Enhancing Manga : A Guide to Adding Realistic Clothing Tones

Hello my friends, in this article, I’ll be talking about an essential topic for anyone interested in drawing manga: how to add tones to manga, especially for clothing. As we know, manga artists rely heavily on tones — they add detail, depth, and realism to the artwork without requiring complex manual shading or consuming too much time. Whether you're a beginner or a professional, these steps will help you improve the quality of your work with ease. So, let’s dive in together!

How to Add Clothing Tones Using Clip Studio Paint

• Choosing the Right Tone from the Material Library

  
  
  
  

• You can simply drag the tone directly over the character or the selected clothing area.

  
  
  
  

• Using the Operation Tool, you can resize or adjust the tone to perfectly fit the area you want to cover.

  
  
  
  

• Once the tone is placed, create a mask for the tone layer using the Mask button, which allows you to erase the excess parts outside the clothing borders.

• If the tone you used is colored, you can easily convert it to black and white using the Convert to Gray option from the layer settings

  
  

Another Method: Using the Simple Tone Setting

An alternative approach is to first select the clothing, then follow these steps:

• Select the clothing layer, or use any selection tool to manually select the clothing area.

• From the top menu, go to:Layer > Layer Property > Tone

• In the settings, enable Simple Tone Setting.

• You can then customize the line count, dot size, or tone density as you like. This method automatically turns the color into tones without needing to drag materials manually.

A Third Option: Using the Sub Tool with Spray Brush

There’s also a more manual method using the built-in tone brushes in Clip Studio:

• Select the clothing layer.

• Go to Sub Tool > Spray.

• Choose brushes like “Tone Spray” or “Dot Spray” to apply tones directly to the selected area.

• By adjusting the pen pressure or brush settings, you can control the tone density and spread. This is a great option for creating unique textures or special effects.

Why To Add Tones To Manga: Adding Realism and Depth to Clothing

Tones aren’t just decorative — they play a key role in making clothing look natural and believable. Through tones, you can simulate light and shadow in a stylized way that reflects the texture, folds, and material of the fabric. This boosts the scene’s credibility and helps readers connect more with the story.

Using tones in manga also gives you a visual shortcut to show fine details like fabric textures, skin, or backgrounds. Rather than relying entirely on hand shading, tones offer consistent detail and make your page more balanced and clean visually.

Final Thoughts

Today, we explored the importance of tones in manga, and how they bring realism and a unique artistic touch to your work — all without taking too much time. With the right tools in Clip Studio Paint, we can easily add tones to clothing, hair, and even backgrounds, resulting in beautiful, professional manga pages. I hope you found this article helpful! Don’t forget to experiment with the different methods and customize them to match your own style.

See you in another post, in shaa’ Allah!