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Feb 24

So, I am almost done with my comic. It’s meant to be a test to learn how webcomics work before making a much longer story, and it has! I have learned a lot, including how not fun I find coloring an entire comic page. In trying to think of ways to make it more enjoyable, I have been considering using gradient maps to speed some things up. Has anyone tried using them for a comic? Are they worth it, or would they be just as time consuming on top of much more limited?

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    Feb 23
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    Feb 23
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I haven't done it for comics, since I color traditionally - but it sounds like pretty much the same amount of work, if not more. If you hate doing color, grayscale is fine too.

I like the way you've colored your comic though.

I used to use gradient maps for earlier pages of my comic. As of late I’ve switched to full color instead. It worked for me back then I guess. It allowed me to do greyscale but keep color (I love color) But I loved color so much I had to switch.
Example:

The way I did it probably took longer than it would to not do greyscale :sob: this is because I was rendering over sketches instead of at least making final sketches before rendering. Anyway, as long as you find a workflow that works for you…

I still prefer traditional painting methods as it gives me more of a feeling that I'm actually "painting."
It's important to me.
:grinning:

What is the "not fun" part of the coloring process for you and do the gradient maps really
help you with that part?

The "not fun" part for most people is the flat coloring, that´s the first thing colorist want
to get rid of and hire assistants for, it takes forever and is boring

Gradient maps are great imo and can help you with consistency

I don’t know if this is an option in other software, but I use the colorize mask in krita to do the flat coloring. It allowed me to cut the coloring time to maybe 1/5 of what it used to take and reduce the coloring process from boring but not complicated task to something seamless. Although, it might not be an option that works well with all artstyle.