Cleaning Tutorials

[TheUnknownMercenary]

Cleaning #1 Basics Part #1 - Rotating

Cleaning #1 Basics Part #2 - Cropping

Cleaning #1 Basics Part #3 - Level + Organizing


Cleaning #2: Dusting & Removal of Text


Cleaning #3 - Finalization


Cleaning #4 - Actions


Cleaning #5 - Advanced Cleaning Techniques - Color Range


Cleaning #6 - Surface Blur


Cleaning #7 - Magic Wand + Ending



Stream where I do cleaning/redrawing sometimes and place videos: http://www.twitch.tv/theunknownmercenary

[TheUnknownMercenary]

Cleaning #1 Basics Part #1 - Rotating




The file I used is: http://www.mediafire.com/view/?qnvr913r5goj963



So in this section I will be focusing on the Pre-Cleaning aspect since this really can all be done fairly easily all at once. I will begin with a page from ch22 of Hammer Session

So let's first begin with WHAT pre-cleaning is. First, rotate the page to make sure it is pretty much straight. Secondly, we will crop all the black crap on the edges which is from scanning. And it is thirdly just a quick clean up. So let's begin on HOW to do this.

However, before I being, due to some image restrictions I will need to split this part of the tutorial into 3 Sections. So this is the first one, Rotation of the Image:

First open the actual page itself of course~


http://i49.tinypic.com/ka389h.jpg

Next we will take a ruler tool. You select this as a different tool from the eyedropper tool like so


http://i50.tinypic.com/29c0vvl.jpg


Okay, cool, now just click on either a side line, or a horizontal line. You must judge this based on what you think will look better. I usually do a large horizontal line unless it's tricky to do, which is the case on some pages. Now I have made it extend so that it's easy to see, but I usually put the ends on the ends of the page itself (using the page boundary itself as the reference. Check the first image for a comparison on where I put the ruler to better understand what I mean by this.


http://i50.tinypic.com/28vdagm.jpg


Now go to Image -> Image Rotation -> Arbitrary and hit accept. What this does is the program will automatically try to correct the image by adjusting the image itself in respect to the ruler. (...hmm to explain this simply it will basically place the ruler on the image and rotate the image to the CLOSEST horizontal or vertical 90 degree angle...in this case it will move it counter clockwise or clockwise to the closest VERTICLE position. And in this case it is Counter ClockWise (CCW) 0.07 degrees)


http://i47.tinypic.com/16h90d2.jpg
http://i50.tinypic.com/2qvv1u0.jpg



Hope you enjoyed this!


-TheUnknownMercenary

[TheUnknownMercenary]

Cleaning #1 Basics Part #2 - Cropping



So first select the cropping tool itself, in this picture it is already selected


http://i50.tinypic.com/mhar86.jpg

now, what your goal is here, is to remove ALL the black, and the edges that is not the actual page (it is okay to CUT into the art itself, just try to as little as possible). A good tip while doing this is depending on which way it was rotated, start at that corner, so if CCW rotation, start cropping at the left, and CW start at right. In this case it is CCW so I will begin on the left, and move to the bottom right, all you must do now is adjust the bottom left and top right such that the art is the ONLY thing left.


http://i45.tinypic.com/30naz5z.jpg

to this

http://i47.tinypic.com/11c5zqe.jpg


Okay, Finished ;D


Hope you enjoyed this!

-TheUnknownMercenary

[TheUnknownMercenary]

Cleaning #1 Basics Part #3 - Level + Organizing



Last on the list is Levelling. Now some may think this is part of cleaning, and sometimes it is, but this is something I do in around 1s so it doesn't really BOTHER me to do it as my pre-clean. In fact, by doing this as your pre-clean, some groups can even consider this to be DONE (...it's actually true). But before this, let us ORGANIZE our files a bit. These don't have any relevance whatsoever YET, but can be a big help to YOU and Quality Checkers when checking your work, so let me guide you into the organization of your layers ;D

First duplicate the background twice, and create a group (right click on Background layer, select Duplicate and repeat), then hit the folder button at the bottom right of the layers portion:

http://i45.tinypic.com/2ljp3ys.jpg

http://i48.tinypic.com/14n2zoi.jpg

Now just highlight them both (ctrl + left mouse button on both copies) and then left click one of them. KEEP HOLDING, and drag to the group. It should look like this now:

http://i46.tinypic.com/14imoa1.jpg

Once this is finished, I rename the top one "Master" and the bottom one "Comparison"

http://i45.tinypic.com/2vt8rpj.jpg

Now go to Layer-> New Adjustment Layer -> Levels and name it Master Level (or whatever, this is just how I organize my files ;D) and hit okay.

