1 00:00:01,879 --> 00:00:07,619 hello my name is Laura Ennis I'm one of 2 00:00:05,099 --> 00:00:09,839 the co-hosts on paper wings podcast calm 3 00:00:07,620 --> 00:00:12,210 today I'm going to show you my process 4 00:00:09,839 --> 00:00:15,990 for lettering my comic the dreamer using 5 00:00:12,210 --> 00:00:18,990 a program called Comic Life I have my 6 00:00:15,990 --> 00:00:22,679 file opened here for the next page in my 7 00:00:18,989 --> 00:00:24,989 webcomic as you can see I don't have 8 00:00:22,679 --> 00:00:27,268 final art done yet I do all of my 9 00:00:24,989 --> 00:00:30,118 lettering during the rough stage of my 10 00:00:27,268 --> 00:00:33,030 comic so this page here is full size for 11 00:00:30,118 --> 00:00:34,950 print so when I go to send my graphic 12 00:00:33,030 --> 00:00:36,960 novel off to the publisher it's already 13 00:00:34,950 --> 00:00:38,879 set up everything is within the proper 14 00:00:36,960 --> 00:00:40,770 guidelines for print and I won't have to 15 00:00:38,878 --> 00:00:43,019 make any changes down the road which 16 00:00:40,770 --> 00:00:45,270 when you get to the end of a book making 17 00:00:43,020 --> 00:00:48,000 changes on 150 pages takes a lot of time 18 00:00:45,270 --> 00:00:49,920 so I learned that the hard way so I have 19 00:00:48,000 --> 00:00:52,079 my panel set up on their own layer and 20 00:00:49,920 --> 00:00:55,050 then I've got my rough sketch here and 21 00:00:52,079 --> 00:00:57,660 the reason that I letter my comic at 22 00:00:55,049 --> 00:00:59,849 this point is because I'm an independent 23 00:00:57,659 --> 00:01:03,569 comic creator I do every step of the 24 00:00:59,850 --> 00:01:05,700 artwork myself and if I letter at the 25 00:01:03,570 --> 00:01:08,310 beginning and there isn't enough room 26 00:01:05,700 --> 00:01:10,260 for the word balloons it's very easy to 27 00:01:08,310 --> 00:01:12,359 make a change at this point so it's 28 00:01:10,260 --> 00:01:14,490 really easy to drag and drop something 29 00:01:12,359 --> 00:01:16,650 scale something move something make a 30 00:01:14,489 --> 00:01:19,259 panel longer or taller or whatever needs 31 00:01:16,650 --> 00:01:21,299 to happen right now whereas if I waited 32 00:01:19,259 --> 00:01:22,950 all the way till I did final art those 33 00:01:21,299 --> 00:01:25,049 changes would be a lot more difficult to 34 00:01:22,950 --> 00:01:26,368 make because I'm lettering it myself it 35 00:01:25,049 --> 00:01:28,729 makes sense that I would just do it 36 00:01:26,368 --> 00:01:31,920 earlier in the process rather than later 37 00:01:28,728 --> 00:01:34,650 so to bring this file in to Comic Life 38 00:01:31,920 --> 00:01:39,750 in a way that I can use it I'm going to 39 00:01:34,650 --> 00:01:41,340 save it as a JPEG and I save it straight 40 00:01:39,750 --> 00:01:42,200 to my desktop so it's really easy to 41 00:01:41,340 --> 00:01:45,118 find 42 00:01:42,200 --> 00:01:47,040 after I'm done working in comic life I 43 00:01:45,118 --> 00:01:50,430 don't need this file so I'll just throw 44 00:01:47,040 --> 00:01:54,329 it away when you open Comic Life up 45 00:01:50,430 --> 00:01:57,530 you'll get this template chooser and I'm 46 00:01:54,328 --> 00:01:57,529 just gonna pick a blank page 47 00:01:59,209 --> 00:02:07,169 but once I'm in here you can change the 48 00:02:04,799 --> 00:02:09,330 size of your file to match the print 49 00:02:07,170 --> 00:02:12,120 size of your file so you can make a 50 00:02:09,330 --> 00:02:14,430 custom size anytime you want even though 51 00:02:12,120 --> 00:02:16,530 they have got a bunch of presets in here 52 00:02:14,430 --> 00:02:18,989 already so they have some of their own 53 00:02:16,530 --> 00:02:21,390 preset comic paper sizes that you might 54 