How To Edit Your Text In Clip Studio Paint
Editing your text in Clip Studio Paint is fairly different than other software. When I first started to use Clip Studio this was one of the first things I noticed.
Some things are pretty straightforward and others required a bit more work.
The reason for these might be because Clip Studio is made more for illustration than text. Even though you can make comics and manga, the text is supposed to be quite simple, so you shouldn’t need a lot of editing tools for it.
How can you edit your text in Clip Studio Paint? For very simple editing like changing fonts, it’s size, orientation and even style you can simply press the “T” button on your keyboard or go to the toolbar and select the tool that shows an uppercase “A”. This will open the text window and will let you create text layers and edit them.
But there’s so much more to editing text than what shows! Changing colors, rotating and even bending text is something you can do in Clip Studio and you need a few more steps.
For that reason, I wrote this guide to help you out: from simple editing of text to more complex transformations you can do to it.
Table Of Contents
Editing Text In Clip Studio Paint
Clip Studio Paint has very basic text editing. On the positive side, it is very simple to use. On the other hand, it doesn’t have a lot of editing options. From a quick glance, it has very simple and basic options like changing colors, sizes of font and of course, fonts (like these free fonts right here).
It is worth to mention that Clip Studio is mostly for illustration or to create your own comics/manga. For this reason, text options will appear very different than they do in other software.
You can still do a lot of creative things with your text though! Just need to roam a bit deeper into the tools and options.
First things first: Simple editing of your text! When you pick the text tool, by pushing the “T” button on your keyboard or clicking the button with an “A” on the toolbar on the left, some options will appear right away.
You can choose the font of your choice, change the font size and others. If you need to change a bit of text in your textbox, it’s very simple. Like in any other software, simply hover the mouse on the letter you want to change and click on it.
Now you just need to re-input the text as you want.
You can also select specific parts of the text by holding the left button of the mouse and moving it until the text you want to change is selected.
This is very simple editing. You can select different parts of your text and give it different sizes. One box of text can have words with different fonts, sizes, styles, and even colors. It can be very useful to use when you want to pull more attention to certain words.
This way, you also won’t need to make several boxes of text for each word.
Among other options, you can also choose the style for your text.
Let’s say your fonts don’t have bolded or italic options. (you might want a better font, like the free fonts I’ve mentioned in this article, but that’s beside the point!)
Well, Clip Studio can simulate these styles for you! Right below the font size you have different style options like Bold, Italic, Underline and Strike Out.
Again, you can choose to apply these styles to just one word on your text box, or a specific letter. Simple select the bits you want to apply the style to and click on the option you desire!
How To Move Text In Clip Studio Paint
Moving your text in Clip Studio Paint is fairly simple as well. Select the layer of text you want to move. Now press the “K” button or click the button with a black arrow on the top of your toolbar. This is the tool you want to have active when moving anything on your opened file.
Now you can move your text to wherever you want. This is not the only way to move your text though! While having the text tool active you can also move your text around while you edit it.
If you hover your mouse over the text box, you’ll notice a small black arrow appearing. Simply press the left button of your mouse when this symbol appears and you can move the textbox around!
Another thing I want to mention here, very quickly is that you can also change the size of your text through the text box. Notice the small blue squares and circles around the box? You can use those to scale up or down your text.
This is another way of resizing your text. Personally, I prefer to just change the font size on the editing toolbar. But both ways work and you can just do what feels better for you!
Back to the issue at hand, it’s worth to mention that you can also justify the text on different sizes and even in which direction your text is. Just like in any other software, you can align your text to the left, center or right.
Below the justify buttons you can also choose if you want your text to appear horizontally or vertically.
These options are pretty straightforward and there’s not much you can do with them. They’re still very useful when moving and presenting your text in the most pleasing and organized way for your work!
How To Rotate Text In Clip Studio Paint
But unlike other software, you can’t rotate a text layer in Clip Studio. This is rather unfortunate since rotating text is something we end up doing quite often. I do at least and I don’t work a lot with text.
Most of the times I work with text is when doing cards or adding a link to my illustrations. Sometimes I like to rotate those bits of text to frame it better with the drawings I have.
With that said, don’t feel defeated though! There are still ways to rotate your text! Actually, there are 3 ways to go about it.
The first one is very simple: Select the text layer, right click on it and pick the “Rasterize” option. Now you can simply press Ctrl+T or go to Edit -> Transform -> Free Transform and you are free to rotate your text at will.
