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How to Create Computer Comics

Comic books and strips are a part of the artwork known as sequential storytelling. Conventionally, the story is told on paper with successive panels advancing the tale from one to the next. However, in the computer age, comics can be created using any of a number of computer graphics programs such as Adobe Photoshop, Macromedia Fireworks, Adobe Illustrator and more. You will need a working knowledge of these programs first, but once that is achieved, anyone with a desire to tell a story with sequential artwork can create a comic.

Instructions

- 1
  Break your story down into a script containing directions for each scene. A comic panel is a snapshot of the action in any particular scene. You will need to write descriptions of these actions for each scene before beginning with the artwork; that way, you'll have a blueprint to follow when you create the comic.
  
  Script example:
  
  Page One
  
  Panel One
  (write in a description of the action for panel one here)
  (add the dialogue below the panel description)
  
  Panel Two
  (write in the action for panel two here)
  (add the dialogue below the panel description)
  
  Panel Three
  (write in the action for panel three here)
  (add the dialogue below the panel description)
  
  Page Two
  
  Panel One
  (and so on...)
- 2
  Open your graphics program, select a new canvas and create a rectangular box that is 600 pixels wide by 200 pixels tall. The rectangle should have a border five pixels wide, done with a hard line brush.
- 3
  Section the rectangle into three panels by drawing two equally spaced vertical lines inside the rectangle. Make these lines five pixels wide with the hard line brush. You now have a three-panel comic strip.
- 4
  Refer to your script and draw the scene from panel one into the left-most panel using the computer mouse or a graphics tablet. Remember to designate a space for your dialogue. If you do not possess drawing skills, you can use the shape tool to create people and backgrounds. Simply use circles for heads, oblong circles for bodies, rectangles for arms and legs, etc.
- 5
  Draw the action in panels two and three in the same manner you used for panel one.
- 6
  Create a circle in the area designated for dialogue and then draw a tail leading from the edge of the circle to the speaker̵7;s mouth. Type the dialogue into the circle. You have just created a word balloon.
- 7
  Repeat Step 5 with the dialogue in panels two and three. You now have a three panel comic.
- 8
  Color in the people and scenery in your panels using the color fill tool, if you don't want to keep the comic in black-and-white.

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