Learn Clip Studio Paint: Create impressive comics and Manga art in world-class graphics software, 2nd Edition

Learn Clip Studio Paint

Second Edition

Create impressive comics and Manga art in world-class graphics software

Liz Staley

BIRMINGHAM - MUMBAI

Learn Clip Studio Paint Second Edition

Copyright © 2018 Packt Publishing

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embedded in critical articles or reviews.

Every effort has been made in the preparation of this book to ensure the accuracy of the information presented. However, the information contained in this book is sold without warranty, either express or implied. Neither the author, nor Packt Publishing or its dealers and distributors, will be held liable for any damages caused or alleged to have been caused directly or indirectly by this book.

Packt Publishing has endeavored to provide trademark information about all of the companies and products mentioned in this book by the appropriate use of capitals. However, Packt Publishing cannot guarantee the accuracy of this information.

Commissioning Editor: Kunal Chaudhari

Acquisition Editor: Shweta Pant

Content Development Editor: Flavian Vaz

Technical Editor: Ralph Rosario

Copy Editor: Safis Editing

Project Coordinator: Pragati Shukla

Proofreader: Safis Editing

Indexer: Tejal Daruwale Soni

Graphics: Alishon Mendonsa

Production Coordinator: Aparna Bhagat

First published: April 2014

Second edition: December 2018

Production reference: 1181218

Published by Packt Publishing Ltd.

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ISBN 978-1-78934-703-6

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To all the Clip Studio Paint users around the world. Without your passion and dedication,

this book would not have been possible. 

– Liz Staley

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Contributors

About the author

Liz Staley is the writer and artist of the webcomic, Adrastus, and the owner of Liz Staley Art. She has written several other books about Manga Studio/Clip Studio, including Mastering Manga Studio 5 and The Manga Studio EX 5 Cookbook, and has produced several video courses in connection with this software. An avid Clip Studio user, she has been passionate about this program since switching to Manga Studio 4 years ago and loves to inspire other artists to learn about the benefits of using this unique software for their art. When Liz isn't writing and drawing, she can be found spending time with her horse, Glory. She lives with her husband in Western Pennsylvania, U.S.A.

I would like to thank Michael Rhodes for allowing me to take over this project and update this book for the new version of the software. I would also like to thank my husband, Byron, for enduring the process of me writing this book and me constantly shutting myself in my home office for hours on end to get it finished. Finally, I would like to thank my reviewer, Rhiannon, for the feedback on the draft chapters and for helping me to make this book better.

About the reviewer

Rhiannon Starsinger is a self-taught artist and the creator of the webcomic Bell, Book, and Pistol. This webcomic was originally produced using a combination of Photoshop and Comic life, prior to the advent of Manga Studio 3.

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Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright and Credits

Learn Clip Studio Paint Second Edition

Dedication

About Packt

Why subscribe?

Packt.com

Contributors

About the author

About the reviewer

Packt is searching for authors like you

Preface

Who this book is for

What this book covers

To get the most out of this book

Download the color images

Conventions used

Get in touch

Reviews

Installing Clip Studio Paint, Recommended Systems, and Interface Basics

System specs, installation, and your serial number

System requirements

Windows system requirements

Mac OS requirements

Installing the program

Downloading the trial version

Purchasing Clip Studio Paint

Installing on a Windows computer

Installing on a Mac computer

Starting the program for the first time

Registering for a trial version of Clip Studio Paint

Registering for a licensed version of Clip Studio Paint

Changing a license

Downloading additional materials

About graphics tablets

What is a graphics tablet?

What type of tablet should I buy?

How large of a tablet should I buy?

What tablet brand should I buy?

Any other considerations?

Where can I purchase a graphics tablet?