Another way to do it is to convert your layer. This second option is fairly similar to the later. Again, select the text layer you want to rotate, right click on it and choose the “Convert Layer” option. This will open a small window. Change the type to “image material layer”. Now choose the object tool and you can rotate your text.
The only difference between the first option and the second is that you don’t need to Free transform it every time you want to rotate your text differently.
You can just pick the object tool and rotate it. Both work and it’s up to which do you prefer. In a way, the second option is a bit less consuming if you’re going to be rotating your text many times.
There is a problem with using both these methods: you can’t edit your text layer anymore. That layer is gone. Your text is now an image and you can’t change it’s font anymore nor resize it. By resizing this image, you’ll start losing its quality.
In short, these are options you take if you’re 100% sure your text is looking as you want and you won’t change it anymore.
Fret not though. For there is a third option that will allow it to edit your text. Again, right-click the layer text. Go to File Object and then click convert layer to file object. Save it with a name and in a place where it’s easy to find.
Now you can use your object tool and rotate your text freely. If you do need to edit your text, open the file you just saved, change what needs to be changed and save it. When you go back to your main file, you’ll notice the text changed accordingly!
Clip Studio has weird ways to work with text, but once you know its ways, it gets very simple and automatic to you.
How To Curve And Bend Text In Clip Studio Paint
Again, sadly this is something you can’t do in Clip Studio Paint. With rotating, you can still go your way around it and do it easily. With curving and bending, not so much.
There is still a way to go about it though. It’s not the most optimized way to bend text, but with some time and patience, you can add a nice bending effect with your text. For that, you need to rasterize your layer.
As we’ve seen before, you just need to right click the text layer and select Rasterize. Now go to Edit -> Transform -> Mesh Transformation. A box with several points will appear around your image.
You can edit each of these points as you wish. It is not the easiest way to do it, but you’ll be able to manage some curve and bending on your text!
How To Outline Text In Clip Studio Paint
Ok, so remember when I said that Clip Studio has very weird ways to deal with text? This is another example. If you used other software that has detailed text editing, you know how intuitive it can be.
Again, Clip Studio isn’t made to work extensively with text.
So it’s normal that we see the text being treated like it’s an image. With that said, it is possible to add an outline or border to your text in Clip Studio Paint and here’s how.
On the left, above your layer window, you’ll probably see another window called “Layer Property”. If it isn’t showing, simply go to Window ->Layer Property.
On this small window, you have several visual options that you can choose from. With your text layer select, click on the first icon, the one with a circle and a white outline around it.
Some options for your outline will appear, including how thick you want the outline to be and the color.
Play out with the thickness and pick different colors until you’re satisfied with the outline. As you edit it, the changes will appear right away on your document.
Creating an outline to your drawings or text is fairly easy on Clip Studio and even fun. It’s just a matter of finding these tools since they’re not as explicit right away!
How To Change Text Color In Clip Studio Paint
Changing Color in Clip Studio Paint is fairly easy and don’t worry, there’s no need to rasterize layers and go through a lot of steps for it!
With the text tool selected, you can select the whole text or even segments of it and change it to any color you want using the color wheel or bar below it. I mainly use the color wheel, but you can use and see the colors however you prefer. Clip Studio has different ways to show and pick colors and it all comes down to preference.
This is one way to change text color and the one you have the most control over since you can choose to add different colors to different letters or words in one textbox.
Another way to change color is by going to Layer Property, select the last option, the icon with a blue square on top of a white square. Now you can pick any color you want. The disadvantage of this method is that you’ll change the color of the whole layer.
If you want to change the color of the whole layer and have the whole text with the same color, the second method is faster. However if you wish to have more control and want to have your text in different colors, the first method is preferable!
And if you want to level up your art, read this article and master color theory (for artists)!
Best Free Clip Studio Paint Tutorials
Clip Studio Paint(previously Manga Studio) is a powerful piece of software for digital artists and comic book creators.
The basic version is super cheap and it’s one of the most popular tools for manga creators in Japan.
But picking up new software can always be a challenge. This goes double for digital painting software that you’re trying to learn from scratch.
If you’ve used digital drawing/painting software before then you’ll find the learning curve is minimal. Total beginners may need a little more help but that’s why we’re here!
If you’re looking to improve your Clip Studio Paint skills then check out these awesome tutorials on a variety of topics, all 100% free.
