Making Comics
Comic Life Software (MAC OS/X)
http://plasq.com/
Extremely easy to get up and running, with full Integration with .Mac (including RSS feeds)…
If you don’t have .Mac you can integrate with iPhoto image library and export to TIFF, GIF, JPEG, PNG, HTML Web Pages, iPhoto and Quicktime. Some great examples show up on flickr. Taking advantage of Tiger’s CoreImage, it contains image effects that transform your photos into Comic Life images and more. Capture images directly from your iSight or DV Camera within Comic Life – drag and drop elegance.
It should be a no brainer to get this piece of software not just for comics… It could applied as an alternative showcase to the traditional family vacation slideshow.
If the approach is done correctly you could easily integrate training manuals using this fomat – what person doesn’t know how to read and follow a comic book!? Something like this reminds me of the older Army equipment training manuals which were originally illustrated by Will Eisner and later by Murphy Anderson…
Only downside that I ran into was refresh rate on some full page comics was a little sluggish but may have been due to the image resolution sizes I was importing.
Comic Book Creator (Windows/PC)
http://www.mycomicbookcreator.com
Comes in off-the shelf “standard” flavor or your you can purchase a pre-packaged kit with your choice of character packages ranging from Speed Racer, Marvel Heroes Collection and a few children’s series such as Charlotte’s Web and Barnyard Animals.
Not as elegent as Comic Life and you may want to review license restrictions with regards to using this software (esp. licensed images) to produce your own works. Some users on the forums and boards have mentioned issues using the balloon features; however, I did not have any such problems printing my sample sheets. Looking forward to their TOKYO POP Manga Creator to be “released soon”.
This post is tagged: Animation, comics, software