http://i50.tinypic.com/15g3602.jpg

It should be in your Group 1, but if not, select it, drag it into the group 1, and then drag it to the top right below Group 1 itself (so that it look like this):

http://i45.tinypic.com/2r5bvhu.jpg

And now you are all organized ;D isn't it pretty? Now let me explain a bit WHY you want it like this:

1) Because the background, other than rotation and cropping, should NEVER be touched. Some even think you should never touch it at all and save the rotation and cropping for a duplicate, but really who cares about that? This is what both copies are for.

2) Why two copies? Well sure enough I know those who only have 1 copy and that's fine, but let me explain why you would like to have 2 copies. The front copy is to be used during the actual cleaning of dust. Okay that's cool, but why two? Well because when you clean dust, you are using things like brush tool, burn and dodge tool, and when using these sometimes you can remove lines or things that are there that, otherwise, you would not notice is gone such as shading or speed lines. By having an extra copy in the group you can toggle off the view of the front copy and other than the fact the front copy is being dusted, there is no difference between the two. Because of this, you can easily see changes between the two, mainly changes in quality and disappearances (this is helpful to not ONLY you when cleaning but also to QC when they check your cleans).

3) And to tie this ALL together, the New Adjustment Layer that is a level which is in the group affects EVERYTHING in the group, both copies, and again, this allows for you to be able to easily see the difference in any changes between the 2 copies themselves because they both have levels on it. Now of course the level will still affect anything UNDER it even if it's not IN the group, but by toggling the view of the group OFF the level also turns off and the background remains fine, It's an easy way for QCers to check cleans (and i personally like this way)

*NOTE* There are those who think that making a level ON the layer by selecting Image-> Adjustment ->Levels is a much better option because the actual Layer diminishes the quality...well I can say this, there is NO DIFFERENCE, assuming both settings are exactly the same there is NO change in quality. If you don't believe me, try it yourself, I've test it myself. */NOTE*

So now that that is taken care of, let us move on.

Your final organization should look like this:

http://i45.tinypic.com/2r5bvhu.jpg

This is pretty much it. You can then play with the levels for a pre-clean touch. One of the main points is just move to the closest PEAK like so:

From this:

http://i49.tinypic.com/mk9aaw.jpg

To this:

http://i48.tinypic.com/bdpow3.jpg

And you are all finished the pre-cleaning ;D
here is the result ^___^

http://i50.tinypic.com/2eggv1k.jpg

I hope this was helpful. I shall begin making the next cleaning tutorial that involves Dodge and Burn tool.

Please note that this is the BASICS of cleaning. At the moment, it may look like a lot of work, but be SURE that after I finish with the Basics, I shall move onto some more advanced techniques of cleaning ;D

Also, I will NOT be touching on Topaz products in these tutorials until probably the end. I personally don't use it, excluding a select few series, and I will keep it that way as I prefer my own methods.

If you have any questions please ask of such.

Also, these things become much easier when you use Actions, which I will go into after I complete the basics (basically you can do pretty much all of part 3 in the pre-cleaned which just a click of a button).

Hope this helped everyone.

-TheUnknownMercenary

[TheUnknownMercenary]

Cleaning #2: Dusting & Removal of Text


Let's continue where I left off. Dusting...
This is the MEAT of cleaning, this is why people don't like cleaning. Is this hard? NOPE! It's actually insanely easy...to understand. It's just really really really repetitive...

So what IS dusting? It's the removal of dust that doesn't belong. If you are following these tutorials then if you zoom in on the parts you would THINK are white or on the parts you would think are BLACK you will see greys...whites where blacks should be, blacks where whites should be and again, greys all around. By colours I mean pixels. Now the main thing you must understand when doing this is you don't NEED to be perfect. You don't NEED to go 3200% zoomed in and get that 1 little almost black pixel black. Just zoom in the amount you would normally see the picture at, or even better zoom in to around 150-200% and stare at the picture...if you see spots that aren't white, correct them, on blacks if you see spots that aren't black and don't belong, correct them.