Clip Studio Paint Basics
This comprehensive tutorial is 35 minutes long and will take you through the basic mechanics of the program.
It’s perfect for artists who know some basics of digital painting and are eager to dive into more details with CSP.
The tutorial starts off with the basic interface, canvas settings, and where to customize brush options.
Next the artist sketches a simple dinosaur head from start to finish highlighting the smooth feel of the pencil tool and razor-sharp pen tool.
He dives deeper into how colors can be naturally blended with the blend tool, showing multiple examples with many different types of brushes and blend patterns. Finally you’ll learn how to use different layers(ink and flat) to manipulate your drawings without merging layers.
More CSP Basics
If you are new to digital painting this tutorial is what you need.
In under 20 minutes all the essential tools are covered along with a basic “how to” explanation of how digital drawing/painting works.
To get you acquainted with the inner workings of Clip Studio Paint the artist goes over the interface showing you where everything is and how to use the selection and shape tools.
He also demonstrates the powerful default brushes, how to customize them to your needs, and what sort of textures they can create.
After an overview of the lasso tool you’ll finish up by learning how to use Clip Studio’s 3D template characters to draw awesome characters quickly.
How To Draw Digitally
If you plan on drawing in a manga style or creating your own manga from scratch then you may need a quick tutorial to get you started.
Well look no further!
This artist keeps it need-to-know and doesn’t overwhelm you with too many small details.
Drawing a cute anime character while she explains the tools, you’ll learn how to sketch and create line art for your pieces following that classic manga style.
Top 10 Clip Studio Paint Features
There are so many programs out there and it’s easy to ask “what makes Clip Studio Paint so special?”
This tutorial answers that question with an overview of key features that this artist finds most useful.
Each section is explained in text and then demonstrated on screen.
The artist covers things like multi-layer transform, natural brush to eraser switches, and the 3D library of objects. This video spares no detail and gives you plenty of reasons why each feature is so useful.
If you weren’t really sold on Clip Studio Paint yet then I have a feeling you’ll be raring to go after this video.
How To Ink in CSP Pro
There’s a lot more to inking than just putting pen to Wacom.
Ignoring the art style itself, this tutorial is a technical review of all the inking tools available in CSP.
With a brief explanation of basic inking, the artist quickly shows that there is more to the pen tool than just clicking and dragging.
Learn how to manipulate your linework with each stroke and speed up detailed geometric work with a few tricks. The artist finishes up by inking a sketch of Batman while giving tips on style and line weight.
Draw Elegant Digital Linework
One of Clip Studio Paint’s most applauded features is the pen tool.
The programming behind the tool helps your brush strokes feel more natural and gives them a certain elegance. In this tutorial you’ll learn how to keep your lines looking fantastic.
The surface of a drawing tablet is quite slick and many beginners have trouble drawing stable lines at first.
Worse still, when you’re stuck using a mouse because your tablet won’t calibrate properly.
This artist shows you how to create precise linework for a clean, cartoony look.
Although you still need to practice manual linework on a tablet, this technique will get you started if your hand is a little wobbly or if you can’t get your settings just right.
Using Frame Folders
The primary users of Clip Studio Paint are manga and comic book artists.
There are so many tools in this program used to create borders and frames for pages of a comic book, allowing for all sorts of creative compositions.
This tutorial explains what Frame Folders are and how you use them to create frame borders and comic book panels.
The artist takes you through a system showing you little tips to make your panels stand out from the rest. There is no shortage of settings to change and you can quickly draw panels of all shapes and sizes.
Character Creation in Clip Studio Paint
Cat Farris is a well-known comic book creator with a wealth of artistic experience.
She gives you some key points to think about when designing your own character and shows you the tools needed to bring them to life.
Starting off in the inking process, she uses the default pen tool to lay down thick, bold lines to define her character.
Next she adds color going over the paint bucket tool and teaching you how to fix lineart mistakes on the fly. Using her shadow layer trick makes adding shadows a breeze, explaining why she chose a non-destructive workflow to boot.
This is merely the first step and once it’s completed she moves onto the next one: creating comic book panels and telling the story.
How To Pose 3D Models
One of the most powerful features of Clip Studio Paint is the ability to pose 3D models directly in your canvas area.
In this tutorial you’ll learn how to pose a 3D model to an existing image taking care to rotate joints and place body parts in the correct position at the right angle to create an exact match.
This is similar to using a reference image like a photo except you can design the reference however you like!