00:02:18,989 --> 00:02:24,209 want to use or a book size or just 55 00:02:21,389 --> 00:02:27,539 traditional print printer paper sizes 56 00:02:24,209 --> 00:02:30,209 here but I have set up my own particular 57 00:02:27,539 --> 00:02:32,189 sizes that match the width of the page 58 00:02:30,209 --> 00:02:34,250 and the height that I need it to be so 59 00:02:32,189 --> 00:02:38,699 we're gonna go ahead and open this up 60 00:02:34,250 --> 00:02:41,509 and now my page got much bigger but it's 61 00:02:38,699 --> 00:02:46,369 the size that I need it to match my JPEG 62 00:02:41,509 --> 00:02:49,679 so over here on this side window here I 63 00:02:46,370 --> 00:02:51,810 just picked the finder tab and since I 64 00:02:49,680 --> 00:02:53,370 saved my page straight to my desktop I 65 00:02:51,810 --> 00:02:58,560 can find it right there and you just 66 00:02:53,370 --> 00:03:01,620 drag and drop now it will show up small 67 00:02:58,560 --> 00:03:05,039 like this but it's it's still full-sized 68 00:03:01,620 --> 00:03:06,539 you just need to scale it and we're just 69 00:03:05,039 --> 00:03:09,449 using this in here 70 00:03:06,539 --> 00:03:10,739 just as a placeholder whenever we export 71 00:03:09,449 --> 00:03:13,259 our word balloons we're gonna delete 72 00:03:10,739 --> 00:03:16,680 this jpg out of here anyways up under 73 00:03:13,259 --> 00:03:18,899 View you can turn on show pages and 74 00:03:16,680 --> 00:03:20,700 styles which will pop up on the left 75 00:03:18,900 --> 00:03:22,469 over here so if you have a multiple page 76 00:03:20,699 --> 00:03:25,560 document they'll be showing up in this 77 00:03:22,469 --> 00:03:27,359 left Pages box and you also have this 78 00:03:25,560 --> 00:03:31,920 styled document here for your word 79 00:03:27,359 --> 00:03:33,480 balloons and down at the bottom here you 80 00:03:31,919 --> 00:03:36,689 can find all of your different word 81 00:03:33,479 --> 00:03:38,548 balloon shapes to pick from I'm just 82 00:03:36,689 --> 00:03:41,009 gonna take a standard balloon this is 83 00:03:38,549 --> 00:03:43,230 unless I'm doing a caption I almost 84 00:03:41,009 --> 00:03:47,789 always typically just go for a standard 85 00:03:43,229 --> 00:03:49,828 balloon now to save yourself time from 86 00:03:47,789 --> 00:03:52,289 having to retype everything you can just 87 00:03:49,829 --> 00:03:54,689 open up your comic script in pages or 88 00:03:52,289 --> 00:03:56,939 word or whatever program that it is that 89 00:03:54,689 --> 00:04:00,590 you use and from here you can just 90 00:03:56,939 --> 00:04:05,949 highlight and copy your text 91 00:04:00,590 --> 00:04:08,750 and then come back into Comic Life and 92 00:04:05,949 --> 00:04:12,379 paste the text in there now it's not 93 00:04:08,750 --> 00:04:15,259 going to look good right away so if you 94 00:04:12,379 --> 00:04:19,668 pull up your font window highlight it 95 00:04:15,259 --> 00:04:22,849 you can play around here until you find 96 00:04:19,668 --> 00:04:25,699 the font that you like that's the right 97 00:04:22,850 --> 00:04:27,500 size that works for your book when you 98 00:04:25,699 --> 00:04:30,229 export it that's gonna look good on 99 00:04:27,500 --> 00:04:34,189 print or on the web whatever it is that 100 00:04:30,230 --> 00:04:37,490 you use but once you know that it's easy 101 00:04:34,189 --> 00:04:40,339 to repeat it every time because you know 102 00:04:37,490 --> 00:04:43,930 what size for me I do digital strip with 103 00:04:40,339 --> 00:04:46,459 their regular font in a size 11 and 104 00:04:43,930 --> 00:04:48,110 whenever you copy it sometimes it will 105 00:04:46,459 --> 00:04:50,839 less left justify depending on the 106 00:04:48,110 --> 00:04:53,990 program that you have it from so up here 107 