Taking a look at the default interface

Moving, collapsing, and closing palettes

Moving a palette

Closing a palette

Collapsing and expanding palettes

The tool palette and Command Bar

The tool palette

Customizing the tool palette

Reordering tools

Renaming tools

Deleting tools

The Command Bars

The primary Command Bar

The selection Command Bar

Summary

Preferences, Shortcuts, and Other Commands

Program preferences

Tool category

Tablet category

Touch gesture category

Interface category

Performance category

Cursor category

Layer/Frame category

Light Table category

Ruler/Unit category

Canvas category

File category

Color Conversion

Edit Text category

3D settings category

Using keyboard shortcuts

Different categories of shortcut settings

Viewing an existing keyboard shortcut

Editing, adding, and deleting shortcuts

Adding a shortcut

Editing a shortcut and assigning a shortcut to a function without an existing one

Deleting a shortcut

Customizing the Command Bar

Adding items to the Command Bar

Editing icon settings

Deleting icons from the Command Bar

Making and saving workspaces

Saving a workspace

Switching between workspaces

Managing and deleting workspaces

New files and templates

The New file window – explained

Creating a custom sized page and saving a preset

Adding templates to a new file

Summary

Clip Studio Paint Brushes: an Introduction

Navigating the brushes

The brush engine

Accessing the brush options

Brush size

Ink

Anti-aliasing

Correction

Starting and Ending

Playing with brush settings

Exporting and loading brushes

Exporting a tool

Importing a tool

Summary

Pencilling: Layer Properties

What is a layer?

Introduction to the Layer Palette

The Layer Property palette

Border effect

Extract line

Tone

Layer color

Expression color

Working with Layers

Summary

Erasers, Selections, and the Subview Palette

Eraser Tools and Transparent Color

The Eraser Tools

Hard eraser

Soft eraser

Block Eraser

Vector Eraser

Multiple Layers Eraser

Using Transparent Color

Lassos and other selection tools

The rectangle and circle marquee tools

Lasso and polyline marquee tools

Tool Property palette when scaling or rotating a selection

Selection pen

Shrink Selection

Clear Selection

The Subview Palette

Loading images into the Subview Palette

Zooming, rotating, and color picking Subview images

Using Layer Color to prepare a sketch for inks

Summary

All About Rulers

Using rulers in Clip Studio Paint

Ruler snapping options

Linear ruler

Curve ruler

Using the quadratic Bézier

Using the Cubic Bezier

Figure ruler

Ruler pen

Using the Symmetry ruler

Focus and parallel line rulers

Focus line ruler

Parallel line ruler

Perspective rulers

One-point perspective

Two-point perspective

Three-point perspective

Using shape and line tools with perspective rulers

Making rulers inactive

Turning rulers off and on with the control handle

Grids and guides

Showing and hiding the grid

Adjusting grid settings

Making guides

Summary

Using 3D Figures and Objects

The 3D Material Palette

Moving objects in 3D space

Moving an object on the X, Y, and Z axes

Moving parts of a model

Posing hands

Moving the 3D camera

Using preset poses on figure models

Customizing character and figure models

Customizing characters

Customizing figure models

Saving 3D information to the Materials Palette

Saving Pose Information

Saving 3D drawing figure information

Importing 3D models into CSP

Summary

Vector Layers and the Material Palette

Vectors in Clip Studio Paint

Creating a vector layer

Creating a vector layer via the File menu

Creating a vector layer via the Layer palette

Drawing on vector layers

Editing vectors

Control Point

Simplify Vector Line

Correct Line Width

Redraw Vector Line

Redraw Vector Line Width

The Vector Eraser

Saving art to the Material Palette

Saving artwork to the Materials Library

Summary

Using Text and Balloon Tools

Text tool basics

Advanced text settings

Font settings

Line space/alignment settings

Text settings

Reading settings

Edit settings

Creating custom text tools

Making and editing speech balloons

Ellipse balloon tool

Balloon Tail tool

Curve Balloon tool

Balloon Pen tool

Connecting speech balloons

Using speech balloon materials

Summary

Creating Sound Effects

Using fonts for sound effects

Adding outlines and color to text

Adding an outline

Adding gradients to text with Lock Transparent Pixels

Using Clipping Layers to add patterns to text

Using the Mesh Transform tool to warp text

Summary

Making Layer Masks and Screentones

What is a Layer Mask?

Using a layer mask

Using selections to make Quick Masks

Adding screentones to large areas

Lines and percentages in screentone names

Using selections to make simple tones

Summary

Making Comic Panels

What are frame border layers?

Creating frames

Using the rectangle frame tool

Using the Polyline frame tool

Using the Quadratic Bezier option

Using the Cubic Bezier option

Using the Frame border pen

One layer and many panels, or one layer for each panel?

