Using a computer can significantly speed up the production of comic strips.
A comic strip is a bite-sized piece of story that is delivered to readers on a regular basis. The story is told in a few panels with the expectation of more to come. The comic strip creator can streamline the process of turning out strips by using a computer program to create templates, draw characters and create a library of speech bubbles and art.
Instructions
1. Create a file folder for your comic strip. Within the folder, create subfolders for items such as speech bubbles, fonts, characters, sound effects and an archive for your strips. Place a shortcut to the main folder on your desktop or at another location where you can access it easily.
2. Open a new image file in your editing program and set it to your preferred size. Draw rectangles for the panels you would like to have in a standard strip. Save the file in your main folder with a generic name, like "untitled," to act as your template for future strips.
3. Scan in your hand-drawn art or draw your characters and objects into the strip if you have a digital drawing tablet. Use the sketch tool first and draw over the light thin lines with the paintbrush tool. Opt to draw your art overlapping the panel borders if you need working room---you can always erase the extra later. Draw backgrounds if you need them and then insert speech bubbles.
4. Insert dialogue text into the speech bubbles. Re-size the speech bubbles if you need more or less space to fit the words.
5. Colorize the art using the color fill tool in the program. Add effects like shadow or light gradients to bring depth to the color.
6. Save finished strips to the archive folder. Name it by the series title and publication date (in numbers only) to keep the strips organized.
