My finishing touches / techniques (Patreon)

Since I've done posts about lineart and coloring, I thought I should go ahead and make one that explains some of the techniques I use after I've finished drawing/coloring to finalize the look I'm going for! I'll come back and update this post if I think of any additional methods I'd like to add.

Noise filter

This one just adds a simple grainy texture that makes the image feel a little less sleek. Here are methods for both Photoshop and Clip Studio (unfortunately, I do prefer Photoshop's result here):

Photoshop

1) Merge your whole image so that you're left with one layer. This is temporary - please do not save over your original file on accident! Now, select and copy the entire canvas.

2) Undo the merge so that everything is back to its original state. Paste what you copied above every other layer.

3) With the pasted layer selected, click "Filter -> Noise -> Add Noise," and use whatever settings you like. The result will change depending on the size of your canvas, but my settings are Amount: 400%, Uniform, with Monochromatic turned off. Apply the filter, set the layer to overlay, then lower the opacity until you're happy with it! This is how it will look throughout these steps:

Clip Studio

1) This one is easy - just make a new layer, and then click "Filter -> Draw -> Perlin noise." Lower the "scale" slider, click Ok, set the layer to overlay, and then change the opacity until you like the way it looks!

Newsprint effect

This is something that took me a while to figure out! It isn't perfect, but it's fairly easy and gets the job done. I use Clip Studio here. (For instructions on how to lock layer opacity / color lines, I cover it in this post!)

1) Duplicate your lineart layer twice so that you have three of the same lineart layer. Hide the original - you don't need it to be visible, but it's good to keep it around in case you decide you need it later, because we're going to pretty much destroy the other two.

2) Now, if your lines are thin like mine, increase the width of the lines on both layers by going to "Filter -> Correct drawing line -> Correct line width." I usually make the top layer a little thicker than the layer below it. Change the top layer's opacity to around 50%. Now take the second layer and lock its opacity, then color the lines completely with a color that compliments your palette. Set this layer to around 30% and then shift it down and to the right until it's just barely peeking out from below the layer above it. Here's a visual of what the original lines look like, what the two edited layers look like, and then what they look like together.

3) And now time for the most exciting part - let's make it look old!!! This technique uses three different textures:

The main, most important texture is the halftone, which I made myself using this guide. I didn't go as far as the guide does, though - I just made a single Clip Studio asset that I can drag and drop instead of making a whole range of brushes. This texture goes below the lineart layers and is set to overlay at 60% opacity.

The second is the white speckled texture. This is from this texture pack, which I got in a big cheap bundle of texture packs on Black Friday. The original, shown here, is actually black speckles, but I used Clip Studio's "Convert brightness to opacity" function to automatically erase all of the white, then locked the layer, and then painted over the speckles with white. This layer sits above the lineart layers and is set to overlay at 30% opacity.

The third is a paper texture. This one is by the same creator as the speckled texture, but I can't remember exactly which pack. Either way, you can find some that will work just as well in the previous pack! It sits at the very top of the layers and is set to multiply at 85% opacity. Altogether, you'll end up with something like this:

4) Some things worth noting: The halftone overlay will darken your image, so keep that in mind when coloring! Also, the visibility of the lines and halftone texture will depend on how bright/dark your image is, so I highly recommend messing with the opacity numbers that I give you in this guide.