You can then save your posed model for later use or customize it even further by adding muscle or fat.
The artist explains why you should build a library of 3D models that can be used to create comics in record time. The tutorial ends off with the artist drawing their version of wonder woman entirely from a 3D model.
Toning Patterns & Exporting
Clip Studio is popular for creating manga because it has some incredible features that make previously time-consuming tasks super easy.
Adding tone patterns has always been a headache because it’s not always as simple as click & done. But this tutorial will show you how to speed up that workflow.
Starting off with some manga page line art you’ll learn how to add different tones and textures with ease.
First the paint bucket tool is explained and you’ll learn how to use the lasso tool to fill multiple areas at the same time.
Next highlights are added to emphasize the characters along with effects that sell the mood of the piece.
Near the end you’ll learn how to export your page with optimized settings for the web.
Paint Muscles in Manga Studio 5 EX
Clip Studio Paint is not just for creating sharp lineart and comic books.
You can also use the tools to create realistic artwork and mimic real-world shading. This tutorial does just that while focusing on rendering muscles.
The artist starts off by explaining the downsides of Photoshop and praising the color blending tools in Clip Studio.
With an example of what he’s creating fixed to the left of the screen, this artist starts off with a blue line sketch of a muscled arm.
Mentioning the importance of skin tone he quickly blends shadows on top of a base color drawing out the form and defining a light source.
He finishes off by showing you how to change the saturation of your colors after shading.
Turn Pictures into Manga Drawings
Manga artists are renowned for their time-saving drawing methods and they use some clever tricks to get detailed backgrounds.
By editing photos into black and white and adding halftone you can shave hours off your drawing & inking time.
With this handy video you’ll learn how to manipulate contrast levels right in CSP and turn a photo into stylized greyscale. Then, using a special filter, you can change the result into halftone mimicking the style of manga backgrounds.
And to top it off, the artist lets you in on a few tricks to make hero objects or characters stand out even more.
Drawing Digital Comics For Beginners
This tutorial is unlike all the others in this list due to its length and structure.
Here you’re looking at a full 1-hour webinar.
It’s crammed full of tips and tricks all relayed to you by professional comic book artist Doug Hills sharing over ten years of experience.
If you don’t understand the workflow of a comic book page, this webinar will answer all your questions.
The tutorial starts with sketching atop a rough storyboard.
Doug shows you his exact process to create a finished page and how you might go about it with CSP.
After setting up the panel outlines he begins sketching the final scenes with the pen tool.
Once the pencil sketch is done he moves on to the inking process, giving you a few line work tips along the way.
Finally he discusses the benefits of using vectors and how to seamlessly integrate backgrounds with characters in your digital comics.
Manga Studio 5 EX: Story Creation (Part 1)
Most independent artists create their manga or comic one page at a time, saving it out to the appropriate format as they go.
But if you work with Clip Studio Paint EX you can create full comic books in just one file.
This tutorial goes over the various tools and functions you’ll need if you want to create more than one page at a time. This helps you work a lot faster and produce much more seamless page transitions.
The artist shows you how the layout of a traditional manga works and how to work on your pages individually.
The tools are incredibly powerful and you can even combine two pages together making it easier to draw a full double-page spread.
Animation Basics (Part 1)
Clip Studio Paint is not just for drawing; you can also use it for short snippets of animation.
Although the animation capabilities are basic, it’s a useful tool if you want to test out some aspect of your character in motion.
This tutorial starts off with a description of the animation-specific panels and layout.
The artist explains the limitations of the program and goes over the scenarios in which you’d want to rough out your animation in Clip Studio.
The video also explains specific ways you need to work to create frames on different layers.
Remember: each frame must be drawn manually. There are no in-betweens or frame holds so this is real 2D animation in action.
From Sketch To Full Color
It’s easy to look at a finished piece of art and think “I’ll never be able to do that.”
The best cure is to watch a speedpaint tutorial where you can see how the artist creates their drawings from scratch.
Once you understand the process from start to finish you can apply some of those techniques to your own art. Or you’ll at least have a better understanding of the creation process.
This speedpaint video will give you an excellent understanding of how to go from sketch to final color in Clip Studio Paint.
Although there is no narration, it’s easy to understand what the artist is doing if you follow along closely. You can also pause along the way to keep up.
To make this a practical exercise pick up your pencil(or Wacom pen) and follow along with the artist!