Well now you know what DUST is, but how do we correct dust? Easy, easier by brush tool (making the colour either pure black or pure white) and going across things, or in places where there is much detail we use the dodge/burn tool. These tools turn the pixels their respective colour (burn darkens ,dodge whitens). How much is dependent on settings. So let's start with the whites! Select the Dodge tool. And set the exposure to 10% and the Range to Highlights. Now this part is mainly all you, just go around correcting the greys where they should be white.

http://i45.tinypic.com/11bislt.jpg

http://i50.tinypic.com/1olsvk.jpg

*Note* Also make SURE your are highlighting the MASTER Layer */Note*

http://i48.tinypic.com/qn8d2t.jpg

Here is a pretty good example as to HOW dusty this is:

http://i45.tinypic.com/1omw03.jpg

As you can see, DUST DUST EVERYWHERE.

There are many ways around this of course other than the basic Dodge/Burn tool and the brush tool. But I won't get into those until the basics are done because, well there are different ways of cleaning and this tutorial is designed so that FIRST you get the basics down, and THEN you can learn different methods and use whichever suits you best.

So of COURSE I don't expect you to be godly at this moment, in fact cleaning this page with just the knowledge you have right now and only the tools I have taught so far would take you forever to get good results. But I would like you to still go around the page to the white areas, and use the dodge tool on it. I want you to get a FEEL of WHAT the dodge tool is and what it does.

After you have done that, Select the BURN tool

http://i49.tinypic.com/10wtxyd.jpg

Range: Shadows, exposure at 10%

http://i45.tinypic.com/2qwj42c.jpg

Now just go around the page to where blacks should be black and play around with the burn tool to get a feel for what it does and how you can use it

Now remember the picture of all that dust? well here is the exact same picture just suing dodge and burn tool, I just quickly went over it really fast so some parts are OVER dodged and OVER burned but at the moment I'm just showing you how to remove DUST~.

http://i50.tinypic.com/i77as3.jpg

as you can SEE huge difference, now I didn't go over the entire page, just that spot to show you the difference, and I'm zoomed to around 200%.

Now see after this is done (as in the burning/dodging of the page) Cleaning is pretty much complete other than removing TEXT from the page :1 but you should know this since this is the most widely known responsibility of the cleaner, to remove text ;D

So you can practice with this page if you want it's not too difficult, remember the purpose is not to spend like 20 minutes dodging the page, it's to get familiar with how to use the tools itself.

Now you may have noticed I said Over dodging/burning above. This occurs when you go over lines, patterns, and other areas that have both greys, blacks, and whites, and you go over them with either the dodge or burn tool or both. You see Dodge makes whites WHITER and burn makes blacks BLACKER...so if a line itself that's black is gone over with the burn tool it will get THICKER Since the dark greys that give it it's outline become blacker if not pure black. And same thing if you went over a black line with the dodge tool except it would make the greys whiter and therefore make the black line skinnier.

These affects are called Over Dodging/Burning. They should be kept to a minimum.

And this, ladies and gentlemen, is dusting. Annoying, but needs to be done.

As for getting rid of text, that's pretty easy, just take a brush, set it to whatever the background of the bubbles are, and eat the text away...it doesn't really even NEED mentioning on how to do this. Cleaned + removed text is in the attachment for a comparison, though it isn't PERFECT, it should allow you to get an understand on what it SHOULD look like.


I lost THIS finished image that I created so just practice it yourselves with no comparison at this moment...move onto the next one ;D


Hope you enjoyed this!

-TheUnknownMercenary

[TheUnknownMercenary]

Cleaning #3 - Finalization


Well I don't really even think this deserves a section but this is part of Cleaning so let's just do this quick ;D

Finalizing involves many parts DEPENDING on what you are doing but for basics it mainly just involves 2 parts...Resize and Saving.

Both of which are INCREDIBLY EASY!

So first is the resize, depending on the group and your own preference of things, resize can even be one of the FIRST things you do. This is mainly because working on a picture at high resolution when there is a lot of dust is a tricky thing to do. When you resize, all that dust starts to merge up and it then becomes 1) much easier to remove dust when leveling and 2) much easier to remove dust in GENERAL.

