Really, really basic Manga Studio help needed.

[JAMESCOR]

Sorry guys this is probably really basic and staring me in the face but how can I use files I already have on my Mac in Manga studio, I have JPEG'S of pencils but MS will not let me select them what is the best way if any to convert them. I'm working from Debut4 if that makes any difference I can scan files okay but older files cannot be clicked on. I figured one of the mighty tech heads could show me the way, pretty please!

[Jim_Campbell]

Sorry guys this is probably really basic and staring me in the face but how can I use files I already have on my Mac in Manga studio, I have JPEG'S of pencils but MS will not let me select them what is the best way if any to convert them. I'm working from Debut4 if that makes any difference I can scan files okay but older files cannot be clicked on. I figured one of the mighty tech heads could show me the way, pretty please!

You need to import them into an existing document. File-> Import -> Image File. You can do all the scaling and positioning while the "Properties" dialogue is open, then click OK to confirm.

If you import a grayscale or B&W image (pencils) but specify that the layer the image is on as a colour layer, you can use the "Alternative Color For Black" to tint your pencils and give a blue (or whatever colour you prefer) line on your pencils.

Double-click the little layer icon:



And then change the layer properties to colour:



... And your pencils will be tinted with the colour shown on the swatch.

Cheers!

Jim

[JAMESCOR]

Thanks Big Man!  I really am a wee bit retarded when it comes to this stuff

[Jim_Campbell]

Thanks Big Man!  I really am a wee bit retarded when it comes to this stuff

No worries. It's not stupid -- Manga Studio looks superficially enough like Photoshop to make you expect that it will behave like Photoshop, when, in a lot of significant ways, it really [/i]doesn't.[/i]

Cheers!

Jim

[JAMESCOR]

Just tried it tells me plug in is not present, should I try re installing

[Jim_Campbell]

Just tried it tells me plug in is not present, should I try re installing

Might be some odd setting in the original JPEG file before you go that far… I was sent a JPEG recently that was "lossless" and which defeated every graphics app I own when trying to open it. Try opening the JPEG in Photoshop (or image editor of choice) and re-saving as a TIFF with LZW -- which should be your default file format for graphics anyway, because it's genuinely lossless. You should really only convert to a JPEG right at the end if you're intending to stick the image up the interwebs.

Manga Studio may also choke on CMYK files, so that might be the problem…

Cheers!

Jim

[JAMESCOR]

Re In stalled and that seems to have done the trick, thanks again Jim you can stand down....till next time!

[Mardroid]

Hmm. I had similar problems with an imported file. (Pencils I scanned in.) I couldn't move them on the same page. (I did manage to change the pencils to blue-line pretty much straight away though!)

In the end I tried copying the pencils onto another layer. That worked. (Although it still messes about from time to time. Weirdly using the pencil in the sketch section of the  Beginners palette/thing seems to cause problems including sometimes not allowing the eraser tool to work. Using the pencils from the ordinary palette works though!

This is the trial version of the package so I'm thinking maybe this is a bug issue sorted with a later fix/release.

Even working correctly the cut and paste isn't very intuitive though. Once you get used to transform and change it's not too bad though.

[Jim_Campbell]

Hit K and you should activate the Move Layer tool, CMD (or CTRL, presumably) should activate the transformation controls.

Cheers

Jim

[Mardroid]

Thanks Jim.

[Jim_Campbell]

Thanks Jim.

Sorry, that should have read CMD/CTRL-T should activate the transformation controls.

Cheers!

Jim

[Jim_Campbell]

I've replied to this here, since it seems more appropriate than the 'Secret Project' thread where it first appeared:

Mardroid. For future ref, you can choose two colours per layer in Manga studio (I'm using debut 4..). The layers need to be colour layers, though.

This isn't right. You're creating grayscale layers, then changing the display properties to colour, then choosing the "Alternative Color for Black" option to tint the grayscale layer.

You need to create a colour layer in the options when you first select "New Layer":



Once you've done that, you can work on the colour layer in as many colours as you like, although I should note again that MS lacks a CMYK mode. You get a very limited colour picker in Debut (it's more useful, and includes swatches and the ability to save your own colours in EX), which you access from Window -> Color



Cheers!

Jim

[Darren Stephens]

Oooops.  Thanks for clearing that up Jim. Thats what you get for posting bleary eyed before work.