Threadless

reynart
reynart aka Kristina Reynolds is a 27.85 year old girl, has been a member since August 10, 2009, has scored 245 submissions, giving an average score of 3.33, helping 5 designs get printed.
Here's the shading tute, as promised. :) The work is done in Photoshop, and I use a tablet for all my digital coloring and shading, but you can probably get by with a mouse if you're careful!

1. Create a separate layer for the shaded area you're about to create.
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2. Go back to the layer with your flat-fills on it, and select the area(s) you want to shade with the magic wand.
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3. Returning to the shading layer you created, shade the selected area as you like, with a soft-edged brush, in black. (as with any shading, just pay attention to how your subject is shaped in "3D", and where your light source is coming from)
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4. Do Select / All, then Edit / Copy your shading to the clipboard.
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5. Open up a new document, and paste it there.
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6. Go to Image / Mode, and convert it to grayscale (flatten the image when it prompts you).
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7. Go again to Image / Mode, and convert it to Bitmap. A dialog box like this will appear, so choose "halftone screen..." as the method.
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8. This will lead you to another dialog box, like this. For Frequency, the lower the number, the bigger your "dots" will be, so mess around with this and adjust to your liking. I use round-shaped dots. When you're done, hit OK.
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9.You'll have to convert it back to Greyscale again, since Bitmap mode won't let you use the magic wand. After you've done that, pick your magic wand tool, uncheck the "anti-aliased" and "contiguous" boxes at the top of the screen, and click anywhere on the black to select your new piece of halftone shading. Edit / Copy it to the clipboard.
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10. Return to your image, and clear away the original black shading you put there (just hit Delete if it's still selected), and paste your new halftone shading into the same layer; drag and fit it into where it's meant to go.
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11. Click inside the shading with your magic wand tool to select it again, then pick the color you want it to be; take a big brush, and fill it in. Deselect, and voila!
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saylore
saylore on Aug 23 '09 at 5:03am
thanks man, this is awesome!

this helps me alot, I'm a newbie to threadless and was kinda stuck, not being able to use all kinds of shades of opacity i normally do.
reynart
reynart on Aug 24 '09 at 6:43am
No problem, glad to help! Yes, I found that too; coloring and shading do indeed get trickier with the limitations of screen-printable T-shirt designs. :)
59 days later
Hagnii
Hagnii on Oct 22 '09 at 10:47pm
This is great thanks!
soloyo
soloyo on Oct 22 '09 at 10:53pm
Do not, I repeat do not delete this blog!

Thanks for sharing your awesomenest
9 days later
-Steve-
-Steve- on Nov 01 '09 at 8:45pm
Excellent idea to post that tutorial, Thanks
elliemaybe
elliemaybe on Nov 03 '09 at 5:34am
This is awesome, thanks!!!
the golden spatula
the golden spatula on Nov 03 '09 at 5:39am
noway! socool!!!
6 days later
Michulla
Michulla on Nov 09 '09 at 11:44pm
thank you!! this is going to help me sooo much
3 days later
pheles22
pheles22 on Nov 13 '09 at 4:37pm
I agree, thanks so much for this. I have been trying to use the halftone pattern generator in PS, and basically just ended up really confused and wanting to put my head through a window.
21 days later
wave_s
wave_s on Dec 05 '09 at 2:51pm
This is great - I've been going crazy trying to think of an easy way to shade... Thanks!
24 days later
eponymon
eponymon on Dec 30 '09 at 12:43pm
Thank you bunches! This is really a rather mysterious method as you find very few explanations but your tutorial helped me a lot!
12 days later
Jaakie201
   Jaakie201 on Jan 12 '10 at 9:34am
There's a plugin that lets you,

think it's called 'phantasm studio' or something.



Not sure it how good it is.
20 days later
cscottdraw
cscottdraw on Feb 01 '10 at 2:04pm
awesome thanks!
368 days later
tjc45
tjc45 on Feb 04 '11 at 7:32pm
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!
24 days later
Buzatron
Buzatron on Mar 01 '11 at 10:06am
this way it ensures you didn't miss any spots;)
Buzatron
Buzatron on Mar 01 '11 at 10:10am
merge layers ;)

new ways to skin cats right?
Buzatron
Buzatron on Mar 01 '11 at 10:11am
aww screw it, my comments keep getting d'leted :(
Buzatron
Buzatron on Mar 01 '11 at 10:12am
very helpful tutorial! i have been doing halftone shading like this for a little while now and pretty much do it the same way, EXCEPT on your last step i create a new layer above the halftone and create a clipping mask with that layer. then i take my paint bucket and fill the layer with the color and then merge the clipped layer. this way it ensures you didn't miss any spots;) hope this posts NOW?
Buzatron
Buzatron on Mar 01 '11 at 10:13am
haha cool
moulin bleu
   moulin bleu on Mar 03 '11 at 1:35am
Nice! I just asked MrR to make a halftone tutorial but this one is quite dandy. Thanks!
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All about me

Kristina Reynolds was born and raised in Texas, and took lessons in animation and graphic design at the Art Institute of Dallas. She later fell for an aussie and moved to Western Australia, where she continues to do freelance design and illustration work.

If there's anything Kristina believes in whole-heartedly, it's that the world is ever in need of more cartoonish craziness. Expect Fleischer freakouts, Termite Terrace terrors, Harvey hilarity, and maybe something completely out of left field!