Little tip on colouring line drawings

[ZEBtoonz]

Great video and idea, Bob! Thanks for sharing it! I'm all for automation and finding ways to speed things up and be more efficient.

So I tried this method on one of my drawings with lots of detail, effect lines, etc. It worked fine but there were gaps I missed and unnecessary lines I should have deleted but forgot, etc. Then I had to find the shapes to delete that were formed by intersecting lines that were supposed to be blank and so on and so forth. So, even though I'm new to this method and a bit of "an old dog" when it comes to new tricks, I just found it more time consuming than my usual procedure. I probably should give it more time but it felt a bit like a Wallace & Gromit approach to achieving what I wanted.

What I do is make a layer named Color and place it under my drawing. Then I use the Freehand Tool to create each shape or I use the Pen Tool to click around the shape and then push and pull the shape to fit. And that's about it.

Like I said, I could give it more time so that I am more accustomed to the method and then take a drawing and time how long it takes to color. Then, use my current method and time that, and compare the two.

Another thought I had, though I haven't tried it out yet, is to create my drawing in Xara, export to a format recognized by Inkscape that has a fill tool I believe, do the fills there and then export just the color back into Xara. But it may just be more work than it's worth. I have also tried exporting my linework from Xara as a TIFF and putting it in Photoshop for coloring. But, I still prefer doing the whole thing in Xara as it is all vector and always editable and easy to change and control.

So there are many ways to get from A-Z. Whatever works for you is what's best. By the way, how do you make your video clips? I'd like to try some, then you can comment on mine

[Bob Hahn]

What I do is make a layer named Color and place it under my drawing. Then I use the Freehand Tool to create each shape or I use the Pen Tool to click around the shape and then push and pull the shape to fit. And that's about it.

That technique was the exact same way I did it myself. Creating each shape with the shape editor tool and shaping it to fit.

I like drawing and adding colour to a drawing, but having this step of creating shapes just too add colour, I can do with out. It's not drawing and it's not colouring. There has to be a quicker way. Maybe Xara's programming masters can come up with even a better way of filling shapes in future editions of Xtreme.

I tried Indscape's fill tool, but it didn't give results I liked.

I'm on a Mac, and recently updated my OS to "Snow Leopard." The QuickTime update in Snow Leopard now has screen recording capabilities. So that's what I've been using for my latest videos.

I have VirtualBox on my iMac running Windows XP, which runs Xara Xtreme. Maybe I'll make a clip showing that too!

[ZEBtoonz]

Thanks for the reply, Bob! I am always very interested in how people work and the ideas they come up with. I agree, that "there has to be a quicker way." Also, thanks for the explanation on how you do your videos. I have Camtasia Studio so I could try that.

In any case, since our work is so similar, I usually drop by your YouTube channel, website, blog, here on the forum, etc., to see what you're up to and any and all tips I can glean from you. I'd share more myself if I wasn't so darn busy with work! Guess that's a good sign, huh?

[mg.architect]

Only if it's "paying" work :-)

[handrawn]

I tried Indscape's fill tool, but it didn't give results I liked.

it can be rough and ready - the settings are crucial, and so is the view-zoom [not always appreciated]

in inkscape you can close the gaps with the calligraphy tool which draws filled shape, so one less stage [if you are doing the linework there in the first place that is ]

[Burpee]

Dogberth, I tried your suggestion but I get a blue box with my U cutout if the box is ontop and a black box with the U cutout if the box is behind my black U.

[dogbertbh]

Here's a Xara file with the step-by-step, Nancy.

I don't know if this would work with Bob's example.

But I figured I'd bring it up and see why not.