00:04:50,839 --> 00:04:57,829 you can just pick the center and center 108 00:04:53,990 --> 00:04:59,750 that in your balloon now this is too 109 00:04:57,829 --> 00:05:02,899 thick of a line for me so I'm going to 110 00:04:59,750 --> 00:05:06,769 go up to stroke and then just reduce it 111 00:05:02,899 --> 00:05:09,849 slightly to four and you can zoom in if 112 00:05:06,769 --> 00:05:09,849 you want to zoom in closer 113 00:05:15,038 --> 00:05:21,788 now this is the part of Comic Life that 114 00:05:18,598 --> 00:05:24,968 works either really well or not very 115 00:05:21,788 --> 00:05:27,938 well and so it's sort of a balloon by 116 00:05:24,968 --> 00:05:31,300 the balloon panel by panel problem as 117 00:05:27,939 --> 00:05:33,699 you put the words in the balloon it will 118 00:05:31,300 --> 00:05:37,149 automatically try to Center them in this 119 00:05:33,699 --> 00:05:39,490 space for you so as you change the 120 00:05:37,149 --> 00:05:41,649 balloon how tall it is or whatever it's 121 00:05:39,490 --> 00:05:42,848 automatically resizing in here and 122 00:05:41,649 --> 00:05:44,619 that's one of the things that I love 123 00:05:42,848 --> 00:05:46,088 about the program is how easy it is to 124 00:05:44,619 --> 00:05:48,009 make changes that you're not constantly 125 00:05:46,088 --> 00:05:50,319 changing your bounding box and things 126 00:05:48,009 --> 00:05:53,528 like that but sometimes it gets a little 127 00:05:50,319 --> 00:05:55,718 bit awkward in here and it might work 128 00:05:53,528 --> 00:05:58,778 better if you make one or two tweaks so 129 00:05:55,718 --> 00:06:00,430 I'll go in here if something doesn't 130 00:05:58,778 --> 00:06:02,680 look quite right and I think maybe it 131 00:06:00,430 --> 00:06:04,959 could fit better and then I'll put some 132 00:06:02,680 --> 00:06:07,028 of my own returns in manually and when 133 00:06:04,959 --> 00:06:14,198 that happens it usually resizes it 134 00:06:07,028 --> 00:06:16,449 pretty well to fit in that space so when 135 00:06:14,199 --> 00:06:18,490 you're putting your text in the balloon 136 00:06:16,449 --> 00:06:20,949 you want it to be in a diamond shape the 137 00:06:18,490 --> 00:06:23,228 best that you can so that it fills up 138 00:06:20,949 --> 00:06:25,770 that circular space as naturally as 139 00:06:23,228 --> 00:06:30,038 possible with as few dead spaces as 140 00:06:25,769 --> 00:06:34,778 possible now you don't need to re select 141 00:06:30,038 --> 00:06:36,639 your font size and the font name every 142 00:06:34,778 --> 00:06:38,709 single time or even the stroke on your 143 00:06:36,639 --> 00:06:41,829 balloon over here on the left is a 144 00:06:38,709 --> 00:06:44,588 Styles window so we can take this 145 00:06:41,829 --> 00:06:48,728 balloon that we just created and you can 146 00:06:44,588 --> 00:06:50,228 save a style right here it has a check 147 00:06:48,728 --> 00:06:53,680 mark so you can see which balloon it is 148 00:06:50,228 --> 00:06:56,288 that is your favorite way of making word 149 00:06:53,680 --> 00:06:58,478 balloons so now when I create a new word 150 00:06:56,288 --> 00:07:00,519 balloon it'll automatically pop up in 151 00:06:58,478 --> 00:07:01,990 that style and if it doesn't then you 152 00:07:00,519 --> 00:07:03,968 can just click that style right there 153 00:07:01,990 --> 00:07:05,379 and it will format everything to match 154 00:07:03,968 --> 00:07:08,610 the way that you've saved it so this is 155 00:07:05,379 --> 00:07:08,610 just a big time-saver 156 00:07:09,759 --> 00:07:14,319 sometimes if it's just a small balloon I 157 00:07:12,098 --> 00:07:19,110 won't if it's just small text I won't 158 00:07:14,319 --> 00:07:19,110 copy and paste from my pages document 159 00:07:22,559 --> 00:07:26,889 