The Basics

• 1). Study a variety of manga-ka (manga artists and writers). Learn which styles you prefer and wish to imitate. Note the proportions. Usually limbs are elongated, eyes are enlarged, mouths shrunk and noses narrowed. Depending on the genre, men are often feminized in appearance and behavior.
  
  
• 2). Background art adds a dimension of realism to manga. Study photographs of landscapes, cities and building interiors. Sketch multiple versions, streamlining buildings and paying attention to the shadows and highlights.
  
  
• 3). Learn manga conventions for displaying emotion. Some are unique to manga, such as the sweatdrop and the faceplant. Other conventions like the super-deformed "chibi" style are popular.
  
  

Screen Tones

• 1). Screen tones are used to create tone and depth in line art. Scan an image into Photoshop and save it as a TIFF (Tagged Image File Format) file.
  
  
• 2). Click on the rectangular mask option. Press CTRL+A to select the entire image. Press CTRL+C to copy, then go to Edit menu at the top and select "Paste as layer." Choose "Darken" as the layer option.
  
  
• 3). Load the desired screen tone into Photoshop.
  
  
• 4). Click on the rubber stamp icon. Using ALT + left mouse button, grab the desired area. Be careful about the brush you use while doing this; the blurrier the brush, the softer the edges of the stamp will look.
  
  
• 5). Resize the screen tone, depending on how dense you want the image to be.