction

In this tutorial i’ll step you through one of the methods for converting a photo into a manga background plus
a few optional steps that you might find interesting to generate some lineart for you to work with.

I will be using Adobe Photoshop CS5 and Manga Studio EX4 however the version of software you use should
not make much of a difference. I prefer doing my lineart in Manga Studio however you can continue on in
Photoshop or the image editor of your choice if you so choose.

This tutorial assumes that you have some working knowledge with an image editing application and
illustration ability. How ever you decide to ink the background is up to you and your style, so i won’t delve
deep into it, atleast in this tutorial. This technique should be treated as a starting point for making a
background and keep in mind that the quality of the illustration still depends on your experience as an artist.

If you have any questions feel free to leave me a comment on my DeviantArt account:
http://jonx0r.deviantart.com

Photo Background Technique

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 Photo Background Technique
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Step 1: Find A Suitable Photo

One of the most important aspects of this technique is the photo you use. Try to avoid photos with too much
detail, lots of people, or with lens flares and reflections as this will just give you more work. This technique
works best with city scenes, city scapes, alleys, houses, buildings or any other engineered structure. Indoor
scenes also work fine with this technique.

Try and keep away from photos of natural things like water, forests, rocks, mountains, etc, as the amount of
random detail will require much more effort to ink over which somewhat defeats the purpose of this
technique which is to simply and expediate background creation procedure. Depictions of natural things in
comics or manga are significantly more ‘iconized’ than other background elements and as such they really
should be drawn in manually instead.

The resolution of the photo is also a very important aspect of this technique; always use as high a resolution
photo as possible as blurriness and pixilation will make it harder. Once you’ve decided on a photo, load it
into Photoshop and clone out any unwanted detail before moving on. Finally if you use a photo off the
internet, confirm you have permission to use the photo first. You don’t want to be caught simonizing photos
that belong to someone else! The use of Google StreetView for reference nowadays seems to be acceptable
and there are painters out there who use StreetView images for reference without any problems, but this
may change in the future so keep an ear open about it.

Figure 1

Photo Background Technique

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Step 2: Adjust The Photo

When you take a photo, unless you took it with absolute precision it’s going to be crooked.

1. Load the image in Photoshop

2. Create a new layer

3. Draw in the horizon and line

4. Pick a few edges that lead to the vanishing point(s) and draw in a few converging lines

5. Make sure the horizon line is horizontal (unless intended otherwise). Use the Free Transform tool to
adjust the alignment of the photo where required

Figure 2
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Step 3: Convert The Photo To Black & White

1. Go to Image > Adjustments > Black & White

2. Select a preset

3. Tweak any of the sliders if required for the photo

4. Click OK to close

Typically i use Neutral Density then adjust the sliders to get the effect i’m after however you may get a
better effect by using a different preset depending on the photo. The aim is to introduce as much white as
possible into the photo while retaining enough black in the shadows and in crevices where you would
normally find black if you were drawing the background from scratch. Blurring your eyes to gauge the
balance between light and dark can be useful here.

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Step 4a: Adjust The Levels

1. Go to Image > Adjustments > Levels

2. Adjust the sliders to increase the contrast between white and black. I typically bring the Shadow
value up to around 20, Midtone to 2 and Highlight down to around 220

3. Click OK to close

Try not to wash everything out with white. Leave enough detail so you know where to draw your lines in
later. Again blur your eyes to keep a balance between light and dark as if you were looking at a drawn
background.

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Step 4b: HDR Toning

An alternative for those with Photoshop CS5 (or later if a newer version is out by the time you read this) is
to use HDR Tone to adjust the contrast. Personally i prefer using this over a levels adjustment as setting the
Radius value to 1 will also sharpen the image, though you can sharpen the image separately if required if
you’re running Photoshop CS4 or earlier.

1. Go to Image > Adjustments > HDR Toning

2. Set the preset to Monochromatic High Contrast

3. Increase the Gamma slider to bring back any edges that may have faded away

4. Click OK to close

Figure 5
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Step 4c: AKVIS Sketch

This is an optional step that you can take using Akvis Sketch if you have a copy of it, and can be used to
create some more additional lineart for you to work with. This is not a substitute for doing the lineart
yourself but it can be used to help give you something more to work with which saves time.