Dividing and editing panels

Resizing, rotating, and moving panels

Dividing existing frames

Using Framing template materials

Summary

Auto Actions and Your Workflow

The Auto Action palette

Using Auto Actions

Creating a custom Auto Action

Auto Action shortcuts

Creating a keyboard shortcut

Creating a command bar shortcut

Summary

Inking Tools

Principles of inking

Inking tools

Marker tools

Pen tools

Customizing pressure sensitivity settings

Inking on vector layers

Tips for inking comic panels

Modifying pencil layers to simulate inks

Summary

Inking Special Effects

Creating a textured inking brush

Making a broken glass shard brush

Creating a foliage brush

Texture with a cross-hatching brush

Summary

Color Palettes

The Color Pickers

The Color Wheel

The Color Slider

Color Sets

Color History, Intermediate and Approximate Palettes

Color History Palette

Intermediate Color Palette

Approximate Color Palette

Importing Palettes from Adobe Photoshop

Creating Color Palettes from the Sub View Palette

Summary

Using CSP to Color Your Comics

Using Reference Layers

Creating Flats Using the Bucket Fill and Paint Unfilled Area Tools

Layer Blending Modes

The Multiply Mode

The Screen Mode

The Lighten Mode

Creating colored line art

Summary

Exporting and Printing Your Comic

Printing at home

Exporting for print

Adjusting image quality and file size

Resizing an image while exporting

Exporting for web display

Exporting pages as a batch (EX only)

Summary

What Is the Clip Studio App and Getting Animated

The Clip Studio App

Creating an account and logging in

Downloading from the App

Locating your downloads in Clip Studio Paint

Creating animation

Exporting animation

Image sequence

Animated GIF

Animated Sticker (APNG)

Movie

Summary

Other Books You May Enjoy

Leave a review - let other readers know what you think

Preface

Clip Studio Paint, once known as Manga Studio, is used by more than four million creators around the world. Illustrators and comic artists love this software for its specialized features for drawing comics and cartoons. You can create black and white or full-color comics and illustrations using just this software, a computer, and a graphics tablet. As of the time of this writing, Clip Studio Paint has been the top seller for three years for graphics software in Japan, and this software is growing in popularity all over the world, too!

Whether you're an illustrator, a comic artist, or even an animator, Clip Studio Paint has features that will improve your workflow and make your journey into the digital art realm easier and faster. 

Who this book is for

This book is for beginning digital artists who are just starting to use graphics software, or for users who are switching to Clip Studio Paint from other software. You should have basic computer skills and knowledge of installing drivers for computer peripherals. 

What this book covers

Chapter 1, Installing Clip Studio Paint, Recommended Systems, and Interface Basics, covers purchasing and installing the software, system requirements for running the software, and a basic introduction to the interface.  

Chapter 2, Preferences, Shortcuts, and Other Commands, covers setting the software preferences, using command bar and keyboard shortcuts, making workspaces, and creating new files.

Chapter 3, Clip Studio Paint Brushes: An Introduction, covers how to make digital marks, and introduces us to customizing the brush engine, tool properties, and saving and restoring brushes.

Chapter 4, Pencilling: Layer Properties, covers the different properties of digital layers, layer menu options, and the Layer Palette icons.

Chapter 5, Erasers, Selections, and the Subview Palette, will teach you about the various eraser tools, selection tools, and how to use the Subview palette.

Chapter 6, All about Rulers, covers the myriad of ruler tools in Clip Studio Paint. We will cover the basic rulers, as well as symmetry rulers, focus and parallel line rulers, and how to use perspective rulers.

Chapter 7, Using 3D Figures and Objects, teaches you how to use the 3D materials included with Clip Studio Paint. Placing characters, posing them, and customizing poses and characters are all topics covered in this chapter.

Chapter 8, Vector Layers and the Materials Palette, covers how to create vector images, and also covers using the Materials Palette to add textures, patterns, and more to your images.

Chapter 9, Using Text and Balloon Tools, will teach you how to navigate the world of text and its options. Creating word balloons is also covered. 

Chapter 10, Creating Sound Effects, covers creating specialized text, adding strokes and gradient to text, and how to use the Mesh Transformation to morph text into punchy sound effects.

Chapter 11, Making Layer Masks and Screentones, covers the use and creation of Layer Masks, and also how to apply screentones to black and white by using selections and layer masks.

