Harvesting backgrounds from photographs

Tenma · Post by **Tenma** » Fri Jun 11, 2004 8:44 pm

A significant portion of my comic takes place at a supermarket. which means I have to deal with some complicated backgrounds (shelves and shelves of different products.)

A solution I've used in the past is actually going to the local store and taking photos, then integrating them into the comic. This worked well enough for my black and white comics, but now that I'm doing color full-time, I don't think it's going to turn out too well.

Therefore, I was wondering... Does anyone know any Photoshop tricks I could use to make photo backgrounds look more like comic art? I'm basically trying to get them to mesh better with my cel-shading style characters.

Thanks...
--Tenma

[geoduck] · Post by **[geoduck]** » Sat Jun 12, 2004 11:20 am

Have you tried "Poster Edges"? At least, that's what it's called in my antiquated version of Photoshop. It thickens up all the "edges" of items that appear in a photo, and simplifies the color scheme. It's adjustable, and maybe you can find some setting you like.

Ayame Ex_Goddess · Post by **Ayame Ex_Goddess** » Sat Jun 12, 2004 12:07 pm

When I used to use photos for my bg's I would go in and convert them to watercolor, maybe use a guasian blurr. Any of the artistic effects work really well, as long as you can still tell what the background is supposed to be.

War · Post by **War** » Sat Jun 12, 2004 3:12 pm

Why not draw out a few different supermarket backgrounds and keep on reusing them?

Alaina · Post by **Alaina** » Sat Jun 12, 2004 3:29 pm

I think (if you're using PS) Artistic-->Cutout could work. You gotta play around with it, though.

Tenma · Post by **Tenma** » Sat Jun 12, 2004 4:04 pm

Digital War wrote:Why not draw out a few different supermarket backgrounds and keep on reusing them?

In order to maintain some level of realism, I try to avoid having them in the same identifiable place too often, other than the front end. They shouldn't be on the chip aisle all the time, etcetera.

Thanks for the ideas, Geoduck, Ayame and Alaina. I'll give it a try next time I work with that environment and see what I come up with. :-)

Later...
--Tenma

RPin · Post by **RPin** » Sat Jun 12, 2004 5:37 pm

If you use Macromedia Flash, you can always do a Modify>Trace Bitmap.

But it's a dirty trick, tho. It's always better to draw your own backgrounds.

Tenma · Post by **Tenma** » Sat Jun 12, 2004 5:39 pm

RPin wrote:If you use Macromedia Flash, you can always do a Modify>Trace Bitmap.

But it's a dirty trick, tho. It's always better to draw your own backgrounds.

Eh, I figure, as long as I personally take the pictures, I'm only being half as lazy. :-)

Later...
--Tenma

Taiwanimation · Post by **Taiwanimation** » Mon Jun 14, 2004 3:21 pm

But if ya draw your own, you can have lots of fun with the product names.

Dutch! · Post by **Dutch!** » Sat Jun 19, 2004 5:38 pm

OR...if you're REALLY struggling...the main characters can get fired from the supermarket and get jobs in other background friendly environments such as libraries or museums!!

Tenma · Post by **Tenma** » Sat Jun 19, 2004 5:40 pm

Or they can exist in a void, like many other crap comics.

DGC · Post by **DGC** » Sun Jun 20, 2004 2:51 am

I'd suggest you mess with the color balances and such to keep everything looking like one cohesive piece and not just somebody too lazy to draw backgrounds. Same goes for your shading and perspective. If the characters are at a low angle and your photo is high angle, it will just look plain wrong. I use a ton of photo backgrounds myself and even though it seems like a time saver, as you start to get good at it, it'll probably turn into a kind of art in itself, taking shots of the same place from every concievable angle just for insurance. Another thing I've been thinking about trying once I get a 3d program is to actually create "sets" in 3d and use them for some frames instead of digital photos. Like a virtual art director.

Phact0rri · Post by **Phact0rri** » Sun Jun 20, 2004 4:13 pm

why not use the photos to draw the backgrounds? I do that alot if I can't picture them well just base my backgrounds off of pictures I take.

Tenma · Post by **Tenma** » Sun Jun 20, 2004 4:56 pm

phactorri wrote:why not use the photos to draw the backgrounds? I do that alot if I can't picture them well just base my backgrounds off of pictures I take.

I don't normally have a problem picturing the backgrounds, but the complexity of several different product styles, etc, on display is a bit much for an otherwise simplified webcomic. Even if I was to trace over a photo on a new layer, that would still involve a lot of work per comic.

I could just lower the detail significantly on my backgrounds (like most other webcomic artists do in that situation,) but I was hoping to avoid that situation.

The filters and Photoshop tricks thus far have yielded less than stellar results. Oh well, I guess I'll just need to experiment with original background styles and see what works best.

Later...
--Tenma

LaVey · Post by **LaVey** » Sun Jun 20, 2004 9:24 pm

*feels ultimate need to reply*. Well, I drew a short horror comic once that took place at a supermarket. It was in black and white though. BUT, nonetheless, maybe the background isn't your real problem. maybe it's just the style you're trying to draw it in. style match seems to me like a big problem in a lot of comics. You're probably trying to make it too complex for the style you're drawing in. Try simplifying the details of whatever your drawing and using less colors detail-wise. Don't waste time coloring each individual thing with precise stokes of complete perfection. use a base and a shadow and a few details and it should look fine without distacting from the characters.

YarpsDat · Post by **YarpsDat** » Mon Jun 21, 2004 10:49 am

DGC wrote:I'd suggest you mess with the color balances and such to keep everything looking like one cohesive piece and not just somebody too lazy to draw backgrounds.

It reminds of that one comic, two drawn characters, and a picture of a server room behind them.
From the perspective it seemed the server boxes are one mile high monoliths.