Removing Lines From Notebook Drawings

Stratadrake · Posted: Fri May 14, 2004 1:07 am Post subject:

2am my time... bored... Anyway:

Most of us know that it's fairly easy to remove the dreaded lines from pencil drawings on standard notebook paper.

Then there's the few who say they don't know how to do this, that they don't have any better paper to use, and they complain why their notebook-drawn images get rejected by FAC staff.

There is no excuse.

Therefore, to provide an easy reference for those complainers, here's a quickie tutorial I worked up on how to remove the lines of notebook paper from a black & white sketch. What do you guys think?

(PS: For the record, my 1999 dragon sketch (as shown below) really was done on notebook paper, and was filtered using the same process as below)
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Silver_Charm · Member Joined: 19 Feb 2004 Posts: 54

[b]Thank you so much!![/b]

Truly awesome tutorial. You must have a lot of patience to do a tut like that!

n8comics · Has No Life Joined: 05 May 2004 Posts: 582

Good job ^_^ Really easy to read Very Happy

You see, what I always did was use the stupid little eraser to erase all the marks ^_^

Kikyana · Very bored Joined: 24 Apr 2004 Posts: 134

*gasp* thank you! Now i know!

Stratadrake · Posted: Sat May 15, 2004 9:31 am Post subject:

Keep in mind, this method works on the assumption that your drawing is black & white and the paper's lines are [i]not[/i]. If for some reason the paper you drew on actually [i]has[/i] black lines, this trick won't work.

Also, how well this method works depends directly upon how well the color of the lines centers upon the blue channel. For best results, adjust the brightness/contrast of the image so that the paper is white and the images have a blue value of about 250.

For example, in this sketch the blue lines won't filter out completely using this method because the lines are slightly dark blue.
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FallenAngelOfHell · Newb Joined: 02 May 2004 Posts: 5

[FONT=Impact][COLOR=gray]Extreamly professional way of a quick tutorial since you had to go through all of the image proccessing but that doesn't matter what does it that it was a great tutorial. It deserves a thumbs up. Sorry... I'm a little abnormal today... WTF?

jhonenfreak · Posted: Wed May 19, 2004 5:50 pm Post subject:

Now if we could just get all those notebook drawers into the forums.

Usually I just erase around the lines. I never thought of that before! You are truly amazing.
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Stratadrake · Posted: Wed May 19, 2004 6:09 pm Post subject:

I came up with this method as the result of experimenting on the said drawing after scanning it in. For best results with this method, adjust the exposure levels of the drawing so that the paper background is as close to white as possible.

There are other methods. For example, if the drawing is much darker than the lines in the paper, (also like this sketch), then you can simply increase the higlight/brightness value of the image until the lines wash out. Of course this will also wash out any faint details or light shading, so it works best on dark line drawings.
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Myst · Very bored Joined: 19 Mar 2004 Posts: 176

[quote="n8comics (Nate)"] Good job ^_^ Really easy to read Very Happy

You see, what I always did was use the stupid little eraser to erase all the marks ^_^ [/quote]
I did the same thing too Laughing

Thanks for the tip, stratadrake

maridah · Member Joined: 08 May 2004 Posts: 46

Very nice tutorial! I never draw on lined paper, but if I did...
I really do wish that that all of the people who post lined paper work would read this. Only problem is...most of them don't have or know how to use a photo editing program. If they were PS litterate, they might make the effort, but most are like 'Photoshop??' Pictures that take time are a foreign concept to them.
Maybe this tutorial will convert a few to the right path... Smile

trueyamigirlfriend · Newb Joined: 27 Apr 2004 Posts: 4

OKAY... How exactly is one supposed to "reduce the red and green image channels to zero"!?!?!?!? And I mean EXACTLY. Believe it or not, there're some people out there who don't know how to use photoshop!!!

Stratadrake · Posted: Wed Nov 10, 2004 3:38 pm Post subject:

Sorry, you need to already know a little bit about how to operate the image-editing programs on your computer, because [b]the exact commands depend entirely upon which program you're using[/b].