Author: Claire Heginbotham
Claire is a traveling creative living in Osaka, Japan. She spends her days writing things, learning things and eating ungodly amounts of sushi. Read about her adventures here or secretly stalk her on Instagram and Twitter.
An Intro to Painting with CLIP STUDIO PAINT
We recently had a handy article on inking with Clip Studio Paint, so here’s one on doing the thing that’s in the program’s title.
How is CSP Different From Photoshop?
It’s designed specifically for drawing and painting, instead of those being side uses for a catchall imaging program. It has a stronger brush engine with better “handling” and stabilization, better drawing and correction features, and in some ways, more control over tool customization. It excels at lineart in comparison, but its painting brushes—while harder to learn initially—are very satisfying to use. It also has several different color pickers, instead of Photoshop’s variations on one, that allow for different types of customization.
Brush Settings
All CSP’s built-in brushes essentially work the same, the main differences being between the shapes and textures. Everything else can be adjusted in the Sub Tool Detail window. (The wrench icon.)
I’ll be doing this entire piece with the default Oil Paint brush-
-And mainly adjusting only the brush size, hardness, and brush density—the equivalent of Photoshop’s flow. I use that to control the “paint” thickness instead of the opacity tool since it’s less likely to cause “overlaid stripes.”
With some brushes, lowering the density will create a “dry brush” effect, but not this one since it doesn’t have that texture. Stabilization will be kept around 75. I used to set it to half that when I painted on an older Intuos, but the newer Cintiqs are more sensitive.
Here are some other settings I won’t be using for this piece, but are important to know:
- Blending Mode: Works just like layer modes, causing different color interactions and changes to the existing image.
- Mix Ground Color:Causes your brush to smear the existing color, like watercolor paint, or wet paint in real life. This was on by default, but I turned it off because it adds another layer of complexity.
- Thickness: Brush’s aspect ratio.
- Spraying effect: Same as photoshop’s “scattering:” turns your brush into dots.
- Stroke: Changes the gap between your the instances of your brush’s pattern.
- Texture: Adds a texture to your brush from the “image materials” library.
- Border of Watercolor: Adds darker edges to your brush.
- Post correction: Smooths your curves and sharpens your angles after each stroke.
- Brush stroke: Changes the length of the “tail” left after you raise the pen.
- Starting and Ending: Allows you to set your brush to taper, fade, or do something weird at both ends of each stroke.
- Anti-overflow: Lets you constrain your painting area to a separate “reference layer.”
On to the painting:
Painting
I’ll be painting u/Inuwa-Angel from Reddit, with thanks for her portrait request and permission to use it for this article.
After starting with a paper sketch, I use the polygonal lasso and move tools to make some corrections. The pencil sketch was fairly close for being done from observation with no measuring, but this gets it a bit closer:
If this was going to be a line drawing, I wouldn’t have gone into even this much detail: Using hard lines for every facial crease makes the subject look older. it’s just a placeholder for edges that are going to be much softer, so I’m just noting where those creases are, not how strong they’ll be.
Some proportions are exaggerated—slightly wider smile and eyes—since copying every detail of the photo directly tends to result in more muted expressions than you might want in a drawing. If you want a perfect likeness, take a photo.
I add a paper layer: a background fill layer that can’t be moved or erased.
Layer > New Layer > Paper
You can use any color, but mine will be white.
Then I draw some very thin lineart, so I don’t have to worry about reshaping the features as I keep painting. Many more experienced painters prefer to work without lines or flats, and their power is awe-inspiring, but this can save you work. I’m using the Darker Pencil, but it doesn’t matter which tool you use.
One of the most common pieces of digital art advice you’ll find is to start from a medium-toned canvas instead of white. You will also find that advice here. It’s far easier to start with a middle tone and paint on highlights and shadows, than to start at the brightest value and paint literally everything else. I typically start with 50% gray, then cover it with other neutral colors during the “flatting” stage.
Layer > New Fill Layer > Set it to 50% gray
Hearkening back to The Nuts and Bolts of Color Theory, I used an eyedropper sample of her skin to generate a palette with Adobe Color.
I played with the settings until I got one with a medium brown, a blue for the shirt, a green for the background, and a purple for the headband. Thankfully, her outfit colors are also well-coordinated.
All others in the painting will be made by either changing these colors’ saturation and value (but not hue) and mixing them.
The Hue-Saturation-Value panel.
Skipping ahead, here’s what ended up being the final palette once the piece was done.