now I'm gonna add an extension balloon 160 00:07:25,209 --> 00:07:30,188 here this little balloon down here with 161 00:07:26,889 --> 00:07:32,559 the plus mark is an extension you grab 162 00:07:30,189 --> 00:07:35,110 this and drag it up until you get that 163 00:07:32,559 --> 00:07:37,569 yellow circle around your balloon and it 164 00:07:35,110 --> 00:07:39,968 will add a second one connected to this 165 00:07:37,569 --> 00:07:42,069 one so I'll just paste my text there and 166 00:07:39,968 --> 00:07:44,168 again you can see it's pasting the 167 00:07:42,069 --> 00:07:45,550 strange colors but when we go back here 168 00:07:44,168 --> 00:07:47,740 and click on our style it will 169 00:07:45,550 --> 00:07:50,168 automatically format it for us it even 170 00:07:47,740 --> 00:07:55,288 does the center justification so we 171 00:07:50,168 --> 00:07:57,490 don't even need to worry about that and 172 00:07:55,288 --> 00:08:00,908 then you can just do it again if you 173 00:07:57,490 --> 00:08:06,689 have another bit that you want to drop 174 00:08:00,908 --> 00:08:08,889 in and this will format the whole thing 175 00:08:06,689 --> 00:08:12,909 now the downside to that 176 00:08:08,889 --> 00:08:19,829 is that it I had this panel here in bold 177 00:08:12,908 --> 00:08:19,829 but that's an easy fix to to change 178 00:08:22,279 --> 00:08:26,429 so you can grab the the ends of your 179 00:08:25,079 --> 00:08:29,159 balloons and point them towards your 180 00:08:26,430 --> 00:08:31,709 characters mouths but you also can 181 00:08:29,160 --> 00:08:34,259 change the curvature and the thickness 182 00:08:31,709 --> 00:08:36,899 depending on how and what you do with 183 00:08:34,259 --> 00:08:39,059 this anchor and you can do a complicated 184 00:08:36,899 --> 00:08:43,639 tale if something's coming from around a 185 00:08:39,059 --> 00:08:45,869 corner this is really customizable too 186 00:08:43,639 --> 00:08:47,850 because he's sort of interjecting I 187 00:08:45,870 --> 00:08:50,129 don't want a soft curve I want it to 188 00:08:47,850 --> 00:08:51,600 look like he's his Texas kind of darting 189 00:08:50,129 --> 00:08:56,519 out of his mouth so I'll take the curve 190 00:08:51,600 --> 00:08:58,170 out of there and by breaking up his 191 00:08:56,519 --> 00:09:01,649 balloons a little bit like this then 192 00:08:58,169 --> 00:09:04,889 seems more like he's stuttering now just 193 00:09:01,649 --> 00:09:07,679 looking at it right now I am assuming 194 00:09:04,889 --> 00:09:10,799 that when I go into Photoshop these two 195 00:09:07,679 --> 00:09:12,929 characters back here are covered that 196 00:09:10,799 --> 00:09:15,509 his head is covered by her word balloon 197 00:09:12,929 --> 00:09:17,159 so I will probably come in and grab them 198 00:09:15,509 --> 00:09:19,019 and drag them down a little bit either 199 00:09:17,159 --> 00:09:20,549 make them smaller or move them down a 200 00:09:19,019 --> 00:09:22,379 little bit so that they have a bit more 201 00:09:20,549 --> 00:09:26,689 breathing room from that balloon which 202 00:09:22,379 --> 00:09:26,689 is why you want a letter at this point 203 00:09:43,649 --> 00:09:47,819 did the downside to using the style 204 00:09:46,139 --> 00:09:50,759 button just like I said before is that 205 00:09:47,820 --> 00:09:54,089 you lose your formatting on italics in 206 00:09:50,759 --> 00:09:55,620 bold so I just have to if I notice over 207 00:09:54,089 --> 00:09:58,290 here that there is a word that's in 208 00:09:55,620 --> 00:10:01,049 italics I need to just make sure I make 209 00:09:58,289 --> 00:10:04,849 that change myself so right now I'm 210 00:10:01,049 --> 00:10:04,849 noticing a problem in this layout 211 00:10:09,639 --> 00:10:14,620 it's not looking like I