But in this case, we shall make it our last thing to do, so continuing off where we were, go to Image -> Image Size, and then set the height, depending on the group it will vary, but the usual is 1400 pixel Height, make sure Scale Styles, Constrain Proportions, and Resample Image are all on, and Bicubic is set...BASICALLY make it look like what I have. It will cause the image to look like how it originally looked, just at a height of 1400px (PiXels). The process of it is just simply a mathematic ratio which I won't get into because you just want to know how to do it not HOW it works ahaha ;D

http://i47.tinypic.com/35i6929.jpg

it should look something like this:

http://i50.tinypic.com/vghemd.jpg

Make it look like this:

http://i46.tinypic.com/2hzsmkn.jpg

You should really only need to change the HEIGHT settings and the rest should just adjust itself.

Now save, Go to File -> Save As -> ...make sure it's in PSD format, keep the file name the same...or if, like me, you save as you go it should already BE in .psd format, in which case just go to File -> Save

http://i48.tinypic.com/x4rgut.jpg

http://i47.tinypic.com/34yw5ci.jpg


And the Finalization is done and it is ready to be handed off to the Typesetter, assuming no redraws are needed ;D


Redraws won't be covered here mainly because...well they take too long to explain so I might do a tutorial for them SEPERATE To this (I already thought of this, hence why this is a CLEANING tutorial)

Hope this all helps!

In my next sections I will cover more ADVANCED techniques of cleaning, along with covering Actions (Which will be EXACTLY what I cover next because ACTIONS ARE SOOO GOOD!!!!)

-TheUnknownMercenary

[TheUnknownMercenary]

Cleaning #4 - Actions



Okay, my favourite part, Actions. This savior of a system is what makes my life worth while...oh...wait no that's my girlfriend...SORRY, this is what makes my life easier AHAHA.

Actions is just simply what Photoshop calls RECORDING OF WHAT YOU DO!

Let me elaborate for you. You remember how in Cleaning Tutorial #2 Part 3, there was a bunch of organizing that looked like a massive amount of work for 1 damn page? Yes, well it IS a lot of work to be doing each page, but actions turn this, into something EASY.

Let me show you how: first select Window -> Actions . make SURE that this is uncheck marked (cause if it is you can just skip this step entirely), click it to "check mark" it:

http://i45.tinypic.com/30vomd2.jpg

Okay, nice a box or SOMETHING should have popped up. Don't mind my stuff, yours should only have Default Actions. You see of course the blue arrow thing that is pointing down right beside Default Actions? Yes, click that.

http://i46.tinypic.com/4l2j9.jpg

http://i48.tinypic.com/2heev7d.jpg

Now that it is closed and won't bother you with it's pointless stuff, and we can do our own fun stuff ;D

Okay, click the "Create new set" option, it basically looks like a folder, at the bottom of the actions window:

http://i49.tinypic.com/nfmoh0.jpg

Name it whatever you want, I personally have a few from groups, plus some that I have made customized for specific series I work on (hence why you see 3), and a few for just general use but for this purpose I'll make a new one ;D

http://i46.tinypic.com/16kccip.jpg

So now we have this, well what do we DO with this? You remember how to CREATE new set right? Well, RIGHT beside it is create new action...be careful, the MOMENT you click this and name it, followed by hitting RECORD (don't worry about function key, and color for now), it will start to record EVERYTHING YOU DO INSIDE PHOTOSHOP...Why is this good? well, do this, and follow the EXACT steps I have already placed in Cleaning Tutorial #2 Part 3 - Leveling & Organizing.

http://i50.tinypic.com/ntbb6.jpg

http://i46.tinypic.com/2cp8hux.jpg

If you follow that part exactly, you should get everything I already said you would get.

http://i47.tinypic.com/v8a4j.jpg

Well what's different you may ask? The fact that the Photoshop Action has recorded EVERYTHING...now hit the Stop button (square):

http://i46.tinypic.com/qxp2m0.jpg

Now you have an action, Open up a new raw, or even close Photoshop and open up the same raw I provided (assuming you saved beforehand what you have done right after the cropping, or else you will need to re-rotate it and re-crop it again. Just make sure the actual page is named Background (because most are named this and the action is very specific).

Now go to the action (make sure it's selected) and hit PLAY:

http://i47.tinypic.com/8yhoaa.jpg

And you can probably witness for yourself EVERYTHING being done by itself to a T...

Actions are a lifesaver, they can be done to a point where in certain areas it will even change tools for you, level for you, filter for you, it will do everything for you, assuming that what you are actioning is something so general it will work on ALL pages, so be careful HOW far you take the actions. It will even record when you select certain layers and what those layers NAMES are and even what to NAME specific layers (so as I said make sure whatever actioned will apply to everything you do for the most part).

