Grayscale vs Colour

Faub · Post by **Faub** » Thu Aug 18, 2005 1:53 pm

Same here.

Online, you can use anything you want, but print is a LOT more restrictive. I have a minicomic I just finished (the Iohan & Jessica storyline that's running right now) that I saved once in grayscale and once in 2-color B&W using GIMP's newsprint filter to handle the grayscale. At 600 DPI, the comic looks pretty good with the newsprint tones. My printer is perfectly capable of handling something like that and I can take it to a photocopier and get really cheap copies made that are essentially identical to the original. With grayscale comics, you need a good quality copier to handle the grayscale or you get weird effects. Printing color is exceptionally expensive. $0.85 per print at Kinkos. $0.12 per page at lulu.com. Compare that to a $0.03 per print copier and you wonder whether color is really that important.

Lintjinks · Post by **Lintjinks** » Thu Aug 18, 2005 3:14 pm

In my pack of "favorite" webcomics, there are both color and greyscale. Both are nice.

I started out doing my comic in greyscale, then moved to color after about 60 pages.

In greyscale you can do more "fudging", as in, "I'm too lazy to put anything here, so I'll put a blob of grey-ish stuff."

I really miss that.

HOWEVER, it's also harder because you have to try to provide the proper contrast to keep it visually stimulating.

With color you can provide interest just from the colors you use and how they relate to the colors around them. And honestly, it just brings it to life. I can't imagine my characters in black and white anymore.

Bwerith · Post by **Bwerith** » Fri Aug 19, 2005 10:12 am

This thread actually inspired me to start using colour in my comic....

Dutch! · Post by **Dutch!** » Fri Aug 19, 2005 5:31 pm

In all honesty, it's not all that much more trouble to go coloured, provided you have a pretty simple sort of style to begin with. Maybe takes me ten minutes more, tops over the whole process.

MixedMyth · Post by **MixedMyth** » Fri Aug 19, 2005 5:35 pm

Hmm. It was a big difference for me. First of all, in the image size (although MM's images are already huge), but also in time. Coloring for me takes a heckova lot longer. With greyscale, all you need to worry about is value. With color, you also need to worry about hues and color coordination and everything else. Once I did color comics, it took me ages longer.

Black Sparrow · Post by **Black Sparrow** » Fri Aug 19, 2005 5:38 pm

MixedMyth wrote:Hmm. It was a big difference for me. First of all, in the image size (although MM's images are already huge), but also in time. Coloring for me takes a heckova lot longer. With greyscale, all you need to worry about is value. With color, you also need to worry about hues and color coordination and everything else. Once I did color comics, it took me ages longer.

Ditto. I've ended up coloring some chapter title pages, but I prefer to keep everything else grayscale, if only to stay consistant with the beginning of the comic.

Sam_Charette · Post by **Sam_Charette** » Sat Aug 20, 2005 4:47 am

MixedMyth wrote:Hmm. It was a big difference for me. First of all, in the image size (although MM's images are already huge), but also in time. Coloring for me takes a heckova lot longer. With greyscale, all you need to worry about is value. With color, you also need to worry about hues and color coordination and everything else. Once I did color comics, it took me ages longer.

Yeah, but once you develop a standard pallette for your comic it's not that big an issue. Mer and I put together a pallette when we first started, because I suck at picking colours (it's true!), so I'd make sure to use what she does. Sam's skin, hair, Mer's skin, hair, Zak's skin, hair, and about 5 tops and bottoms for each. Using this, we have standard colours, and I don't have to worry about "picking" any

When I DO have to pick some, either because I have a new character or background, then what I do is a google search for something similar, and pick the colours right from that. Once I got a picture of a blonde model for a blonde character, and I scooped her clothes, skin and hair colour from the real model.

No picking necessary

Andrew Hickey · Post by **Andrew Hickey** » Sat Aug 20, 2005 1:59 pm

faub wrote:Same here.

Online, you can use anything you want, but print is a LOT more restrictive. I have a minicomic I just finished (the Iohan & Jessica storyline that's running right now) that I saved once in grayscale and once in 2-color B&W using GIMP's newsprint filter to handle the grayscale. At 600 DPI, the comic looks pretty good with the newsprint tones.

What settings are you using on the newsprint filter, BTW? I've been experimenting with it on my stuff, and it's not looking great...

Dutch! · Post by **Dutch!** » Sat Aug 20, 2005 2:34 pm

I did say colouring doesn't take too much longer...

Dutch! wrote:...provided you have a pretty simple sort of style to begin with.

Obviously in your case colouring does take a bit more time. Sam's right in my case too. You stick with a standard colour palette and it makes it so much easier. I only use the standard Photoshop colours for colouring and basically keep the same opacity for darker shades for everything. I do use keyboard shortcuts as often as possible instead of the mouse though, so that might make me a bit quicker than others...