have much room 212 00:10:11,980 --> 00:10:16,090 at all to drop in this second word 213 00:10:14,620 --> 00:10:18,730 balloon that this character on the right 214 00:10:16,090 --> 00:10:21,570 is saying this is probably going to be a 215 00:10:18,730 --> 00:10:21,570 little bit of a problem 216 00:10:25,820 --> 00:10:30,760 he's going to be overlapping our main 217 00:10:27,950 --> 00:10:34,430 character in the foreground and that's 218 00:10:30,759 --> 00:10:37,819 since he's the star of this page it's 219 00:10:34,429 --> 00:10:40,039 not a great idea because this balloon in 220 00:10:37,820 --> 00:10:41,720 panel one is overlapping these 221 00:10:40,039 --> 00:10:44,269 characters heads and I was going to have 222 00:10:41,720 --> 00:10:46,850 to make a change anyways I will probably 223 00:10:44,269 --> 00:10:48,620 go back into Photoshop and stretch these 224 00:10:46,850 --> 00:10:51,320 panels out and give them more breathing 225 00:10:48,620 --> 00:10:52,820 room at the top and the bottom and make 226 00:10:51,320 --> 00:10:54,500 that fix there because there's not very 227 00:10:52,820 --> 00:10:57,740 much lettering on the rest of the page 228 00:10:54,500 --> 00:10:59,419 so I easily can cut into some of these 229 00:10:57,740 --> 00:11:00,950 other panels a little bit still have 230 00:10:59,419 --> 00:11:02,299 plenty of room on them but they're not 231 00:11:00,950 --> 00:11:04,820 going to feel cramped but it's gonna 232 00:11:02,299 --> 00:11:07,250 give these word balloons up here some 233 00:11:04,820 --> 00:11:09,230 some space to breathe so I'm really glad 234 00:11:07,250 --> 00:11:11,149 that I did my lettering at this stage 235 00:11:09,230 --> 00:11:12,980 because if not I would have been unhappy 236 00:11:11,149 --> 00:11:15,529 with a final art if it was covering up 237 00:11:12,980 --> 00:11:17,269 these some of these key elements if you 238 00:11:15,529 --> 00:11:19,100 want to move along you could copy and 239 00:11:17,269 --> 00:11:22,850 paste all of your text at the same time 240 00:11:19,100 --> 00:11:26,149 and then come back in and do the 241 00:11:22,850 --> 00:11:32,990 formatting doing things in bulk just 242 00:11:26,149 --> 00:11:35,840 often speeds up process so these are my 243 00:11:32,990 --> 00:11:37,190 four remaining word balloons and I'll 244 00:11:35,840 --> 00:11:41,480 just format them all at the same time 245 00:11:37,190 --> 00:11:44,300 and then come back one at a time so this 246 00:11:41,480 --> 00:11:46,610 is a voiceover a character is talking to 247 00:11:44,299 --> 00:11:48,949 her from off camera so I'm just going to 248 00:11:46,610 --> 00:11:50,629 cover up the tails of the word balloons 249 00:11:48,950 --> 00:11:52,940 you there's actually no way to delete 250 00:11:50,629 --> 00:11:55,070 them but you can just take your balloon 251 00:11:52,940 --> 00:11:57,020 and pull it down so it overlaps with 252 00:11:55,070 --> 00:11:58,340 that tail and then it disappears if you 253 00:11:57,019 --> 00:12:02,829 want to get it back then you just grab 254 00:11:58,340 --> 00:12:06,530 it drag it and it reappears at any time 255 00:12:02,830 --> 00:12:10,670 so just a quick note on lettering as I'm 256 00:12:06,529 --> 00:12:12,589 dropping these balloons in because your 257 00:12:10,669 --> 00:12:15,079 leave reading left to right top to 258 00:12:12,590 --> 00:12:18,320 bottom when I have a voiceover like this 259 00:12:15,080 --> 00:12:20,690 on a panel I try to put the first one on 260 00:12:18,320 --> 00:12:22,790 the top left and the last one on the 261 00:12:20,690 --> 00:12:24,320 bottom right and you can sort of stagger 262 00:12:22,789 --> 00:12:25,909 them throughout for the panel a bit if 263 00:12:24,320 --> 00:12:29,210 that's what you if you