lettering programs? Need suggestions...

Blackhole · Post by **Blackhole** » Sun Dec 16, 2007 4:02 pm

In the last few years,.. I've been only making my comics for print (the copymachine method) and for lettering I've always scanned my pages in and imported them into Microsoft Word and used their callouts(balloons) and various fonts off the net for lettering and sound effects. But now that I'm going to start putting them on the net,.. I don't think I can letter my comics in MS Word anymore, since I don't think there is a way to save pages from a word document as images.

So is there a program is as easy as msword to use for lettering ? (photoshop is not my friend)

Lei · Post by **Lei** » Sun Dec 16, 2007 6:38 pm

Photoshop really does work best. Make bubbles using the ellipse tool, go to layer style: 'stroke' to add a nice outline, then use the text tool to put it in the wording. Or put the wording in first, then put the bubbles in behind, to get a nice fit. That's what I do, and I find it the quickest aspect of my comic.

Although, if you have a mac, there's a program that comes standard with the more recent models called "Comic Life" that you can use to make comics out of imported images, complete with panels, bubbles, etc.

But I maintain that photoshop provides the best quality.

GeorgeComics · Post by **GeorgeComics** » Sun Dec 16, 2007 7:53 pm

I do the same thing as Lei. I typically use the "rounded rectangle" tool and change the roundess of it to better fit the words it's holding, then add a good, solid stroke to it...easy as pie. Also the easiest part of making my comic. It's sort of just like, putting a cherry on top of a massive cake.

Montanto · Post by **Montanto** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 6:53 pm

I generally use Illustrator for all of the reasons mentioned above regarding Photoshop. I like the text manipulation and vector tools on Illustrator much better. So I generally do all of my lettering on Illustrator and then move the dialogue to Photoshop when I'm done. Of course keep in mind I have version 7 and I concede that they've made huge improvements on the Creative Suite versions.

PS I've played with Comic Life a little bit and was impressed with the word balloon tool but other than that I saw no reason to consider it anything more than a fun toy.

Blackhole · Post by **Blackhole** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 1:45 pm

argh. Photoshop seems to be the main solution besides hand lettering. I'll find some kind of solution that doesn't consume too much time. It takes long enough to pencil and ink, and by the time I'm through inking I'm sick of looking at the same pages and want to move on. Msword is quick and painless for print. I will find a way!

Lei · Post by **Lei** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 9:06 pm

Really, photoshop is quick and painless. It takes me all of five minutes.

Geekblather · Post by **Geekblather** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 11:16 pm

What are some of the difficulties you've been having with Photoshop? That might make it easier for people to offer advice. If it's a cost issue, The GIMP is free, and most people find that it gets results comparable to Photoshop for most things.

Scientivore · Post by **Scientivore** » Thu Dec 20, 2007 8:57 pm

Has anyone here used Balloonist? It's a specialized app for word balloon editing and panel layout. Looks interesting.

[geoduck] · Post by **[geoduck]** » Fri Dec 21, 2007 8:48 am

I do my lettering/ballooning with Paint Shop Pro. Maybe not as sophisticated as Photoshop, but it's cheaper, and pretty quick n' easy. Make layer, type words, make new Balloon layer, draw rounded box, add tail.

Birdie · Post by **Birdie** » Fri Dec 21, 2007 9:18 am

I feel silly using MSpaint now... but isn't the real idea is to find out what works for you?

Fabio Ciccone · Post by **Fabio Ciccone** » Fri Dec 21, 2007 9:58 am

I strongly recommend Adobe Illustrator. Been using it since my very first digital comic (about 2002, I guess), and never seen any better program for that.

Not to start an argument, but I HATE Photoshop for this stuff!

Scientivore · Post by **Scientivore** » Fri Dec 21, 2007 1:57 pm

Another option: Paint Shop Pro. Reviews of the newer versions are mixed, but I know that Rob Balder used PSP X (the 2005 version) to letter Erfworld (as of April).