Inked Page - getting rid of the background / grey areas

[piattrocks]

Hey guys,

I'm making a comic book, and we've got a huge problem that I think could be fixed with something simple.

After our inker inks a page, we scan it, and I've got to get rid of the background so that we can put the colors behind it. But we're getting so much data loss here that we've got to stop drawing in real life and start fixing things on the computer.

I usually set the document to black and white mode, use the brightness / contrast to get it a little darker, and then use the "curves" tool. This gets rid of the grey, but crushes our line quality. Little details like hair are lost completely.

I was searching through the forums for a solution, and I found this post...

http://www.photoshopgurus.com/forum...eliminating-grey-backround-scanned-image.html

but I'm not sure what was done - or if it's even the same kind of problem, because the final version still had a background in that PSD file.

http://unlikelyheroesstudios.com/grey_sample.jpg
original...

http://unlikelyheroesstudios.com/getting_rid_of_grey_after_pic.jpg
after the curves (and placing a solid red layer behind the black inked layer)

I put links because this is my first post (google searches for the answer took me to that link I mentioned) and I can't just directly upload the file until I've been here for a while.

Anyone have any ideas?

- Justin

 

[Tom Mann]

I'm not sure I understand your problem: Are you saying that the whitest areas in the 1st image that you posted are not white enough? If so, I'm puzzled because when I sample them using the eyedropper tool, the R, G and B components are all above 252 or 253. Is that not good enough? If it isn't, just a minor application of "levels' should fix it - just move the right slider (directly under the histogram) in to around 250. That change is so small it should have almost no impact on the edges of the lines in the drawing.


...then again, maybe I'm missing something.

HTH,

Tom M

 

[ibclare]

Here's a method you might want to try -- assuming I understand what you need.

I tried "blend if" layer fx but couldn't get rid of the white or like you said, "crushed the lines."

 

[ibis]

prior to anything else do your scanning in rgb color mode,
then goto image -desaturate to loose any of the scanner coloring
now try this quick technique:
hit ctrl+L
with minus pipette click the grayest part of the image (experiment with source point),
that should loose all of the gray tones, this is fastest technique to do so.

 

[piattrocks]

thanks guys, i'll try those out once I get home.

In an answer to the first question - yeah, i need to be able to select the white area and delete it, so that I can put colors behind the black lines.

I usually scan in color - but I never tried the saturate / desaturate thingy so maybe thats where I'm going wrong.

I'll let you guys know but thanks again. I'll be thinking about this all day at work until I can get home to try it out!!!

 

[piattrocks]

it might sound stupid, but what's the "minus pipette"?

 

[ibclare]

In levels, there are white, grey, and black pipettes or eye droppers. See the attached. It's the middle one, the grey.

 

[chrisix]

well, preparing the file before coloring propperly would be the fastest and easiest way... or at least i think.
I did some manga scan cleanups. Which is basicly what you need to prepare for coloring.
there is a video on youtube which helped me out a lot.
search for:
[h=1]How to clean up manga scans quick and advance way[/h]by chibidesign

hope it helps

 

[piattrocks]

Thanks I'll check it out! Already I've started to use a combination of your suggestions which has helped a lot.

Specifically: desaturate -> levels / curves -> then the steps in that first link (select rgb layer -> inverse -> paste a black fill onto a new layer.

But i'll do a search for that when I get home from work. Thanks again for stepping up and saving the day fellas!