have multiple 264 00:12:25,909 --> 00:12:31,399 ones just to make sure that it's reading 265 00:12:29,210 --> 00:12:32,930 left to right top to bottom and then 266 00:12:31,399 --> 00:12:34,789 once we get down here a reader 267 00:12:32,929 --> 00:12:36,739 intuitively is going to know to jump 268 00:12:34,789 --> 00:12:38,029 back to the left and then work down to 269 00:12:36,740 --> 00:12:40,190 the bottom so 270 00:12:38,029 --> 00:12:43,579 by staggering these panels like this 271 00:12:40,190 --> 00:12:46,040 you're forcing a reader to read through 272 00:12:43,580 --> 00:12:48,470 the panel and notice the artwork in 273 00:12:46,039 --> 00:12:50,419 between and on this panel here number 274 00:12:48,470 --> 00:12:52,129 five of the blank sheet of paper there's 275 00:12:50,419 --> 00:12:53,809 going to be important text on there that 276 00:12:52,129 --> 00:12:56,679 I drop it in Photoshop once I have the 277 00:12:53,809 --> 00:12:59,689 final art of the page so by doing that 278 00:12:56,679 --> 00:13:02,059 by spacing these voiceover word balloons 279 00:12:59,690 --> 00:13:04,820 in the places that I have I'm forcing 280 00:13:02,059 --> 00:13:06,379 the reader to read through the page 281 00:13:04,820 --> 00:13:08,120 they'll read the text on the piece of 282 00:13:06,379 --> 00:13:10,519 paper and then jump back to the 283 00:13:08,120 --> 00:13:12,409 voiceover and then they will jump down 284 00:13:10,519 --> 00:13:15,049 to this balloon read through her 285 00:13:12,409 --> 00:13:17,419 expression and then wind up on this 286 00:13:15,049 --> 00:13:19,159 final word balloon down there so you 287 00:13:17,419 --> 00:13:20,809 want to be thinking through that through 288 00:13:19,159 --> 00:13:22,429 that sort of thing up here in panel two 289 00:13:20,809 --> 00:13:24,259 I do the same thing I'm going to have 290 00:13:22,429 --> 00:13:26,329 one at the top and one at the bottom so 291 00:13:24,259 --> 00:13:29,299 that the reader is going to spend the 292 00:13:26,330 --> 00:13:30,770 time to go through the panel if this 293 00:13:29,299 --> 00:13:32,629 word balloon even though I don't have 294 00:13:30,769 --> 00:13:39,259 the space but if I put it up here 295 00:13:32,629 --> 00:13:43,250 somewhere I've got a little bit tangled 296 00:13:39,259 --> 00:13:45,259 up if I put it up here and you know 297 00:13:43,250 --> 00:13:47,600 we'll say that we have the extra panel 298 00:13:45,259 --> 00:13:50,389 space now that these guys can breathe 299 00:13:47,600 --> 00:13:52,490 with their dialog you jump from one to 300 00:13:50,389 --> 00:13:55,460 one and you instinctively are gonna want 301 00:13:52,490 --> 00:13:57,740 to go down to the next panel so by 302 00:13:55,460 --> 00:13:59,750 spacing the balloons apart from each 303 00:13:57,740 --> 00:14:02,389 other you spend more time reading 304 00:13:59,750 --> 00:14:04,039 through his expression as he leans into 305 00:14:02,389 --> 00:14:06,169 the character in the foreground and 306 00:14:04,039 --> 00:14:08,689 really talks to him and this is just it 307 00:14:06,169 --> 00:14:11,209 reads a lot better your readers gonna 308 00:14:08,690 --> 00:14:13,790 spend a lot more time on this panel and 309 00:14:11,210 --> 00:14:15,860 after you take the time to to make the 310 00:14:13,789 --> 00:14:18,139 art you want someone to notice it and 311 00:14:15,860 --> 00:14:21,529 more than that I think the magic of 312 00:14:18,139 --> 00:14:24,799 comics is that comics are stories that 313 00:14:21,529 --> 00:14:26,419 are told with words and pictures and the 314 00:14:24,799 --> 00:14:29,659 wonderful thing about being both writer 315 00:14:26,419 --> 00:14:32,389 and artist is that you can decide 316 00:14:29,659 --> 00:14:34,399 whether a picture