This video is a treasure, being a surfacepattern designer who handpaints the motifs this is gold, I've worked in the industry for a couple of years now and this is by far the best method, that too you're sharing it for free. Underrated channel!👑
I concur! Some courses where one pays so much and still they fail to teach an effective and simple way to clean up the background. You are a natural teacher! Thank you for sharing your knowledge so generously!
Thank you so much for this tutorial, especially minute 23:00, that watercolor paper getting into all the nooks and crannies was driving me crazy, because I was doing the feathering during the selection. And then, of course, it looked terrible on a darker background. Omg, your advice just made my day, I can't wait to try this 😍
Aah, I'm SO glad to hear that this was helpful!! So many of those little quirks can be so frustrating 🙈 If you remember, let me know how it goes when you give this technique a shot!
Wow, thanks so much Tanya!! I’m so glad you found it valuable! When I first figured out this technique it was such a game changer, so I’m happy to be able to share it!
Thank you for this video! I’m happy you used light color paint motifs in your demonstration. I usually have a hard time with the light watercolors and removing the background so I can’t wait to try your process.
They can be really tricky!! I love this technique and still use it all the time. It can be a little tedious, but totally worth it especially with those lighter motifs. Would love to hear how it goes for you when you have a chance to give it a try!
Hey! A really helpful video when I was struggling with a pattern repeat course on Domestika as I could not isolate my individual painted images! (a massive oversight in course content!), so thank so much! I look forward to following you, and already see other videos of interest!!!! Brilliant you are sharing your knowledge and skill!
Very helpful! I also always smoothed at the same time when contracted and feathered and was getting the paper corners everywhere. Will try the way you described next time. Thank you!
Thank you so so muchhh 😭 I've started to scan my artworks to make prints out of them, but I struggled soo much with the background.. I used watercolor too and the white background was getting me crazy. When I printed my work, it was always coming out blue-ish and not white white.. but now, I'll try your technic! So much easier then doing it manually. (Also, I'm really proud of being your 501 follower hehe 😌) Thanks again and have an amazing day!!
Ahh thanks so much, Lara!!! Definitely give it a try and let me know how it goes! It’s so nice when you get that crisp white background. And, yay!! So glad you’re number 501! 🥰
hi! Thank you very much. I've looking for this kind of video for some time:) Exchange tip for you: If you want to select your cutouts. You can easily push control button and click on your cutout icon on the list of layers. Right on this small image of your cutouts layer, not the title of it:) greetings!
Couldn't you have pressed ctrl and then clicked on the thumbnail of the layer to select everything instead of selecting them each individually? I just discovered your channel today and I am very much enjoying all of your videos. Thank you for sharing!
Ah, I see why you did that now. But also I think it would have been much quicker to make those white instead of black and then add a black background underneath so you could see each little unwanted dot. And then just erase. ❤
@@Ann-lj4nn I learned the ctrl+click trick after I made these videos! I love it! I personally don’t think that erasing manually makes things faster because sometimes (especially when you use cold pressed watercolor paper) there are a LOT of extra little dots you have to clean up. But there really are a million ways to achieve the same end result, which is one of the beautiful things about photoshop!
Hah! I’m impressed you powered through as a non-PS user! But I promise you if you do decide to dip your toes into the Photoshop world, it’s totally doable. Your illustrator skills will translate over so well!
Thanks for the very descriptive video! I followed all the instructions. However, I ended up getting a little bit of the water colour paper surrounding the motifs even after clean up. Not sure what I did wrong. I just used a phone camera and not a scanner though. Maybe that's why?
Hmm, what you could do is select all your motifs (command + click on the thumbnail of the motifs layer) and try select > modify > contract. Play with different pixel numbers until you remove the paper outline. Then, you can cut out your motifs with command + x and paste in place with command + shift + v, and delete the paper outline layer. Let me know if this works!
Thank you so much for this video!😇I've been trying everything before but because of being too nitpicky with details I always get stuck in manual labor for days. Also, is there a way how to make cleared watercolor elements more translucent? To take out paper whiteness from the elements themselves? So they can be used on darker backgrounds...
Good question! You could play with unchecking the “contiguous” box (but you may need to do more cleanup with some of the lighter areas of your painting), and you can also slightly decrease the opacity of your layer… that might work!
SO helpful thank you! One question, is this free software that you are using for those of us hoping to start learning the basics? If not, do you know of any free tools to that we can use? Thank you again so much, such a well organized and perfectly orated video.
Facebook marketplace is a great place to start!! I put my scanner info in the first video of this series, but it’s a Canon LiDE 300 - quite inexpensive (I got mine used for $35) but has done a great job!