For example, this is the program I have at my disposal, and the relevant command is under the "Image" menu, called "Tone Adjustment (F5)". None of you have really heard of it, have you? That's why I can't give any specific "how-to" instructions, because the commands I use don't go by the same names as they do on your computer and programs.

Anyone with program-specific experience (i.e. Photoshop, Paint Shop Pro) can tell you what commands work for those programs.
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trueyamigirlfriend · Newb Joined: 27 Apr 2004 Posts: 4

All right...but I still can't find how to do it in Photoshop. *sigh* Did you get the iPhoto program off the internet? As in, do you know of a way I could get it? Just curious...

P.S. Sorry for the "!?"s in my last post...I was just mad at something or other when I wrote it. Meh.

Stratadrake · Posted: Thu Nov 11, 2004 12:52 am Post subject:

No, iPhoto Plus v1.1c came with my dad's old scanner from a long time ago. It doesn't even support long filenames!

In the meantime, hey, look what I found! Lots of various tutorials for using Adobe Photoshop, Paintshop Pro, etc.:
http://www.designertoday.com/tabindex-16/t...topDefault.aspx

Okay, after browsing through a few tutorials and reading the steps involved, I [i]think[/i] I've deduced how to translate the steps of my tutorial in Photoshop terms:

1- Go to the Layers menu, select "New Adjustment Layer" then "Curves". This should bring up a dialog box with a line graph on it. Select the "Red" color channel from the dropdown list, click on the upper-right point of the line graph and drag it down to zero. Repeat for the "Green" channel; this should leave you with an image composed entirely from shades of blue.

2 - Layers menu, select "New Adjustment Layer" then "Hue/Saturation". On the dialog box that shows up, drag the Saturation slider all the way to the left to drain all color intensity from the image (which should turn it into a grayscale image with the blue lines less visible)

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trueyamigirlfriend · Newb Joined: 27 Apr 2004 Posts: 4

THANK YOU!! *gives you a cookie* It didn't work as well as I hoped, but at least it works enough. ~^

Stratadrake · Posted: Thu Nov 11, 2004 2:16 pm Post subject:

Yeah, I don't think I can stress enough that the results will vary. It's the best I could come up with using the programs at my disposal though....

Another possibility: If you use filters for the CYMK color space (cyan/magenta/yellow/black, commonly used for commercial printing), you should be able to affect [i]only[/i] the blue lines (C channel) in a drawing, while leaving the rest untouched. Play with the adjusment filters for awhile to learn how they work.
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a-drawer-4ever · Very bored Joined: 31 Dec 1969 Posts: 157

what about those who (dare I say it) don't have photoshop?

Stratadrake · Posted: Thu Nov 11, 2004 8:44 pm Post subject:

Well... dare I say this, but if all else fails, you can open it up in MSP, zoom in, and then edit them out manually (e.g. pixel by pixel) with the eyedropper/pencil tools....

But that would be one hell of a workload, so I don't want to impose that option on anyone.

And . . . oh, that's right!

http://www.fanart-central.net/forums/index...180#entry206911

Member johnofe is a bit new but he's volunteered to help with removing lines from drawings.
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TailsFan · Newb Joined: 15 Nov 2004 Posts: 8

Uhh.... I HATE MS paint!!!! I want Photoshop soooo bad! I actually did have to go through and edit the picture pixel by pixel... Oh, the Horror, THE HORROR!!!
Here are the pictures if you want to see them...
Here's the originalL
www.freewebs.com/halomaster117/Halo Tails.jpg
Then here's the edited version:
http://www.fanart-central.net/pictures.php?pid=148072

Stratadrake · Posted: Tue Nov 23, 2004 3:55 pm Post subject:

Yeah, I've had my fill of pixel-by-pixel editing too. I have one program that's slightly better than MSP when it comes to editing (it has tone adjustment controls), but I still have to zoom in at 4x and edit the stuff out piece by piece. In my case though, I don't have to deal with lines, I have to deal with stuff that scanned through from the backside (curses on the thin paper I used to use!)

Example:
http://www.fanart-central.net/pictures.php?pid=148055

No Photoshop or other programs? Then you may want to check out the GIMP. Features include adjustment controls, layers, brushes, and -- best of all, its price tag.
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