With this you are one step closer to knowing how to clean and make it easy on yourself.

In the next sections I will go through some more advanced techniques on how to clean, mainly these sections have to do with dusting.

Hope this helps!

-TheUnknownMercenary

[TheUnknownMercenary]

Cleaning #5 - Advanced Cleaning Techniques - Color Range


If you don't want read this, I also have a video that covers Magic Wand + Color Range: http://www.twitch.tv/theunknownmercenary/b/326276318

The action I used: http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?o6164yeo1e70esw

The final Picture I used in the written tutorial: http://www.mediafire.com/view/?h2nvw2errfm7r60

This is the same action and video that was used in my Magic Wand Tutorial so no need to DL or watch if you already did from there.

Credit to ncrdrg for this little lesson from him. He was the one who showed me how to utilize this tool for cleaning~

Color Range...This is a form of getting rid of dust. This way is not as forgiving and the other Technique I will show in my next Tutorial, but in exchange for that, it gets rid of far more dust.

So first let's take our raw, and use the script we used last section. Now let's level it to the peaks like last time. As you well know, there is a bunch of dust. Well this is where Color Range comes in, it's a type of Selection tool that can be used to select pixels (aka in this case, GREYS) and with this we shall create another New Adjustment Layer Level that will only TARGET these selections, and once OVER leveled (going past the peaks) will remove this dust.

I must first explain, I guess, what over leveling is. Remember how I said move the points of the level to the first PEAKS on either side correct? Well going further will over level it, but a bit at first, but go too far and it will make the page terrible. But this is because it's affecting it ENTIRELY. If we were to SELECT OUT the specific pixels we want to be black or white, then overlevelling wouldn't be as much of a concern now would it? Right~.

Well let me show you how it works then, first, as I said, use the action and level to the first peaks on both sides:

http://i47.tinypic.com/2a0fbyt.jpg

Next, go to Select -> Color Range (make sure the "MASTER" LAYER since the selection affects whatever layer is currently selected) :

http://i47.tinypic.com/ds29d.jpg

Now a box will pop up, Fuzziness is BASICALLY how much...range that selected pixel has (you are basically selecting a specific color pixel and the fuzziness is the +- range of the pixel...hard to explain at the moment just try it out) put the fuzziness to 40 and then select a pixel (white or black depending which type of "dusting" you are going to do first), I will first go for WHITES, you will see (if it is on Selection) that the picture itself will change, now go to the eyedropper tool + and this will then add to the selection whichever pixels you choose next (great for getting rid of a bunch of dust).

http://i49.tinypic.com/dnmrrr.jpg

As you start selecting more and more dust you will see the...picture expand sort of, this is giving you a detail of how much of the picture you are selecting. Once you are content with how much you have, hit okay and you should see a lot of selected stuff:

http://i49.tinypic.com/24dh1xk.jpg

http://i48.tinypic.com/29538dt.jpg

Now that this has happened, make an New Adjustment Level Layer. Go to Layer -> New Adjustment Layer -> Levels , it doesn't matter what it's named because you will merge it with the master layer in a second anyways.

http://i48.tinypic.com/2q8se3a.jpg

Now, move the level to the peak of the closest side (aka if you where aiming for whites, then move the white arrow to the closest peak, since you don't want to get rid of ALL of it, remember, it didn't target DUST just the pixels itself and similar ones and it selected them EVERYWHERE on the image). Now once the level layer is there it should be below the master level, if it isn't just move it below it, now select both the levels 1 (the new level you created just now) and the master layer, right click, and merge the layers (not visible, just these two layers):

http://i45.tinypic.com/d8j7k.jpg

http://i50.tinypic.com/1gruv6.jpg

Now this is great, as you can see most of the dust is gone...but let me reiterate WHY this option is very...how shall I say, DANGEROUS to use. Take a look at this portion of the face with shading. If you toggle on and off view of that Levels 1 Layer (it merged with the master layer and sadly now has the name Levels 1...so probably rename it Master ;D) you will see a HUGE difference...

take a look at the above image in comparison to this image:

http://i50.tinypic.com/2q0r3tl.jpg

As you can see, the shadow is pretty much ruined...How do we fix? WELL this is what we have the comparison layer for. If we take the ERASER tool, highlight and toggle back on view the Levels 1 layer (now renamed MASTER) and start erasing the areas that god cut out, we now have a combination of a dusted layer that has no shadows, or such removed. See~ I told you these 2 layers would be awesome! SEE:

http://i50.tinypic.com/rsx9gl.jpg

Of course I have reached my image max for this Post...So I will only Attach a completed version of JUST using color ranging, no touch ups other than erasing spots and color range, purely for comparison (since I haven't posted an example of doing blacks yet, you can try it for yourself, it's the EXACT same except the picture will look inverted in the selection, and when you level the selection itself you use the black arrow to the middle of its peak).