@@pepostudios I conveniently forgot that my laser printer is also a scanner and copier. I looked in the settings and it can get to some really high ppi! I got this thing at a garage sale for $5 in 2015
Hi! I'm wondering if you can elaborate a little bit to make sure I understand your question. You can certainly remove the background and isolate the motifs in Photoshop and bring those pieces into Illustrator, but ultimately those pieces will still be rasters (aka, pixel-based) and Illustrator is a vector-based program. Lots of folks will use the Image Trace feature of Illustrator to vectorize their raster artwork, so that's always an option. Let me know if I misunderstood your question!
Can I ask what kind of laptop you are using? I think I may have made the mistake of purchasing a Dell that has muted colors in Photoshop. I'm considering just giving it to my brother and getting something really good.
@@pepostudios It looks like colors are muted across everything not just photoshop. Dell is replacing my laptop but I think the real problem is just overall quality on the display. I didn't realize it would make a difference (I'm new to all of this). My friend showed me his macbook air m1 yesterday and it's something I might consider. I'm trying to do what you and Cat Coq are doing, taking my watercolors to spoonflower etc, so I'm finding the colors have to be spot on!
This video is a treasure, being a surfacepattern designer who handpaints the motifs this is gold, I've worked in the industry for a couple of years now and this is by far the best method, that too you're sharing it for free. Underrated channel!👑
🥹🫶🏼 thanks so much, Rajarshi!
This is the most helpful video, thank you so much!
I concur! Some courses where one pays so much and still they fail to teach an effective and simple way to clean up the background. You are a natural teacher! Thank you for sharing your knowledge so generously!
This is exactly what I’ve been looking for! Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge!
YAY I’m so glad to hear it!! 🫶🏼
Thank you so much for this tutorial, especially minute 23:00, that watercolor paper getting into all the nooks and crannies was driving me crazy, because I was doing the feathering during the selection. And then, of course, it looked terrible on a darker background. Omg, your advice just made my day, I can't wait to try this 😍
Aah, I'm SO glad to hear that this was helpful!! So many of those little quirks can be so frustrating 🙈 If you remember, let me know how it goes when you give this technique a shot!
Thank you so much for this video!!! An incredibly useful lesson. And I have never seen such detailed instructions anywhere. You are great!
Wow, thanks so much Tanya!! I’m so glad you found it valuable! When I first figured out this technique it was such a game changer, so I’m happy to be able to share it!
This video is priceless, Thank you so, so much for that! I am a fan of your work!
So glad to hear you enjoyed it!! 🫶🏼
Thank you for this video! I’m happy you used light color paint motifs in your demonstration. I usually have a hard time with the light watercolors and removing the background so I can’t wait to try your process.
They can be really tricky!! I love this technique and still use it all the time. It can be a little tedious, but totally worth it especially with those lighter motifs. Would love to hear how it goes for you when you have a chance to give it a try!
Best video on this topic! Thank you
This tutorial is amazing, thank you so much for sharing, you share the technique in such a way it's straightforward to follow :) Thanks!
Yay I’m so glad to hear you found it valuable!! 🙌🏼
Oh my gosh! Fantastic step-by-step. Thank you! 😊
Thank you!! You’re too kind, Sheila!! 🫶🏼💕
Hey! A really helpful video when I was struggling with a pattern repeat course on Domestika as I could not isolate my individual painted images! (a massive oversight in course content!), so thank so much! I look forward to following you, and already see other videos of interest!!!! Brilliant you are sharing your knowledge and skill!
That’s wild that that wasn’t included in the Domestika course you were taking!! Glad this video was helpful!
Very helpful! I also always smoothed at the same time when contracted and feathered and was getting the paper corners everywhere. Will try the way you described next time. Thank you!
It’s worth a try - let me know how it goes for you!!
Thank you so so muchhh 😭 I've started to scan my artworks to make prints out of them, but I struggled soo much with the background.. I used watercolor too and the white background was getting me crazy. When I printed my work, it was always coming out blue-ish and not white white.. but now, I'll try your technic! So much easier then doing it manually. (Also, I'm really proud of being your 501 follower hehe 😌) Thanks again and have an amazing day!!
Ahh thanks so much, Lara!!! Definitely give it a try and let me know how it goes! It’s so nice when you get that crisp white background. And, yay!! So glad you’re number 501! 🥰
Excellent tutorial with some very helpful tips. Thank you for creating and sharing :)
I’m so glad to hear you found it helpful! 🫶🏼
Awesome. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.
You’re welcome! Glad it was helpful!
Thank you so much! This helped a lot.