or a word tells your 317 00:14:32,389 --> 00:14:36,559 story better sometimes it's a little bit 318 00:14:34,399 --> 00:14:39,769 of both but whatever it is you want to 319 00:14:36,559 --> 00:14:42,109 make sure that that is not being 320 00:14:39,769 --> 00:14:44,088 overlooked by a reader just because you 321 00:14:42,110 --> 00:14:46,970 made a poor layout decision so if an 322 00:14:44,089 --> 00:14:49,570 expression or a reaction is a key part 323 00:14:46,970 --> 00:14:51,340 of telling that story there's no need to 324 00:14:49,570 --> 00:14:53,110 write it into the 325 00:14:51,340 --> 00:14:56,370 dialogue but make sure that your art is 326 00:14:53,110 --> 00:14:59,159 actually able to convey the types of 327 00:14:56,370 --> 00:15:01,990 events and reactions and emotions and 328 00:14:59,159 --> 00:15:03,129 things clues that you can hide in 329 00:15:01,990 --> 00:15:04,840 through script you want to make sure 330 00:15:03,129 --> 00:15:08,559 that all that is showcased and is 331 00:15:04,840 --> 00:15:10,509 evident so as you can see on this page 332 00:15:08,559 --> 00:15:12,429 there is a lot that is happening that 333 00:15:10,509 --> 00:15:14,139 has nothing to do with the dialogue but 334 00:15:12,429 --> 00:15:15,849 it's just the art alone is sort of 335 00:15:14,139 --> 00:15:18,100 telling the story especially we've got 336 00:15:15,850 --> 00:15:20,200 this strong reaction panel here and in 337 00:15:18,100 --> 00:15:22,120 these two panels the word balloons are 338 00:15:20,200 --> 00:15:24,670 coming from a character off screen and 339 00:15:22,120 --> 00:15:26,980 the more important part of the story is 340 00:15:24,669 --> 00:15:28,659 what we're actually looking at than what 341 00:15:26,980 --> 00:15:30,279 we're hearing because she's not really 342 00:15:28,659 --> 00:15:32,529 paying attention to him so it's supposed 343 00:15:30,279 --> 00:15:34,360 to be more in the distance and her 344 00:15:32,529 --> 00:15:35,319 reaction is the strongest point so make 345 00:15:34,360 --> 00:15:37,539 sure that when you're creating your 346 00:15:35,320 --> 00:15:40,570 layouts your layouts showcase that 347 00:15:37,539 --> 00:15:43,089 there's no need that we see her cousins 348 00:15:40,570 --> 00:15:44,680 snarky comments to her when the poll 349 00:15:43,090 --> 00:15:47,259 point of the stories that she's about to 350 00:15:44,679 --> 00:15:54,039 make a very serious revelation well I'm 351 00:15:47,259 --> 00:15:55,929 gonna save my document you could put it 352 00:15:54,039 --> 00:16:02,289 wherever it is that you you will know 353 00:15:55,929 --> 00:16:04,449 where it is and I always save it at this 354 00:16:02,289 --> 00:16:05,949 point so that if I make changes all I 355 00:16:04,450 --> 00:16:08,830 need to do is make sure that there's a 356 00:16:05,950 --> 00:16:10,360 JPEG with this same name on the desktop 357 00:16:08,830 --> 00:16:12,910 and it will automatically load it into 358 00:16:10,360 --> 00:16:16,750 this document next time I open it but I 359 00:16:12,909 --> 00:16:19,179 want to export just the word balloons so 360 00:16:16,750 --> 00:16:22,840 I'm going to without saving it delete 361 00:16:19,179 --> 00:16:25,870 out that background image and then go up 362 00:16:22,840 --> 00:16:30,040 to export and I'm going to export to 363 00:16:25,870 --> 00:16:32,289 images I'm gonna pick JPEG and I'm going 364 00:16:30,039 --> 00:16:34,059 to make sure it's 300 dpi so it's a 365 00:16:32,289 --> 00:16:38,069 high-res print quality and I'm going to 366 00:16:34,059 --> 00:16:38,069 save it straight to the desktop 367 00:16:43,730 --> 00:16:48,678 now in Photoshop I'm going to open up 368 00:16:45,828 --> 00:16:50,918 the panel with the word balloons and at 369 