Chapter 12, Making Comic Panels, teaches you how to use the comic panel creation tools to make professional looking comic panels. The benefits of making panels all on one layer or each on their own layer are examined.

Chapter 13, Auto Actions and Your Workflow, covers the benefits of Auto Actions, how to use default actions, and how to record and playback custom actions.

Chapter 14, Inking Tools, goes over the inking pens, brushes, and markers that come included in Clip Studio Paint. Some basics of inking are also covered.

Chapter 15, Inking Special Effects, covers the creation of special effect brushes, textured brushes and brushes with patterns such as foliage.

Chapter 16, Color Palettes, covers the color selection and mixing palettes such as the Color Wheel, Color Sets, Intermediate Color, Approximate Color, and Color History.

Chapter 17, Using CSP to Color Your Comics, discusses the use of reference layers, how to create flats using bucket fill and Paint Unfilled Area tools, layer blending modes, and how to create colored line art.

Chapter 18, Exporting and Printing Your Comic, covers how to use the print preview and print settings to create a physical copy of your comics and illustrations. Exporting your work in various formats for printing and for display on the web are also covered.

Chapter 19, The Clip Studio App and Getting Animated, covers how to download new assets and materials using the Clip Studio App, and how to create animation timelines and cels to animate your drawings.

To get the most out of this book

Having a graphics tablet or a tablet computer with a stylus and pressure sensitivity are highly recommended for using this software. Drawing with a stylus is much more natural than drawing with a mouse or trackpad. For more information on graphics tablets, see Chapter 1, Installing Clip Studio Paint, Recommended Systems, and Interface Basics.

Download the color images

We also provide a PDF file that has color images of the screenshots/diagrams used in this book. You can download it here: https://www.packtpub.com/sites/default/files/downloads/9781789347036_ColorImages.pdf.

Conventions used

There are a number of text conventions used throughout this book.

CodeInText: Indicates code words in text, database table names, folder names, filenames, file extensions, pathnames, dummy URLs, user input, and Twitter handles. Here is an example: Locate the install file named CSP_1XXw_setup.exe that has been saved to your computer and double-click it to launch the setup program.

Bold: Indicates a new term, an important word, or words that you see onscreen. For example, words in menus or dialog boxes appear in the text like this. Here is an example: Under the Payment Option section, click on the PayPal Checkout button to pay with PayPal.

Warnings or important notes appear like this.

Tips and tricks appear like this.

Get in touch

Feedback from our readers is always welcome.

General feedback: If you have questions about any aspect of this book, mention the book title in the subject of your message and email us at [email protected].

Errata: Although we have taken every care to ensure the accuracy of our content, mistakes do happen. If you have found a mistake in this book, we would be grateful if you would report this to us. Please visit www.packt.com/submit-errata, selecting your book, clicking on the Errata Submission Form link, and entering the details.

Piracy: If you come across any illegal copies of our works in any form on the Internet, we would be grateful if you would provide us with the location address or website name. Please contact us at [email protected] with a link to the material.

If you are interested in becoming an author: If there is a topic that you have expertise in and you are interested in either writing or contributing to a book, please visit authors.packtpub.com.

Reviews

Please leave a review. Once you have read and used this book, why not leave a review on the site that you purchased it from? Potential readers can then see and use your unbiased opinion to make purchase decisions, we at Packt can understand what you think about our products, and our authors can see your feedback on their book. Thank you!

For more information about Packt, please visit packt.com.

Installing Clip Studio Paint, Recommended Systems, and Interface Basics

In this chapter, we're going to dive right into the thick of it and start getting to know Clip Studio Paint. First, we'll take a look at the recommended system specifications for running Clip Studio Paint and how to install the program. We'll also talk about graphics tablets, their importance, and how to obtain one.

Once we have Clip Studio Paint installed, we'll begin by getting to know the interface. First, we'll go over the parts of the default interface. Then, we'll learn how to customize and change the interface to suit our needs, as well as how to select tools and about the various palettes that comprise the Clip Studio Paint interface and their properties.

By the end of this chapter, you will be able to install Clip Studio Paint and identify the different parts of its interface.

