Bringing Some Color to Doodles by SuzyQ Scraps

Have you ever come across a fun doodle pack that you just HAD to have … only to find that the doodles were all black? Maybe you bought them anyway, but still haven’t figured out how to customize them for your layouts. I (SuzyQ Scraps) am going to teach you some fun ways to color your doodles so you can match ANY layout! (Note: Screenshots are from PSCS4, but instructions work for PSE as well.)

CHANGING THE COLOR OF THE OUTLINE
1. Drag a doodle onto your layout. (For simplicity’s sake, I’m just showing the doodle in the screen shots.) This is a doodle from Oopsie-Doodle: Journaling 1 (if you purchased this month’s THE DIGI FILES there are some png files in Liz’s ‘Zine Style Templates’ that would as well (all those dots and arrows).

2. Choose a color. Add a new layer above your doodle (click on the sticky note icon or hit SHIFT+CTRL+N). Fill the layer with your desired color by hitting CTRL+Backspace. Then “clip” the color to the doodle (PSE: CTRL+G; PSCS: SHIFT+CTRL+G). (Tip: To match a color in your layout, select the eyedropper and then “suck” the color from the picture/element/paper.)

3. Alternatively, you can clip a background to the doodle. Instead of filling a new layer, just drag in a background above your doodle and clip it to the doodle. This can add more dimension to your doodle.

COLORING INSIDE A DOODLE
1. Drag a doodle onto your layout. This is a doodle from Digital Stamps: Wedding.

2. Select the magic wand tool. The default settings work beautifully.

3. Click inside the area you want to color — you should see marching ants around your selection after you click.

4. Expand the selection so it overlaps the doodle by going to Select > Modify > Expand.

5. Choose a small value — 2 pixels is typically sufficient.

6. Add a new layer BELOW the doodle (hold CTRL and click on the new layer icon) and fill it with your desired color (ALT+Backspace).

7. Hit CTRL+D to deselect.

8. If you want more depth or texture, try clipping a background to the fill layer.

COLORING A DOODLE USING MULTIPLE COLORS
1. Drag a doodle onto your layout. This doodle is from Oopsie-Doodle: Borders 1. I chose to change the color of my doodle to brown, but you could leave it black if that worked with your layout.

2. Select the magic wand too. To select multiple areas that will be the same color, click on the second option in the toolbar.

3. Click inside each area that you want to color — you should see marching ants around each selection. Then follow steps 4-7 above for coloring inside a doodle (expand the selection, add a new layer below, and fill the layer with your desired color).

4. Repeat these steps for each area you want colored, until your doodle is customized the way you want it.

Go have some fun coloring and customizing your doodles. Try experimenting with different papers — maybe even try clipping some patterned papers and see what happens. If you have any questions, please let me know and I’ll try to answer them. And if you try this, please link us to your layout or post it in our Flickr group with the tag Doodle Color. We’d love to see your creation!

Suzy is a 28-year-old SAHM to a super rambunctious 2-year-old and wife my sweetheart for 4 years. We live in the middle-of-nowhere, which I absolutely love. My background is in biology but I now find myself on the opposite end of the spectrum designing digital scrapbooking supplies and I am LOVING the journey.

A note from Steph: Technically, you can use your ‘flood-fill’ tool (without using the selection wand) to fill the doodles as well, sometimes however, it will leave a a slight (1-2 mpx) area between the doodle and area you want filled, unfilled or transparent.  Suzy’s method is the best way to make sure you get the entire doodle filled)