00:16:48,678 --> 00:16:52,338 this point I do a really quick once-over 370 00:16:50,918 --> 00:16:55,399 again 371 00:16:52,339 --> 00:16:57,139 Comic Life isn't a perfect program when 372 00:16:55,399 --> 00:17:01,999 it comes to sin during some things and I 373 00:16:57,139 --> 00:17:03,769 did notice a few problems now I'm gonna 374 00:17:01,999 --> 00:17:06,259 go ahead and just go through this now 375 00:17:03,769 --> 00:17:08,838 during my rough stages just to show you 376 00:17:06,259 --> 00:17:11,318 the my entire process but typically I 377 00:17:08,838 --> 00:17:15,740 don't put the final word balloons in 378 00:17:11,318 --> 00:17:18,318 until I've had a chance to drop in the 379 00:17:15,740 --> 00:17:20,240 final finished line art and make sure 380 00:17:18,318 --> 00:17:22,938 that I don't have any strange tangents 381 00:17:20,240 --> 00:17:25,308 happening at the last minute but I want 382 00:17:22,939 --> 00:17:34,070 to show you this process and centering 383 00:17:25,308 --> 00:17:35,388 it into these word balloon spaces I just 384 00:17:34,069 --> 00:17:37,490 want to make sure that it's in there 385 00:17:35,388 --> 00:17:43,939 perfectly and sometimes it's not always 386 00:17:37,490 --> 00:17:46,278 in there perfectly now to grab my word 387 00:17:43,940 --> 00:17:50,000 balloons because it is a flat JPEG image 388 00:17:46,278 --> 00:17:52,788 I get my my magic wand and I set the 389 00:17:50,000 --> 00:17:54,798 tolerance high I set it to 45 so that 390 00:17:52,788 --> 00:17:57,079 you don't get a white halo around the 391 00:17:54,798 --> 00:18:00,589 edges of the balloon and then just 392 00:17:57,079 --> 00:18:03,528 select the inverse and copy it come back 393 00:18:00,589 --> 00:18:06,019 above your panels layer and paste your 394 00:18:03,528 --> 00:18:10,240 word balloons in now I'm going to make 395 00:18:06,019 --> 00:18:10,240 some really simple changes at this point 396 00:18:19,858 --> 00:18:28,678 just gonna make that panel longer and 397 00:18:24,579 --> 00:18:28,678 under my rough sketch here 398 00:18:32,259 --> 00:18:40,249 just gonna move all that artwork down a 399 00:18:35,058 --> 00:18:41,690 little bit now in that top panel I've 400 00:18:40,249 --> 00:18:44,259 just got a little bit more breathing 401 00:18:41,690 --> 00:18:44,259 room to play with 402 00:18:49,380 --> 00:18:54,278 and I'm gonna reduce the art in this 403 00:18:51,940 --> 00:18:57,730 panel slightly so it's not overlapping 404 00:18:54,278 --> 00:19:04,298 though one character's head then it can 405 00:18:57,730 --> 00:19:07,470 come back here to my balloons layer grab 406 00:19:04,298 --> 00:19:07,470 this stuff and tweak it 407 00:19:21,960 --> 00:19:27,720 well now I feel confident that I am 408 00:19:25,079 --> 00:19:29,908 ready to take my layout sketch and move 409 00:19:27,720 --> 00:19:32,519 on to final art everything's going to 410 00:19:29,909 --> 00:19:35,369 read in the right orders and my readers 411 00:19:32,519 --> 00:19:37,950 won't be confused my artwork will stand 412 00:19:35,368 --> 00:19:39,720 out and everything is clear the way that 413 00:19:37,950 --> 00:19:42,058 it ought to be so that's the way that I 414 00:19:39,720 --> 00:19:45,509 personally use Comic Life to letter my 415 00:19:42,058 --> 00:19:49,499 comic the dreamer and hopefully you will 416 00:19:45,509 --> 00:19:51,659 find it out full - if you have any of 417 00:19:49,499 --> 00:19:53,850 your own Comic Life time-saving tips 418 00:19:51,659 --> 00:19:56,220 head on over to Paper Wings podcast.com 419 00:19:53,849 --> 00:19:58,138 and leave us a comment on the blog and 420 00:19:56,220 --> 00:20:01,730 while you're there be sure to sign up 421 00:19:58,138 --> 00:20:01,729 for our storytelling tips newsletter