Tutorial - Using patterns/colors to color graphics in Photoshop

Using Patterns to Color Graphics, templates, etc

1.    Start Adobe Photoshop.

2.    Open a background paper.  For this tutorial I used the papers shared on Sharenmoments blog.

3.    Edit -> Define Pattern. Enter the pattern name and click OK

4.    There are two ways you can color in the grey area

1^st Way

1.    Next open the item that you would like to color in.  For this step I used a free doodle frame from delicious scraps

2.    I actually hid the Outline layer for these screen shots.

3.    In the layers palette click on the F in the bottom and select Pattern Overlay, or just double click on the layer you want to add the pattern to and select Pattern Overlay

4.    Next select the pattern you just created from the background

5.    Next to adjust the appearance of the pattern change the scale accordingly and click OK.

6.    Here is an example of my frame using the background and scale shown in this tutorial.

2^nd Way

This way works great when you are trying to color in line art.  In this example I will use the same frame that I used in the 1^st way.  This way does not allow you to scale the pattern.

1.    Next open the item that you would like to color in.  For this step I used a free doodle frame from delicious scraps

2.    I actually hid the Outline layer for these screen shots.

3.    From the tools palette select the Magic Wand tool

4.    Now select the area that you want to color in, you will see dancing lines around this area. For the frame it selects the entire thing.

5.    Next Select Layer -> New Layer

6.    Next Select the Paint bucket from the tools palette.

7.    Select Pattern and chose the pattern you want to fill in the selected area with.

8.    Here is mine once I have selected my pattern

Here is the tutorial in PDF Format

You can pick this up here at 4shared.