Pixel Toleing Tutorial
Pixel painting one pixel at a time is NOT for me ! ~L~ So I do mine this way.
It is easier for me and may be for you also. Plus, it lets me add tole touches to it if I want.
You don't have to use the tole technique on it if you don't want. Many people use the
cutout method of shading. There are many tutorials on the net that teach you how to do
the regular pixel painting and I don't want to do a repeat of those. So basically all I am going to show is
how I do it my way. Keep in mind that you can use many of the tole techniques on the pixel
paints, you just have to use different settings for your airbrush and you have to be very careful not
to get stray pixels outside your outline.
You will need a free filter for this. It is called Eliminate White. You can get it
If that link doesn't work, do a search on the net for eliminate white filter. It is a free filter.
Just place it in your Plugins folder of Paint Shop Pro or whereever you have your plugins at.
Ok here we go.
I will use one of my patterns as an example.
The first thing I do is zoom in on the design and make sure there are no stray triangles in it.
Thanks Lisa for that tip. *S*
By triangles, I mean anyplace in the outline that has three pixels that form a triangle.
In the image below I have drawn arrows to two spots where there are triangles. I have
circled a spot where there is no triangle to show how it is suppose to be.
I use my Push brush to push the extra pixel out . You can also use the eraser to erase it
if you want. Just make sure the size is set to 1. You can see in the below image how I got rid of
the extra pixel that made the triangles.
Now of course there will be some places in the design where you can't get rid of the triangle because
it is an intersection for two lines. You can just leave those, they are fine. The other thing to check is
to make sure all your lines connect. This is a must. If a line doesn't connect to another line, you
won't be able to select the area with the magic wand. If you notice on he left foot of the bear,
there is a line that doesn't connect. That one is ok because it is just going to be a shade line. It is
mainly the different sections of your design that you want to make sure the lines connect on.
Once you have the design cleaned, you are ready to paint it.
Start by Duplicating the layer. Go to yourlayers drop down box and right click on the layer,
go to Duplicate and click. This will create a new layer called Copy of Raster 1.
Now go back to the Layers drop down box and click the glasses on the bottom layer to make
it invisible. Make sure your top layer is still selected. It will be blue...like the one in this image.
Now go to Effects, Plugins, ( and whatever the eliminate white filter is listed under.
Mine is listed under Transparency.
This should get rid of all the white in this layer, leaving only your black outline.
Now you can go to the Layers drop down box and click the glasses on the bottom layer to turn
it back on. You also need to click ON the bottom layer to make it active.
The bottom layer is the one you will be painting from.
Now set your background color on the color palette to whatever color you want your bear
to be. Set the foregrond color to whatever shade color you want to shade with.
I used these.
Select the Magic Wand from the drop down menu of your selection tool. Make sure the
antialias is turned off on the magic wand. And also no feather.
Now, making sure you are on the bottom layer, select an area of the bear by clicking on
it with the magic wand. Flood fill it with the basic color.
