Project #13 - Bring New Life & Dimension To Your Clipart

1. To begin with, you need to import the clipart image you want to revitalise into your DTP program; I used Corel Draw 7. Here, re-size the image if necessary (about 400 dpi will do) and then export the image back out again as an .EPS image. This will make it easier when importing the image into Photoshop.

2. Back in Photoshop, Create a new RGB image (you don't need a large canvas, something like 400 x 400 or less will suffice.) Next, from the File menu, choose the Place command to import your .EPS Clipart image and re-size if necessary.

3. Before adding the new colours, you first need to get rid of the original colours. Use your Magic Wand tool for this. Just do one color/area at a time, and don't forget to get rid of the white background too!

4. With all the original colour and background taken away from the clipart image, create a new blank layer. Fill this with whatever background colour you wish (best to use white if you're just storing it). Create another new layer, and name it "my colors". This is where the new color gradients will go.

5. Now for the re-colourising phase. It's up to you whether you want to use similar colours to what the original image had, or make up your own. Double-click on the Gradient tool, and then on the New button. This is where you create your new colours. Double-click on the small squares to access the colour palette, and choose the colour you want. Then, click the second square to select a similar, but darker colour than the first. Lastly, press with your LMB just under the color window to create a new square, and as before, create another similar, but lighter color.

   Follow this process for each new colour you are going to use in your clipart image.

6. Click on the thumbnail image of the .EPS layer to activate it. Select your Magic Wand tool and create a selection in the area you want to colorise. When you have the area you want selected, switch back to your blank layer and apply the gradient fill you created in Step Five. (Remember, you need to think about shading and shadows etc.) Continue this until you have applied all your new colors.

   In my example above, shadow (or a darker shade of the actual color) was applied carefully using the airbrush with an opacity setting of around 30-45.