I lay in the basic areas of color with the fill tool and the pencil. This is called “flatting.”
Then I draw the shirt and paint in large areas of medium lights and shadows, using a medium-size brush, by turning the color values 15% up or 15% down from their base: Base skin is 65% value. First shadow pass is 50%, first light pass is 80%, and more desaturated.
…OK, it’s not very flattering yet, but all is as it’s supposed to be. Your piece will often look downright awful in the early stages. The best art advice I’ve ever gotten is to stick with your piece because it will suck until it suddenly comes together towards the end.
I do a second pass of shadows and lights, adjusted another 15% down and up, respectively. (50% and 95%) but with a much lower-density brush.
Still unflattering, but starting to take on some life.
Next stage will be where the bulk of the painting gets done. I blend by eyedroppering the edges of strokes, where one begins to fade into the next, then painting more of that color in the middle with a low-density brush until it’s smooth. Often very low density. Like 3-10%.
Then I adjust the value slider freely to add the brighter highlights and the darker darks, monitoring the thumbnail while I do it to ensure the overall balance looks good.
Yeah, yeah, I know:
But even though this is by far the longest stage, it’s the simplest.
Finally, with our subject dialed in, it’s time to do the background. For pictures where the background is an important part of the image, I recommend doing it first, but for ones like this where it’s more an afterthought—an annoyance, even—it’s fine to do it last to make sure it coordinates with our portrait’s final colors.
I tried to paint the trees in the background, but they were too distracting due to the uneven shape. They didn’t even read as trees, especially once I blurred them. So instead, I’m going to paint a bokeh.
I use a brush with low density at about 80% hardness and all pressure settings, including brush size, turned off, then manually adjust the size for each dot.
Finally, I tweak the whole piece’s colors with adjustment layers to make them more interesting. This isn’t cheating either. Most artists adjust the colors afterwards, just like most art photographers. I raise the saturation a touch to make it pop more, then I add another adjustment layer to turn down the brightness and saturation on the shirt alone, so it looks less plastic.
And finally, I add a texture by dragging and dropping it from the materials panel. This is a rough paper texture, but shrunk down and set to soft light mode.
Finally, I go back and paint in a few of the brightest highlights with a large, soft, low-density brush.
Our finished painting:
Since I constrained myself to one brush here…
I didn’t get to explore the many textures and effects CSP’s others have to offer, or even get into the blending or decoration tools. However, once you know the basics of the sub tool details, it’s just a matter of picking a brush and tweaking those settings to get any effect or texture you want.
There are also countless downloadable brushes and brush packs available all over the internet, both free and paid, and I encourage you to try them. (Just don’t go too crazy, or your menus will get too cluttered to find anything.)
I hope this gave you a good lesson on the basics, but it’s just barely scratching the surface of what this program’s capable of. When it comes to digital painting, CSP can do anything Photoshop can, and in some cases, do it with less hassle.
Making Webcomics in Clip Studio Paint
In this tutorial I will go over all the steps involved in making a finished, publishable webcomic page. To be able to follow this tutorial you will need to have an idea for your story and your characters already. You will also need a copy of Clip Studio Paint but don’t worry about money yet, you can use the thirty day free trial to test out the software.
Finished page ready to be published on Webtoons, Tapas or any other online platform.
Outline the Scene
At the top of your page, create a list of all the basic elements of your scene: characters, setting, objective of the scene, set up and the pay off.
After you have decided all of this, break down the sequence of events into pages. Each page should move you one step closer to completing your setup and towards your payoff. The way I make sure I do this is by writing down the situation in blue at the beginning and at the end of each page.
Basic breakdown of the scene
Breakdown the Page into Panels
Now that you have a clearly outlined plan for your scene, it is time to decide the number of panels on each page. When deciding the number of panels the simplest way to think about it is this: the more panels and dialogue on a page, the slower the pace; the fewer panels on a page, the faster the story moves. So, if you want a slow meditative scene, break a simple action into many panels. If you want a super fast scene, just show the beginning and end of the action with no dialogue.
Bare bones dialogue and actions happening in each scene.
Draw the Thumbnails
Thumbnails are a quick sketch of the final look of the pages. You need to try many different compositions to make the page look right, so don’t get too precious with your drawings.
To make things easier, study your favorite comics and have a look at interesting and effective ways of laying out pages with different numbers of panels. If you’re doing a vertical webcomic, think about the space between panels and how using gradients and other visual cues can help readers build up anticipation when introducing new panels.