Remember that when leveling these there is no DEFINITE way of placing these levels, it's just pretty much eyeballing it, but in most cases it will affect lines and patterns so using this method will almost always lead to you erasing SOME area. but the touch ups on the left over dust will be extremely minimal. Remember to, again, combine the black leveled selection to the Master layer and rename it Master again.



Next Tutorial has been changed to focus on Filters, mainly blur and specifically the surface blur, as used in conjunction with the Technique I was planning for the next Tutorial, it's affects are amplified. So stay tuned ;D



Hope this helps!


-TheUnknownMercenary

[TheUnknownMercenary]

Cleaning #6 - Surface Blur



If you don't want to read this, I have a video I made: http://www.twitch.tv/theunknownmercenary/b/326279675

The action I used is here: http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?t84ou58r7vdx4st

This Technique I learned from a fellow cleaner kundumstaff ;D and I applied to to an already known technique that I will discuss in the next chapter. By itself this one is already bad ass, but when applied in conjunction with the next one it turns from bad ass to ORGASMIC.

So this tutorial is pretty quick...

Basically this is really simple, the Master layer...you will place a filter blur on it, really simple, Filter -> Blur -> Surface blue

http://i50.tinypic.com/312v98p.jpg

You can probably TRY to use other blurs, or other filtering, I don't because this is pretty useful already and I really don't NEED to experiment just yet on other types of blur. As for the settings of the blur this will depend on the raws themselves, in this SPECIFIC case let's use a blur of 12 for radius, and a 10 for threshold. Of course on your own time you can play around with what look best, what you mainly want is for the graininess of the greys to go away, BUT BE CAREFULY since this affects everything. You can't a good solid balance between how much dust you can get rid of with as little quality going down as possible. Remember to have preview selected and be ZOOMED IN since it will REAL TIME change the blur depending on your settings. It's the best way to see what exactly you are changing and how it is changed depending on the settings.

http://i48.tinypic.com/1o6kaw.jpg

After this, it's just a matter of some fine tuning on leveling, and if none of that, some dodging and burning of whatever is left over (you can even SEE a speck of dust still left over ;D)

But this is essentially what a surface blur does, this can even be applied IN ACTION and to it BEFORE levels, and no releveling will be required. REMEMBER be CAREFUL as the quality will go down, a fine balance is needed. Even at 12/10 for me the quality went down too much for this page, but it's a great example as to what affect it can have in both good and bad terms.

When used in conjunction with the next tutorial Magic Wand, if is pretty sick ;D So stay tuned~

-TheUnknownMercenary

[TheUnknownMercenary]

Cleaning #7 - Magic Wand + Ending


If you don't want read this, I also have a video that covers Magic Wand + Color Range: http://www.twitch.tv/theunknownmercenary/b/326276318

The action I used: http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?o6164yeo1e70esw

This is the same action and video that was used in my Color Range Tutorial so no need to DL or watch if you already did from there.


Okay, I shall continue where I left off. So with or without the surface blur you can use this technique, the surface blur just makes it FAR easier.

So this technique is from good ol' DWolfy and is pretty much like color range but FAR more forgiving in exchange for leaving more dust lying around. First select the Magic Wand tool

http://i49.tinypic.com/opwntd.jpg

Next set the tolerance to something...basically what tolerance is, is how close the pixel you selected to another one beside it and it will include it in the selection (basically the same as fuzziness for color range). Usually it can work anywhere from 15-25, in most cases, 15-20 works fine (I set it to around 10 just for this case. Don't mind the 17, that's what I had it before I set it to 10. Also make SURE Anti-Alias, Contiguous (IMPORTANT), and Sample All Layers are ALL UNCHECKED!

