Manga Studio® for Dummies®

Chapter 10. Inking Your Work

In This Chapter

• Discovering the benefits of inking your work

• Scanning in your line art

• Creating a new layer for your line art

• Using the Pen and Marker tools

• Filling large areas with the Fill tool

• Using the Join Line tool

• Adding effects with the Airbrush and Pattern Brush tools

I have to admit something: When it comes to inking my work traditionally, I've never felt comfortable doing it. The thing I always like about penciling is the ability to erase and refine my lines as I go along. Not so with inking — I can get one or two do-overs before the correction fluid becomes too thick.

What I like about working digitally with a program such as Manga Studio is the ability to erase and rework my inks as much as I need to. Now, I don't have to stress over getting the inks correct the first (or second) time. If something doesn't look right, I can just remove the offending area, rework it on the pencil layer if need be, and re-ink, without the need to throw out the whole paper and start over. A pleasant side-effect is that my confidence in inking has increased, and I feel more comfortable inking traditionally. So, if you've never inked digitally (or never felt comfortable inking at all), try the tools I discuss in this chapter. You may be surprised at what you can accomplish.

In this chapter, I briefly recap how to scan in your line art, if you're planning on using the Pen tools primarily to touch up what you create with traditional tools. (For more detail on the process, ...