Hi! Let’s talk about how to create pixel art on Clip Studio Paint using Filters!
I’ll be making a Pagedoll for this topic. And I’ll be using CSP PRO, you can use the EX version, works the same. The CLIP files or project files will be available for download so you can follow along or you can try it out yourself.
We will be making something like this:
The video version is right here below:
I also made a SHORT-Shortcut version of the same tutorial; because the original video is heavy on explanations - looks overwhelming.
⭐ This version has no voice over and no hardcore explanation. Just basic explanations
Here it is:
What is a Pagedoll?
Pagedolls are like small art pieces that people use to decorate their pages (DeviantART, Toyhou.se, etc.)
My Pagedoll is my steamed rice cake-dude.
There's no rules of art style for pagedolls - it just has to be small.
But the most common ways of making pagedolls are pixel art.
So we'll do something like that for this topic
Prepare your image
First things first, let’s open our image.
I recommend using a drawing with a separated background.
⭐ This image has already been cut into pieces for animation purposes, because I’ll animate this as well. You can use an uncut or just a regular drawing, works the same.
So let’s turn this into pixel art or pagedoll.
First, let’s crop this because there’s a lot of empty spaces
Get your [Selection tool] > [Rectangle]
And get the area that you want to be cropped.
Then go to [Edit] > [Crop]
And when it's cropped, it would look like this:
Okay, next step, let’s resize this.
The original image is around 1.2 to 1.3 k pixels, so let’s lower this down.
Go to [Edit] > [Change Image Resolution]
I’m going 250 pixels for the Height.
⭐Pagedolls can sometimes ranged up to 300 pixels.
Click OK when you’re done.
Okay now our image is small!
Let’s pixelate this now
Pixelate Effect - Artistic
Starting with the Hair!
⭐ Please remember! You can use an uncut or a flat image as well!
Go to [Filter] > [Effect] > [Artistic]
When you first open the Artistic Filter, this is what it would look like.
Let’s talk about this;
✦ Process - What do you want to process? Do you want to edit Color and Lines, or Color alone or Lines alone?
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✦ Line thickness – the lower the value, the thinner the lines are. The higher the value, the thicker the lines are.
In here, I recommend scrolling this bar so you see what works best for you.
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✦ Line Simplicity – this is like the line details. The lower the value, the less details. The higher the value, the greater the detail.
I also went 11 on this one.
--------------------------------------------------✦ Line Density – I think this is the weight of the lines.
Like example here, if I increase the number, the lines that are almost invisible suddenly appears.
I stick with 15 on this one, because I don’t want those small lines to appear.
--------------------------------------------------✦ Line Opacity – this is the opacity of the line. The higher the value, the darker the lines will be. Lower value, looks like there’s almost no line.
I went 30 - for now.
--------------------------------------------------✦ Line anti-aliasing – this is like the smoothness of the line.
The higher the value, the smoother it becomes. Lower the value and it becomes sharper.
I’m gonna stick to 1 – because I’m trying to mimic pixel art, so I need to make it look like pixel – which have sharp lines.
Then I’ll just go back to Line Opacity to change it to somewhat lower – 16%
--------------------------------------------------✦ Color Blending – these are the blending of colors.
The lower the value, the less blending – so you get like a lot of colors here.
The higher the value, the greater amount of blending and you get less colors
If you’re trying to do like a pagedoll – go 50% or higher.
--------------------------------------------------✦ Color Blur – this literally blurs the colors. The higher the value the higher the blur amount.
I stick to 1 on this. Since I need everything sharp, especially the colors and so and I don’t really need this.
--------------------------------------------------✦ Number of Colors – this is the one that helps create like the pixel effect.
Because this gives us the capacity to lower the colors of our drawing.
The lower the value, the less color. The higher the value, the higher the amount of colors.
I went 11% on this one.
And that's it. When you're done, just click OK.
Okay, so this is before and this is after
This is the main pixel filter.
You can already work with this, but if your want to go full detail and go extra - the next topics are for extra editing.
Pixel Effect - Unsharp Mask
Let's make the lines sharper!
Next go to [Filter] > [Sharpen] > [Unsharp mask]
This is like our only Sharpen tool that we can control, so we’ll use this.
This is what it looks like
⋆ Radius - the size of the effect/filter
⋆ Strength - the strength of the effect
⋆ Threshold - this more or less affects the smoothness of the lines/edges. The lower the value the sharper the lines/edges becomes. Higher value makes them smoother
And these are the settings that I ended up with:
⋆ Radius: 15 | ⋆ Strength: 33 | ⋆ Threshold: 0
And just click OK when you're done.
This is the before and after:
*Pixel Effect - Duplicate Layer
This next part is optional but I love doing these, just to go extra.
This makes the outer lines sharper or basically just make the outer lines go darker.
We're going to be Duplicating the layer/drawing and merging them.
With the layer still selected, go to [Layer] > [Duplicate Layer]
Now we have two layer of the same, and the outer line looked more sharper/darker
Now hit [CTRL + E] or Merge to the layer below.
You can do this as many times as you want. I did this thrice.
And this is before and this is after
*Pixel Effect - recolor
This next step is also OPTIONAL.
But if some lines got too dark for your liking, you can recolor.
For example, the lines/line art on the bangs got too dark, so let's recolor that.
Make a [New Raster Layer] above the area that you want to fix, on here, it’s the hair.
o Then [Clip it to the Layer below]
Now get your [Gradient Tool] > [Foreground to Transparency]
⋆ You can use a Brush if you want
Now get the skin tone of the character, hold [ALT] on your keyboard and select the color
You can use whatever Gradient Shape that you want, I’m going [Ellipse]
And just make Gradient strokes on the bangs.
o You can change the [Blending Mode] if you want. [Normal] and [Screen] are my usual go-to.
When you’re done, remember to merge them together or [CTRL + E] on your keyboard.
*Pixel Effect - redraw / retouch
---------------------------------------------------Get your [Marker] Tool, use whatever tool that you want but just make sure to check your [Anti-aliasing] – it should be set to none
⋆ I’m using a default brush, the [Marker Pen]
Then just select the color, Hold [ALT] then choose the color, and just draw using the [Marker] Tool of your choice.
Just focus on the outer lines, you don’t have to work on the inner ones.
On the face or the Head layer, I’m gonna remove this patches of colors using the [Blend] Tool.
*I’m not an expert on pagedolls but I’ve seen some people use smooth colors like this while retaining the other pixelated elements – like these shadows for the hair.
Then again, Pagedolls aren't the traditional pixel arts
If you feel like the lines are already heavy enough, you can also erase if you don’t want to paint them over.
Use the same [Marker] Tool that you’re using, but this time, use the [Transparent] color
*You can use an [Eraser] - just make sure to check the Anti-Aliasing and set it to NONE
Files to download | TRY it yourself!
And that’s it, that’s how you can do a pixel effect/filter using Clip Studio Paint.
The video feels overwhelming so I recommend watching the SHORT-shortcut version if you want!
You can get the image sample of Chen and Berry on the Dropbox link!
I included another chibi on there as well
Then I just animated this, also on CSP Pro!
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