Whole scene thumb-nailed, with a Pound coin for size reference
Prepare the File
Open a new file and choose the size of the page. I personally use A4 size and 350 dpi. The bigger the file size, the slower your computer will run, but if you choose a tiny file size, the final image will look blurry.
Now choose the panel tool and draw the panels. Remember to keep all your panels inside the safe area, unless you are trying to make your panel extend past the border of the page. In my case, the third panel will be doing this, so I drew it past the safe area.
Margins are really important if you want to print later.
Draw the Rough Pencils
It’s time to start drawing! Using your thumbnails as a guide; start drawing everything quickly and expressively.
Rough Pencils are your first pass at the final illustration for each panel. The focus during this step is creating interesting and dynamic drawings with good composition. Don’t worry too much about details such as the position of fingers, or the pattern of a t-shirt. This is not the time for that, what you need to focus on is the energy of your drawings.
Rough pencils
Rough Lettering
You may want to have a second or third pass at your pencils. The more realistic the style, the more you will have to refine the pencils. However, the more you refine your drawing, the less energy you will retain from the rough pencils. Before you do that though, do the rough lettering.
Using the text tool, write the dialogue and captions. Then roughly draw the bubbles around them. This will give you an idea of what parts of the drawing will be covered by text, so you won’t waste time drawing something that will not be visible.
Getting an idea of the space taken by the bubbles.
Ink your Pencils
The objective of inking is to get clean lines including all the details. To ink, choose the pen tool. Pens on clip studio are made to mimic the pens traditionally used to ink Manga. Play around with them and find the ones you like best.
Doodle on a test page to find your favorite pen and settings. I personally use a textured custom pen because I like my lines to have a bit of a crispy texture, my other settings are: size 15, opacity 100, far left anti-aliasing option and stabilization 15.
Inked page and explanation of the pen tool settings
Flat colors
We refer to “Flatting” in comics, meaning: blocking out all the colors of the page without any shadows, light or textures. To do this you will need to use the Marquee tool and the Bucket tool. Using the rectangular and Polyline Marquee tool, select the area you want to color. Once you have carefully selected the area, use the bucket tool to fill it with color.
It is best to start applying one color to bigger areas (for example a full panel) and then select the next biggest area inside. That way there won’t be any white pixels left uncolored by mistake.
Flat colors finished along with the Polyline and Bucket Tool
Shadows
Create a new layer and put it on top of the flat’s layer. Then, set its blending mode to “Multiply” in the drop down menu. Apply your shadows in the multiply layer with the pen tool you used for inking or with a brush if you want any special effect or texture.
When choosing a color for your shadows choose the same color as the sky for naturalistic shadows. However, you may want to use dramatic colorful shadows for different effects, such as green shadows for an alien spaceship or purple shadows for a darker scene.
Creating a new layer, setting it to multiply for shadows
Lettering and Effects
Test out the fonts on Clip Studio or download some copyright free fonts to carry out some experiments and see what looks right. Once you find the right font, pay attention to the space between lines and adjust it to minimize the space used for text.
Once the text is written, use the figure tool to draw the bubbles making sure you leave white space in their margins. Then, draw the tails making them point at the character’s head.
Finally, play around with the gradient tool and the layer blending options to create interesting light effects and other final touches.
Top Tip 1 — Stretch Regularly
Making a comic page can take an entire work day. Please remember to stop every hour or so to do a stretch routine for artists. This will prevent carpal tunnel syndrome and other drawing related injuries that could put you out of commission for weeks or even months.
Take every opportunity to stretch!
Top Tip 2 — Create an Asset Folder
If you’re writing a longer story create a folder to keep drawings you are going to need regularly in your panels. For instance, I have a folder where I keep my speech bubbles so I don’t have to draw them over and over again.
The speech bubbles in my asset folder
Top Tip 3 — Start Small
If this is your first comic it’s a good idea to test out your skills on a smaller comic before attacking bigger projects. Try to do a four-to-ten page comic; you will learn a lot and you will be better prepared for your bigger project after finishing a small comic.
Making a one page mini comic is great fun
Top Tip 4 — Find Collaborators or Friends that can help
Comics are very time consuming and require a lot of different skills such as writing, drawing, lettering, coloring, editing… It’s a good idea to look for collaborators and friends for mutual support and to help each other out when possible.