So glad to hear it!! 🫶🏼
Thank you so much. I have affinity design so I’m going to have to translate some of this…but it’s still helps. I’m so beginner level at this.
Yay, you’re so welcome! So glad my videos have been helpful!
hi! Thank you very much. I've looking for this kind of video for some time:)
Exchange tip for you: If you want to select your cutouts. You can easily push control button and click on your cutout icon on the list of layers. Right on this small image of your cutouts layer, not the title of it:) greetings!
Thanks so much for the tip!!
Couldn't you have pressed ctrl and then clicked on the thumbnail of the layer to select everything instead of selecting them each individually? I just discovered your channel today and I am very much enjoying all of your videos. Thank you for sharing!
Ah, I see why you did that now. But also I think it would have been much quicker to make those white instead of black and then add a black background underneath so you could see each little unwanted dot. And then just erase. ❤
@@Ann-lj4nn I learned the ctrl+click trick after I made these videos! I love it! I personally don’t think that erasing manually makes things faster because sometimes (especially when you use cold pressed watercolor paper) there are a LOT of extra little dots you have to clean up. But there really are a million ways to achieve the same end result, which is one of the beautiful things about photoshop!
Wow that was alot 😂 for my brain to process. Plus I haven’t used photoshop…still trying to learn Illustrator
Hah! I’m impressed you powered through as a non-PS user! But I promise you if you do decide to dip your toes into the Photoshop world, it’s totally doable. Your illustrator skills will translate over so well!
Thanks for the very descriptive video! I followed all the instructions. However, I ended up getting a little bit of the water colour paper surrounding the motifs even after clean up. Not sure what I did wrong. I just used a phone camera and not a scanner though. Maybe that's why?
Hmm, what you could do is select all your motifs (command + click on the thumbnail of the motifs layer) and try select > modify > contract. Play with different pixel numbers until you remove the paper outline. Then, you can cut out your motifs with command + x and paste in place with command + shift + v, and delete the paper outline layer. Let me know if this works!
Thank you so much for this video!😇I've been trying everything before but because of being too nitpicky with details I always get stuck in manual labor for days. Also, is there a way how to make cleared watercolor elements more translucent? To take out paper whiteness from the elements themselves? So they can be used on darker backgrounds...
Good question! You could play with unchecking the “contiguous” box (but you may need to do more cleanup with some of the lighter areas of your painting), and you can also slightly decrease the opacity of your layer… that might work!
SO helpful thank you! One question, is this free software that you are using for those of us hoping to start learning the basics? If not, do you know of any free tools to that we can use? Thank you again so much, such a well organized and perfectly orated video.
Great tutorial. Has anyone ever tried this on photopea? I would like to have photoshop someday. For now, I’m using the free tool.
I’ve never used photopea, but maybe I should check it out!
This is great info - now just gotta find a scanner that can do a better resolution!
Facebook marketplace is a great place to start!! I put my scanner info in the first video of this series, but it’s a Canon LiDE 300 - quite inexpensive (I got mine used for $35) but has done a great job!
@@pepostudios I conveniently forgot that my laser printer is also a scanner and copier. I looked in the settings and it can get to some really high ppi! I got this thing at a garage sale for $5 in 2015
@@DforDela amazing!! I bet you can put that thing to work! I'm all about good bargains 😄
At -4:59 my new layer doesn't have the color what did I do wrong?
Is it possible to remove the paper background on motifs and work on it exactly as is with just a sketch in Illustrator? Thank you!
Hi! I'm wondering if you can elaborate a little bit to make sure I understand your question. You can certainly remove the background and isolate the motifs in Photoshop and bring those pieces into Illustrator, but ultimately those pieces will still be rasters (aka, pixel-based) and Illustrator is a vector-based program. Lots of folks will use the Image Trace feature of Illustrator to vectorize their raster artwork, so that's always an option. Let me know if I misunderstood your question!
Can I ask what kind of laptop you are using? I think I may have made the mistake of purchasing a Dell that has muted colors in Photoshop. I'm considering just giving it to my brother and getting something really good.
I use a 2018 MacBook Pro! Hmmmm, are all colors muted? Is it only in Photoshop, or is it across every app/browsers etc on your computer?
@@pepostudios It looks like colors are muted across everything not just photoshop. Dell is replacing my laptop but I think the real problem is just overall quality on the display. I didn't realize it would make a difference (I'm new to all of this). My friend showed me his macbook air m1 yesterday and it's something I might consider. I'm trying to do what you and Cat Coq are doing, taking my watercolors to spoonflower etc, so I'm finding the colors have to be spot on!
Great video though ! Not many going into the details you have.
Thank you so much!!! 🥰🥰