http://i49.tinypic.com/sytm5j.jpg

Once that's all done, use the magic wand and select dust that should be white (or black, you can choose which you go after first, I'll first go after white since I'm already doing it on the example ahaha...


http://i50.tinypic.com/15wc9xc.jpg

As you can see it selects white, and anything within 10% of its color shade. I personally think 10% is too much on this page with Hammer Session BUT WHATEVER, the point is you understand what this tool does...anyways, LOOK SO EASY~ Now just make a New Adjustment Layer Level, and put the white arrow to the peak (or wherever) and merge it with the master layer. REMEMBER that during the selection, Master layer must be selected:


http://i49.tinypic.com/25pmskl.jpg

And that's basically it, now obviously you can see the same effect color ranging had but less of a total effect overall (some patterns where still affected though, but not nearly as much).

This is because since blur was added there was little need for any more tinkering, now of course these settings are all general you can't use every setting for every manga, and this is the reason why, without using surface blur you would get the same affect, but it's not as drastic as color ranging was. Whether you use either is up to you. Sometimes I prefer color ranging like I do in Yongbi when using blacks, other times I use magic want like I do in Rappi Rangai. And other times like in Itsuka Tenma no Kuro Usagi, I just use Surface blur.

To fix this problem, again, eraser tool ;D that's what the comparison is for. In addition the most important thing isn't specifics on HOW to do something, just that you KNOW how to use the tools. A proper cleaning knows how to do it from experience, It just takes practice!

It will depend on 1) the series itself, as in the style of drawings, how heavy it is in terms of quality, shading, and quantity of colors, 2) the source of raws be it volume raws or magazine scans (aka quality of raws).

This is all up to your personal discretion OR up to the cleaner who you are working with, or even the Quality Checker who is checking your work. It will all depend on the situation. Depending on the group you are working with, you might not even need any of this.

As I mentioned before, topaz is not covered, and that's because for more groups it's pretty much in an action you are given, YOUR job is to be able to do the BASICS properly, and be able to DUST properly. Some groups do not PERMIT topaz and in such cases, these techniques will be useful. And similarly while some groups don't permit topaz, others do not permit topaz OR Surface blur (filters), which leaves other methods being needed such as Color Range and Magic Wand.

I have finished my first portion of this Tutorial, giving you the basics in addition to some more advanced and various forms of techniques to use. I hope this tutorial has been of help, and I appreciate any and all feedback. If those who follow this tutorial wish for a pack to practice on I would be happy to not only provide raws, but also provide finished products.

I shall end this with a few additional words. First off, don't be a perfectionist it will only kill your will to be a cleaner, but don't half ass this either. Do it RIGHT the FIRST time around. A good hint to know you have cleaned it relatively well is zoom in 200%, and look around the image...if YOU can spot dust, more than likely you still have some work to do, if not, it should be fine enough (this will depend on the Quality Checker in the group and your ability to spot dust of course).

As for amount of time to spend, depending on the series, anywhere from 2-25 minutes can be spent cleaning 1 page. Of course this depends on the difficulty of the clean, and how you cleaned it. For example one series takes me 2 minutes per page in cleaning, while another series can take me 25 minutes minimum per page. Depending on how much quality i'm trying to save in the series, and how easy the cleans are and how easy the raws are.

These are just General Guidelines of course. You will learn in time of course, whether you have cleaned it properly. Also remember to constantly look at the comparison sheet to make sure you didn't make random mistakes here and there.

Overall I hope this was of great help to those who want to clean, and even those who already know how to clean. I myself am still learning, and am not close to knowing every way, shape and form of cleaning methods and techniques but...I get by ;D and I hope this knowledge has given you insight as well into cleaning itself.

Hope you enjoyed these Tutorials!

-TheUnknownMercenary

P.S. I have encorporated 3 pages that you can try and clean, and have included the 3 cleans I myself did.

Here: http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?9z7jagpgp5m7njh

The first is from Yongbi using a combination of Magic Wand on whites and Color Range on Blacks + basic cleaning, i already rotated and cropped it for you because I'm such a nice guy. The other two on the other hand aren't ;P so have fun

Second is Rappi Rangai using only Magic Wand Tool method + basic cleaning

Third is Itsuka Tenma no Kuro Usagi using a Surface blur + regular cleaning methods

Here is the finished versions: http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?y1y6z3t0zmm840h

If any other additional raws for practice are needed, just ask ^___^