Shrinking Massive Clip Studio Paint Pages into One Layer

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In my project to move my Clip Studio Paint files to iCloud so that I can import them into CSP on my iPad, I ran into a big problem. When I tried to upload a file from my desktop computer, I received an error message that said I could not save the rile to a remote device (iCloud) because the file was being used by another service. iCloud was updating the file after a CSP autosave. I would have to wait until iCloud had transferred the autosave version.

On the iPad, I ran into a problem when I tried to download a file: CSP locked up while the file was downloading, sometimes for many minutes. Uploading files from the iPad caused the same lockup.

When I examined the file sizes for my CSP files, the cause of the delays was obvious: the files were enormous. By “enormous”, I mean 458MB. The smaller files ranged from 180MB to 300MB. It would be unreasonable to expect that these files would move quickly from my desktop CSP to iCould to my iPad. It was painful.

To make the process snappier I simply flattened the files. The 458MB file became a 65K file. In fact, all of the flattened files ended up being about 65k. They uploaded quickly, opened quickly, saved quickly, and were available on my iPad in seconds.

The problem with flattening files is that I no longer have the layers necessary for making major changes to the images. To preserve that information, my strategy is to save that information before flattening the files. I copied the entire project to a drive on my computer. If I need to redo the inking or color, I have a the complete page, with all of its layers, available.

Keeping two versions of the file is extra complexity, but it’s workable.

I'm moving my Clip Studio Paint files to iCloud

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I’d like to say that Clip Studio Cloud is really great, but it’s not. The upload speed, for me, is 0.05MP/sec, which means that large files, such as my 250MB pages with 70 layers, will never sync in my lifetime.

I wanted to use the CSP cloud so I could use Clip Studio Paint Ex on my iPad up to work on my book files. It seemed like the obvious thing to do, but what’s the point of having 100GB of storage when you don’t get the bandwidth necessary to move large image files.

My solution was to give up on the Clip Studio Cloud and put my 22GB of book files into the my iCloud account. Within an hour all of my files were shareable on my iPad. Problem solved.

Redrawing Page One

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Replacing the pencil outlines with G-pen ink

When I started the book, I imagined Jimmy Jay and Betty Burro running from the Monarch Butterfly sanctuary to Guadalajara. I got frustrated with the background and decided to just sketch the two of them running and move on. I would come back to finish the page later. It is now later.

My plan is to re-ink both characters, re-color them, and then add a jungle background.

Redrawing Page 31

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I’ve been distracted lately. When that happens, the best I can do is to go through the book and start repairing pictures that need work. When I review the pages, I see that they look unfinished, as if I was in a hurry — or lazy — when I decided that the page was good enough.

Page 31 needs re-inking and coloring — a complete makeover.

Redrawing page 60

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Jimmy Jay is unrecognizable on page 60. That’s him on the left. He’s cute in an ugly way, but it takes a stretch of the imagination to accept him as the real Jimmy Jay. I don’t want the reader to start wondering who this new character is. The corrected Jimmy is on the right.

When I drew this page, I was going through “rough inking madness” and now I have to redo the linework, at least for Jimmy and Dylan. The background can remain rough. I have several more pages that use heavy outlines.

Making a Mess

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I’ve started fixing some of my early pages. In the one above the heavy lines are bothering me. I drew this page so long ago that I’ve forgotten which brush I used to get the lovely texture. I’ve changed my style three or four times i n the last year. My fickleness coming back to bite me. Ouch!

Combining solitary pages into two-page spread with Clip Studio Paint EX

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These odd-sized pages have been combined into a two-page spread

Over the 18 months I’ve been working on this book, I’ve used several painting programs besides Clip Studio Paint — Krita, Photoshop, Procreate, and Rebelle. What I didn’t think about when I used those programs was getting the page size right. It didn’t occur to me that Clip Studio Paint EX can only combine pages into two-page spreads unless the pages are exactly the same size and resolution.

I’ve accumulated twenty pages with the wrong dimensions or resolution. Some pages were A4 size and 350 dpi, when they should have been 11.40x9.00 inches at 300 dpi. I spent the day changing nonconforming pages to exactly 11.40x 9.00 inches.at 300 dpi.

Some of the pages, like the example above couldn't be scaled without loosing content. I had to resize those files by scaling them up or down, resulting is some blank areas at the top and bottom. I first scaled the image to 11.40 inches wide, then changed the canvas size to 11.40x9.00 inches.

I’ll have to rework all of the pages that were imported at the wrong size. I could have avoided that extra work if I had been diligent about adhering to the project page size set in the StoryIP) -> Page Manager.

It’s been another live and learn day.

Almost finished with the birthday cake page

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Almost finished with the page…if I leave the background simple. Drawing Momma’s hand holding the plate took most of the day. I had to create a reference picture of myself carrying a plate. The gotcha is that I have five fingers and Momma has four. Three fingers under the plate looked weird, so, taking advantage of artistic license, I put her thumb under the plate.

It’s ironic that I always add the “self-publishing” tag to my posts 365 days a year, when in reality, I publish a book only once a year.

Changing the Birthday Cake Page

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Momma’s right arm is a work in progress

I’ve decided that the Ringmaster and the Clown really don’t need to be in the birthday cake scene. They’re out. Instead I’m going to show Momma Burro serving two pieces of cake. The challenge is to draw her right arm carrying the cake high, at chin level. I looked for reference pictures of waiters and waitresses carrying food, but I couldn’t find pictures taken from the angle I need. Tomorrow I’m going to photograph myself in the pose I want.

Compositing a picture using many layers

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Yesterday’s post was my 1,000th on this site. Everything here is a re-posted to https://doukat.tumblr.com.

This picture in half of a two-page spread.The two pages have about 100 layers between them. By the time I finish tossing unnecessary layers, there will be about a dozen layers.

My job is to make this picture make dramatic sense. Jimmy and Betty are pledging best friends forever while the ringmaster, the clown, and Betty’s mother look on. The clown is looking at the cake, and the ringmaster has got his eye on the suspicious clown. Betty’s mother is about to intrude on a special moment.

To make the table more interesting, I’m going to add a deck of cards and some poker chips.