In this chapter, we will learn about the following topics:

Recommended system specifications for Clip Studio Paint

Installing Clip Studio Paint

The default user interface

Moving, collapsing, and stacking palettes

Using the tool palette

Using the Command Bar

Clip Studio Paint Pro terms

System specs, installation, and your serial number

Before installing Clip Studio Paint, we need to ensure that our computer hardware is capable of running the program. Graphics software can be taxing on system resources, so it is important to ensure that your computer is up to the task!

Clip Studio Paint is made for both Windows PCs as well as Mac operating systems. Once we have ensured that we can run the program on our computer, we can then download and install the software and get it running for the first time. 

System requirements

To run Clip Studio Paint effectively, our computer must meet certain system requirements. These requirements are slightly different for PC than for Mac, so please check the system requirements carefully against the computer that you will be installing the software on to ensure that Clip Studio Paint will run properly.

Both PC and Mac computers have the following requirements for use of the program:

Storage space:

At least 3 GB of storage space available on the hard drive

Tablet:

Pen tablet or tablet monitor that supports a pressure sensitive stylus – WACOM products are recommended

Monitor:

XGA (1,024 * 768) or higher required, WXGA (1,280 * 768) or higher recommended, high color (16 bit 65536 color) or higher required

Scanner:

Scanners compatible with TWAIN

Printer:

Printer compatible with the aforementioned OS

Internet access:

An internet connection will be necessary for license authentication

Windows system requirements

The following are the requirements for running Clip Studio Paint Version 1.7.4 on Windows:

OS:

Microsoft Windows English OS

Windows 7 (32 bit/64 bit) Service Pack 1 or later is required

Windows 8.1 (32 bit/64 bit)

Windows 10 (32 bit/64 bit)

Main Computer/CPU:

Intel processors compatible with SSE2 or an AMD CPU

GPUs compatible with OpenGL 2.1

2 GB memory or more is required, 8 GB or more is recommended

Memory space and CPU capability are required for top software performance regarding image size, number of layers, and so on. Generally, the larger the image size and the number of layers, the more memory, and the faster CPU will be required.

Tablet:

Computers compatible with Windows Ink Platform

Pen tablet or tablet monitor that supports a pressure-sensitive stylus (compatible with Wintab)

For tablets compatible with Wintab, WACOM devices are recommended

Mac OS requirements

If you are using a macOS computer, you will need to meet the following system requirements to run Clip Studio Paint version 1.7.4:

OS:

macOS English OS 10.10, 10.11, and 10.13

Main Computer/CPU:

Intel processor

GPUs compatible with OpenGL 2.1

2 GB memory or more is required, 8 GB or more is recommended

We'll go into tablets in more detail in the About graphics tablets section.

If your computer system meets or exceeds the requirements listed, then it's time to install the program!

Installing the program

To purchase and download the Clip Studio Paint program, you will need an internet connection. The program is available through the Clip Studio website. To access the English version of the website, you will need to visit the URL http://www.clipstudio.net/en in your internet browser.

Clip Studio does have a free trial of the program, which is very handy if you want to try the program to make sure your computer system can run it or if you want to explore the program and ensure that it will meet your needs before buying it. At the time of writing this book, the Clip Studio Paint free trial lasts for 30 days. You can try both the Clip Studio Paint Pro and Clip Studio Paint EX versions of the program. Also, when using the trial version of the software, you will need to register for a free Clip Studio account. We'll discuss more about the Clip Studio account in Chapter 19, What Is the Clip Studio App and Getting Animated.

Clip Studio Paint Pro or Clip Studio Paint EX? Which version should you choose? Unlike previous versions of this program, there are very few differences between the Pro and EX versions of the software. The Pro version is the standard version and EX is the full-featured version. Clip Studio Paint Pro is less expensive than the EX version. The biggest difference between the two versions of the program is that the EX version allows you to create multi-page files (files with multiple pages in them that can be viewed and edited all at once), and that the EX version has no limit regarding the number of animation frames in a file while the Pro version limits animation frames to a total of 24. If you will be creating long animations, chapters of a comic or graphic novel, or other works where viewing multiple pages are needed, it is highly recommended to get the EX version of Clip Studio Paint.

Downloading the trial version

Once we're on the Clip Studio website, we'll need to download the trial version or buy the software. To download the trial version, complete the following steps:

On the ClipStudio.net/en website, click on the button in the upper-right-hand corner labeled Free Trial.

Choose the version of the software compatible