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Manga Studio Tutorials

Following is the main comic software availabale today.

I am not refering to animation software, just drawing and no movements.

Manga Studio

15 October 2010

The leading software for comic drawing is Manga Studio.

There are two versions:

Beginners: Manga Studio Debut 4

Manga Studio Debut 4 (Win/Mac)

"..you could do an entire comic from start to finish, from pencils, to inks, to coloring, to lettering, with this program and never have to touch pen to paper.

"I have been working on my own story for the past five years, and until now, I haven't done much of it on the computer. After receiving this program, that has all changed.

"I'm a professional comic artist and this product has been a godsend. The pre-made panels, word bubbles, and pens are fantastic. Highly recommended. "

On the negative side (but remember the price is really cheap, at about 20$ with Amazon):

No Vector possibilities
Text rotation with some reported problems
Import only JPB and bitmap images

Professionals: Manga Studio Ex 4

Manga Studio EX 4 (Win/Mac)

"I love this product. It is so fun and does pen and pencil emulation like no other product I have ever used. Photoshop, Painter, ArtRage, you name it, I have tried it. This is the best. "

"I did a ton of research and came close to buying SketchPro--but this software is way more than what I expected. The pencil looks and feels natural. Clients have no idea that I've switched to digital sketches. Photoshop doesn't even come close. And I love Photoshop! Though, I have to say that I still tend do my coloring in Photoshop. This seems to be Manga's only downfall--the coloring feels clumsy (with the pallette and all). If your a current photoshop user then the learning curve is no problem. I have my own illustration studio and saving time is a must...this product does just that. No more paper/pencils/erasing-like-crazy/inking/scanning/touch-ups. I currently use a Cintiq with the software. "

"...MASSIVE time saver"

"...The strokes produced are absolutely beautiful, look real, and it auto corrects, too, which is great if you don't have a very steady hand. This results in very little erasing. "

"...Another excellent feature is a tool that allows you to draw a straight line and then bend it to exactly where you want it over your sketch lines. This tool is perfect for drawing long flowing hair or folds in fabric It literally saves HOURS."

Negative points:

Digital painting can be a problem if you want to paint in a more "artistic" and realisticway. (Coloring for comics is usually done only with few simple colours and a simple gradation, though)

The manual is really poorly written. Better to learn through a book or video tutorials on the internet.

Both of them are great! The first one at a really bargain price! The second one is used as the main comic drawing software alwasy in connection with Photoshop for its easier workflow, great brushes, by professionals comic writers! It is also much cheaper than Photoshop but still in the 300$ range officially but you can get it for half of the price on Amazon.

Both versions allow to export files in Photoshop format. Photoshop is a rival, though. Do you want to bet on Adobe buying this programm and integrating it in a future Photoshop release?

The same software-house has now (Oct 2010) a new version called IllustStudio in the Japanese version only at the moment.

Comic Life

"...makes it easy to create comics from photographs, which is what I am wanting to do."

"recommend this program for casual comic creators and for people who just want to have some fun. "

comic from pictures, an example from Comic Life

Comic Life is apparently a internet-only application, now. Not a stand-alone programm anymore. You can download the 30 days demo from the owners' website.

It's really a nice software to make cartoons from pictures! A lot of fun and extremely easy to use

Example of Comic-life. You can export the book as HTML, video. or pictures. All in all. a great product!

Marvel Heroes Comic Book Creator

More a "game" with pre-drawn carachters as templates. A kid-game

TWISTED ART PRO STUDIO

Ok, this is not really a comic software strictly speaking but a painter software for drawing AND coloring (including the mixing of colours). However it's for free at the Pixarra webiste (earlier version) and you can explore its possibilities. I tried and I also recommend it for beginners and kids.

Comics History - a short primer

Rodolphe Töpfer is thought to be the first creator of the comics (a story fully in pictures). He was Swiss and lived in Geneva and it was no less than Goethe himself (!) - a house friend - who convinced him to publish his stories. So, here is the first comic book in history for you to download (9MB)

The story continues with the comics spreading all over europe, then the birth in the US, France and Italy of comic magazines in the 1910s-1920s. The US as main force in the 30s-60s (Walt Disney, the Super Heros by the Marvel team). In the 1970s we see more "serious" and poetic comics such as Corto Maltese's stories (living practically in an Italian environment, I can't but recall those nice moments at the local newspapers shop when I was browsing through those magazines and books).
Of course, France and Belgium were alwasy at the forefront of this art with carachters like Tin Tin and Asterix which I read while at school whenever possible (A friend of mine was passing them to me, they were expensive to buy, and I was reading mainly "Topolino", "Tex Willer" and "Zagor" which were cheaper and great adventure readings, too)