This is a compilation of the screentone methods that have been posted in the image boards. Just remember that each method isn’t necessarily the only correct one. A method may not be great on a gradient while another one may cause more distortion if it’s not accurate enough. It’s basically your pick on how do to it. It may even help to use each one of these methods as the need arises. Hopes it helps some people.
BAF Method
Ruka Method
Step 1
Get your original raws.
Step 2
Zoom in at 200% or 300% until you can properly see the screentone boxes. Set the clone tool on the box.
Step 3
Find a similar area and apply the cloning. If the position of the box doesn’t change or is VERY similar without making a noticeable change when zoomed out, you’ve set the clone tool properly.
Step 4
Clean the image with the now set clone tool and repeat steps 2~4 until you clean the area you need to clean.
Step 5
This one is half done, but I think you get the idea. The screentone blends is fairly well with the surrounding area, and is barely noticeable when zoomed out.
That’s how I usually do it anyway. Painstaking but well worth the results.
Halbarad Method
-Pattern Method-
If you’ve ever come across an image where you had a moderate to large section of screentone, but that needed to have it filled in over a much larger area, or where the section you’re trying to clone from is annoyingly far away from the area you’re cloning too, you might want to consider making a pattern of the screentoned area for use with the pattern stamp tool. Here’s how it works.
1. Select a decent-sized area of screentone with the rectangular selection tool. Try to avoid picking an area with an obvious gradient if you can, but otherwise you don’t need to be particularly picky about what you grab.
2. Copy the area and paste it into a new image that’s the same size. Go to Image->Canvas Size… on the new image and blow it up to 2x its original size in both directions – if you have a 50×80 original image, blow it up to 100×160, etc. When you do, make sure to click on the up-left diagonal on the canvas size screen; this should leave your current image in the upper-left corner of the new canvas area once you’re done.
3. Paste the original copied screentone pattern into the new image again; it should pop up on a new layer. Move this layer until the screentone lines up exactly with the right side of the original image without any blurring or distortion; you’ll want to try to keep the trimming on the side to a minimum, as the larger your pattern is, the better it’ll look when it’s done (generally). Repeat this same process one more time, except with the bottom edge.
4. Merge the top two layers that you’ve just pasted and aligned. You should wind up with something that looks like the PSD attached to this post.
5. Using the magic wand tool, select the “hole” that’s in the top left corner of the top layer. Make sure the wand tool is set to Contiguous, as you don’t want to grab the other transparent space on this layer.
6. Switch to the bottom (original pattern) layer, then go to Edit->Define Pattern…
Name your pattern if desired, then hit OK. Now you can use any of the pattern tools (pattern fill, pattern stamp) with that exact screentone pattern anywhere you need it.
-Clone Stamp Method-
This one’s more for our beginners; as you get more practice, learning to match your screentones gets a bit easier.
Ever have problems getting a screentone to align exactly? There’s an easy way to make sure you get a perfect alignment on the first (or second) try, every time.
1. Start by looking over your screentoned area. If you zoom in, you’ll notice the repeating patterns in the screentone you’re working with; the image here shows that this particular tone consists of a “+”-sign like pattern. I’ve circled two of the matching areas, as these are what we want to line up.
2. Create a new guide. I’d recommend turning rulers on (Ctrl+R), then dragging the guide from the ruler; you can also create one from View->New Guide…
Moving guides once they’re placed can be done by holding Ctrl, then hovering the cursor over the guide until the cursor changes.
3. Line up your guide with the center of the area you want to clone, then create a second guide from the other side and line it up – you should get them to cross right in the center of the area you’re trying to copy. Repeat this process at or near the area you’re cloning to; you should end up with something that looks like the bottom half of the image. If you’re on one horizontal or vertical line you’ll only need three guides, like this; if you’re having to move diagonally, you’ll need four.
4. Switch to your Clone Stamp and hold down Alt to select your source area. Line up the crosshair with the center of the guide; you’ll know it’s aligned because the cursor’s crosshair lines will change to a dark red color when they’re right on top of the guides. Click once to pick up your pattern.
5. Now, -don’t let go of the Alt key-. Move the crosshair to the area you’ve selected to clone to, and line up the crosshair again. Once it’s aligned, let go of Alt and click to start cloning.
Voila, you should now have an exactly-aligned clone. This method is particularly useful if you need to move a clone over a fairly decent distance diagonally, as it can be hard to match the pattern when it’s not easily referenced nearby (and your clone stamp crosshair is in the way).
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