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I know; this ain’t Wednesday! But I wanted to make a post right away since I finally got my scanner to do what I wanted it to! But before I start getting over-excited about it, I want to explain to new readers what the problem actually was that I was having, and why it was such a big deal to me.

I am working on the comic adaptation of Subject 218 whilst my proof readers catch up on all the projects I have thrown onto them, and since Subject 218 now has a structured plot-line I can finally begin making it in the format it was originally intended to be. For more info on the headaches of making this series, I advise you check out the Development of Subject 218 under the relevant menu.
Anyway, I have been drawing everything on pencil and paper, inking in a combination of professional manga pens and fine-liners, using the highest quality paper I could find. Of course, this paper is not pure white because of its quality of thickness, so when scanned in it produced some unwanted results.

First scan of a section of the comic using the default settings, sketch not erased.

The above image is the first attempt at using the scanner for this project, I chose a random panel that had different levels of detail to see how much it could pick up, so I also opted to leave the sketch in to see what would happen. This scanner picks up all details, including the paper texture! I didn’t want this for the project, so I looked for the correct settings to use in order to scan the pages nice and cleanly, so less editing would be needed to produce a flat-white background.

The same scan settings, but the sketch is erased. Notice the lines now look bolder!

I decided to see if this was because of the sketch making the scanners job more difficult than it needed to be, so I erased the sketch and tried again. The lines looked better, but the paper texture was still showing as was some erased lines. I struggled with finding the correct settings for weeks; online tutorials only proved handy for scanning in paintings were people wanted more texture to display, and the manual is pretty much useless. I resorted to trial and error, which has worked for me in the past but takes too darn long.

The scan as it should be; no paper texture!

The above image is how I intended the final line-work scans to look, this requires less editing to make the white background flat, and only needs some cleaning up (rogue dust marks and lines). This means I can focus on doing the drawings and get it edited faster, published quicker and made available for print before Comic Con.

Next on the update is a new print, which is based on one panel from the comic that I quite liked for a sticker, so I decided to share it. You can grab this print on Redbubble.

Print of Subject 218, Tim, based on a scene in the later issues of the Comic.

I plan on livestreaming tomorrow as usual but I don’t believe it will be for one whole hour as our internet is still a bit shaky. I want to thank those who have stopped on by either the stream via the website, or have come to see the site after seeing a stream. After the print of N’iota is done I will look at what other prints to work on for the stream instead, and hopefully I can do it from sketch to finish this time.

As you got the update today for the week, there will be no update tomorrow unless I make some miraculous breakthrough in a project.

Thomas

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