ColorLab for Illustrator

4.9
Rated 4.9 out of 5 stars
220 Reviews

$39.00 USD

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Get Authentic Vintage Halftone Colors

Note: ColorLab is available for Procreate, Photoshop, and Affinity as well. Be sure to look closely at the first few preview images. You'll see that because the Illustrator version is vector the dots are sharper and the colors are slightly different.

ColorLab makes getting retro archival comic effects fun and easy.

This industrial-strength collection of brushes, swatches, textures, and templates will help you achieve the cheap comic effects of your dreams with ease. 

We designed this pack with care so you can fine-tune your work. Get clean comic halftones or gritty smudged pulp print textures with ease.

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We designed this pack with care so you can fine-tune your work. Get clean comic halftones or gritty smudged pulp print textures with ease.

  • Authentic comic color halftones. We created this set from historic color formulas, color charts, and manual color matching with vintage comics. Plus, we've included a CMYK version (use this if you want exact CMYK printing).
  • Devilish details. We know that it's the little details that make these effects magic. That's why we've carefully emulated color sequences, screen angles, and ink bleeds. It's all built in so you can focus on your work.
  • Historic paper templates. A big secret to emulating vintage CMYK colors is how they interact with the paper. We've curated 8 archival paper samples including newsprint, kraft paper and more.
  • Non-destructive texturing. Everything can be dialed in including paper aging, ink textures, fading, and comic grading imperfections.
  • Easy to use. We've cut out as much of the confusing garbage as possible. No clunky actions, extra layers, or careless file bloating.

Software: Adobe Illustrator CS6 and above and Adobe Photoshop CS6 and above

Hardware: 2.4ghz processor or higher

Memory: 16 gb of RAM or higher

Storage: 8 GB

  • 125 pre-mixed process color halftone swatches (Illustrator swatches)
  • 12 manual color build halftone swatches (Illustrator swatches)
  • 3 brush pens in tip, art, and no-stretch versions (for a total of 12 Illustrator brushes)
  • 8 paper texture templates in two sizes (layered Illustrator .ai file)
  • 10 print defect brushes (Photoshop .abr brushes)
  • ColorLab Color Chart
  • 3 tutorial videos
  • The Complete ColorLab User Guide

There's nothing like vintage comics. The yellowing paper. The smudged ink. The musty smell of chemicals and newsprint.

And of course... cheap color halftones.

This is the stuff that our love of 1960's comics, cheesy mail-order ads, and bubble gum packaging is made of.

Unfortunately, these effects are insanely hard to achieve digitally.

Even with tutorials, brushes, and filters, the results can look mediocre

And to rub salt in the wound, a few select artists capture this look in their work. But they're tight-lipped about how they do it. Why? They know these kinds of authentic results are hard to pin down and make their work irresistible.

No more!

ColorLab makes achieving these retro archival effects easy and fun.

With an industrial-strength collection of brushes, swatches, textures, and templates, you can achieve rich vintage color halftone effects.

Get tight and clean comic halftones or make it gritty pulp print textures with ease. No other kit offers this much control to fine-tune your work.

Plus, we've included two ways to create your effects. Manually and with premixes. Whether you want to fine-tune every ink spot and registration error or want rapid results for a looming deadline, we've got you covered.

No other halftone or comic kit offers the options, control, or software compatibility.

4.9
Rated 4.9 out of 5 stars
Based on 220 reviews
Total 5 star reviews: 206 Total 4 star reviews: 13 Total 3 star reviews: 1 Total 2 star reviews: 0 Total 1 star reviews: 0
220 reviews
  • WB Profile picture for W B Hughes (.google logo
    W B Hughes (.
    Verified Buyer
    ColorLab for Clip Studio Paint
    Reviewing
    ColorLab for Clip Studio Paint
    I recommend this product
    Product Standouts Ease of use, Excellent instructions, Value for Money, Authentic, Fast results
    Rated 5 out of 5 stars
    So Glad I took the plunge

    I've been using Clip Studio Paint for about a year now with the goal of improving my coloring and enhancing my traditional cartoons. As a huge comic fan, I wanted to capture that classic, old-school comic style. A cartoonist named Max Riffner (look him up he's awesome) recommended it to me, but at first, I wasn’t sure if it was worth the investment. I tried creating my own Benday dots brushes, but it was time-consuming and still didn’t look as polished as the software I saw advertised.

    However, during Black Friday, I decided to give it a shot, and I’m so glad I did. Installation was easy, and I followed a step-by-step guide using my own line art (see pics). Not only did it teach me how to work with colors, but it also showed me how to use textures, and it came with paper samples, color guides, and great customer support. Even though I got it on sale, I’d have happily paid full price knowing everything it offers.

    Within just a couple of days, I finished my third attempt (see 2nd pic and zoom in), and I'm really pleased with the look I can achieve. The tools are intuitive, everything is organized, and I learned more than I expected. There are even free brushes available when you sign up for the newsletter, I've yet to play with, and the support videos and forums are helpful. It's so easy to use that it makes it fun to experiment with. I’m excited to see where this takes my cartooning.

    Highly recommended!

  • SO
    Sunny O.
    Verified Buyer
    ColorLab for Clip Studio Paint
    Reviewing
    ColorLab for Clip Studio Paint
    I recommend this product
    Product Standouts Ease of use, Authentic, Great Quality
    Rated 5 out of 5 stars
    My favorite pack

    Of all of the Retrosupply stuff I have, this is by far my favorite. Colorlab is just so much fun to use, and while it can be a bit tricky with the formulas, it's quite easy to use once you get into a good rhythm with it.

    I found that, with the CSP version, I couldn't really size the brush textures down below 50. If I try to go below 50, the texture creates a weird band affect, especially with the 20% brushes. (both dots and lines) It could be that it's a weird visual glitch with my Huion Kamvas tablet, but I just wanted to share that in case anyone else has that issue.

    Anyway, I love this pack and fully intend on using it for all of my comic projects. It's the best pack from Retrosupply!

  • HG
    Hannah G.
    Verified Buyer
    ColorLab for Procreate
    Reviewing
    ColorLab for Procreate
    I recommend this product
    Product Standouts Value for Money, Great Quality, Fast results, Excellent instructions, Ease of use
    Rated 5 out of 5 stars
    Great product

    I love using this for making things on my iPad + RSCO has great customer support that helped me pick this product when the one I originally purchased was not quite the right fit!

  • BD
    Barbaro D.
    Verified Buyer
    ColorLab for Photoshop
    Reviewing
    ColorLab for Photoshop
    I recommend this product
    Product Standouts Ease of use, Authentic, Fast results, Great Quality, Excellent instructions
    Rated 5 out of 5 stars
    Colorlab

    As a 80's kid, my whole world was in halftones. Every comic and magazine was an eruption of layered dots and lines.

    Colorlab has helped elevate my art. For years I was stuck in a clean solid color style. Colorlab helped me embrace my gritty past.

    Thanks RetroSupply.

  • DK
    derek k.
    Verified Reviewer
    ColorLab for Procreate
    Reviewing
    ColorLab for Procreate
    I recommend this product
    Product Standouts Value for Money
    Rated 5 out of 5 stars
    Obsessed!

    Can’t recommend this set more! It’’s magically every time I add a color on top of another and get to make my own offset prints with weirdo grime. Love this set

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