1. Launch Akvis Sketch

2. Configure the sliders. In my example i set Watercolor to 15, Charcoal and Colorization to 0, left the
Angle on 90, set the Size, Midtones Intensity and Midtones Hatching to 1, Min Length to 0, Max
Length to 3 and Sharpen to 90

3. Click on the Run button to convert the photo to lineart.

Figure 6
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Step 4d: Tiffen DFX

This is more of an alternative to using Akvis and can also be used to create some more additional lineart to
import into Manga Studio. Again this isn’t a substitute for doing the lineart but it can give you something to
work with. I normally over-sharpen the image first before applying this filter as that gives a better result.

1. Go to Filter > Tiffen > DFX (Note: You will need to have the Tiffen DFX plugin installed first)

2. Scroll to the Special Effects tab and select Pencil

3. Choose the Pencil 2 preset then click on the Done button

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Step 5a: Import Into Manga Studio (Normal)

1. Save the photo in a lossless format (eg: BMP, PNG)

2. In Manga Studio go to File > Import > Image File

3. Select the image file

4. Scale it so it fits into the panel you wish to add it to

5. On the Properties box, go to the Image Adjust tab. Set the Layer Type to Raster, the Resolution to
1200.0 dpi (or the highest value listed), Color Model to Gray (8 bits), Output Attributes to Finish and
the Color Reduction Method to Convert to Tone

6. Click OK to finish placing the image

Figure 8
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Step 5b: Import Into Manga Studio (2DLT)

2DLT import can be used to create lineart and tone based on the photo you choose to import. Again it’s not
a substitute for having to do the lineart and toning yourself later on but it will give you a start.

1. In Manga Studio go to File > Import > 2DLT

2. Select the image file

3. Scale it so it fits into the panel you wish to add it to

4. Set the Output Resolution to 1200.0dpi (or the highest value listed), Output Attributes to Finish, and
Outline Width to 0. Under Outline Settings choose Extract Outline 2. Under Posterization Settings,
decrease the Black Fill Threshold abit, set the Number Of Tone Lines to 60 and the Roughness Of
Grain to 1. Play around with different Edge Height Threshold, Variation Slope Threshold and Blur
Range values until you find something that adds enough lines without too much unnecessary noise.
Click Preview to check how the image will look

5. Click OK to finish placing the image

Figure 9
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Step 6: Draw The Lineart

Regardless of how good the digital technique is, you will still need to add in clean lines yourself and erase
some of the noise imported with the photo. Some artists use the tone from the photo for shading however i
prefer using the photo as reference to create lineart and add tone manually.

1. Create a new raster or vector layer above the photo layer if you’re working in Manga Studio,
whichever you choose is up to you and what you normally work with. For Photoshop users, create a
new layer above the photo layer

2. Draw in the lineart over the top of the photo. Don’t be too hung up on outlining really tiny objects or
objects that are far in the distance.

3. Erase any dirt or noise on close-by surfaces such as walls from the photo layer. Draw it in manually
to help stylize the picture

4. Erase the sky from the photo (this is optional) and either draw it in or replace it with a more
preferable gray scale photo of a sky

Figure 10
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Step 7: Special Effects

Some artists go so far as to add special effects such as lens flares or glows to their scene. If you’re working
in Manga Studio you will need to export the image back to Photoshop first.

1. In Manga Studio go to File > Export > Image File. Whether you export in pixels or in dimensions is
up to you

2. Make sure Finish Image, Tone and Text are ticked, set the Output Destination then click OK to export
the image

3. Load the image in Photoshop and add in the desired effect

4. If you added any coloured effects you should to desaturate the image first by going to Image >
Adjustments > Desaturate

5. Save the image in a lossless format (eg: BMP, PNG)

6. In Manga Studio go to File > Import > Image File and import as per Step 5a

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