Doodly Advanced Tutorial

Changing Skin Tone Color

Advanced Tutorial #8

Changing Skin Tone Color

Showing how to adjust the skin tone color of a Doodly asset.

This document explains an advanced technique for changing the skin tone for Doodly characters. This article focuses on using Photoshop for the effect but any photo editor with similar capabilities can be used. At a worse case situation, this effect could even be completed in Microsoft Paint easily enough. This article presumes you already know how to use the software in the prerequisites section.

Prerequisites

Note: As you’ve discovered, Doodly is not a photo editing software, audio editing software suite. First and foremost, it is reveal program with a nice effect and that is it! By limiting our expectations of this software and expanding our skills to other programs, we can create nicely designed effects the way we want them to appear.

This method is fairly straight forward and the provided image shows the steps.

Short Version

Snip or Export from Doodly, Edit in Photo Editor, Select Skin, Change Color Level, Remove Background, Save from Editor, Import into Doodly, Create Reveal Paths.

Detailed Version

Exporting or Snipping
Exporting from Doodly is the best option for the best result but in a pinch, snipping from the canvas will work. Read Intermediate Skill Level Doodly Tutorial #29: Rapidly Export Multiple Assets.
Any method chosen, ensure you’ve obtained the image outside the Doodly software.

Photo Editor
Import or Open the file in a photo editor. It is best if the photo editor can save or export as a SVG file otherwise have an additional method of converting the PNG file to a SVG. We are using Photoshop, which does not allow for exporting or saving as a SVG file.

Selection
Use the selections tool within your photo editor to select just the skin color.

Levels
Open up the Levels, Color Balance or other color editor options to change the color of the selection. Adjust these levels as necessary for the desired skin tone.

Remove Background
Ensure the background is removed from the image. This will allow the image to be used for any canvas.

Saving
SVG is the best method in which to save this image. Photoshop cannot save as a SVG file so we would need to send to Illustrator via Paths to Illustrator in Photoshop and then save the file as a SVG file. If the photo editor does not have the capability of saving as a SVG file, a PNG file will work perfectly well. PNG is just not as small, in file size, as a SVG.

Import into Doodly
Import the now finalized image back into Doodly and we either have to create our own paths or import the ones we created with our SVG file, if available.

Reveal Paths
Create your own reveal paths. Creating your own paths is better than the default scribble paths that come with Doodly. It allows for better precision on where the reveal hand is desired to provide the better appearance of realism in the effect.

Frequently Asked Questions

Find answers to the most common questions regarding this topic.

To alter the skin color of a character you must export the image from the software and open it in an external photo editor. From there you can use selection tools to isolate the skin, adjust the color balance to your liking, remove the background, and then bring the updated image back into your video project.

The program is primarily designed as a reveal tool rather than a comprehensive image or audio editing suite. Because it lacks built in color adjustment features you have to rely on external programs like Photoshop or Microsoft Paint to modify character colors and achieve the specific visual effects you want.

Saving your finalized character as an SVG file is highly recommended because it results in a smaller file size and can retain path data. If your editing software cannot export directly to SVG a PNG file is a perfectly acceptable alternative, though it will take up more space.

Instead of relying on the default scribble effect provided by the software you should create custom reveal paths for your imported images. Drawing your own paths gives you precise control over exactly where the hand moves, which results in a much more realistic drawing animation.

Yes, you can use basic programs like Microsoft Paint to adjust character colors if necessary. While advanced software like Photoshop is preferred for better selection tools and color balancing, any editor that allows you to select specific areas and modify color tones will work for this process.

About the author

Wayne Leiser
Wayne Leiser
Editor & Contributor
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