Launch or Be Lunch, Day 5 – Boom! Goes Our Sanity: Process Lettering, Part Two

Posted on by

Well, here we go: five days left, and things are not getting any easier.  Again, it's time to scream.

130856000524 130856000524

There.  Much better.  In any case, we're going to talk about creating sound effects today.  I'm going to presume for this one that you have Manga Studio as well as some kind of other creation program (Illustrator, Photoshop, Paint Shop Pro, Project Dogwaffle, Inkscape, whatever.)

One of the biggest problems that Manga Studio has is that its effects creator is not the best.  You're limited to outlines, strikethroughs and distortions, not all of which work for your comic.  It's the difference between A and B, as seen below.

Untitled-2

As you can see, the variation used by direct selection, something available in both raster (PS, PSP, PDW) and vector (AI, IS) gives you a decided edge over Manga Studio's built-in tools.  And while I'm sure CelSys is working on improving that process in ComicStudio 5.0 (and eventually Manga Studio 5.0), that's something we don't have now and something you'll need.

So, let's go with the AI Boom, just for the sake of the example.  We're going to export it.  Make sure that you have whatever you're going to export to Manga Studio be as high a DPI as possible, so that way it makes it easier for Manga Studio to import.

 Untitled-1

And then we're going to import it into Manga Studio.  Even though you've increased the DPI in what you're importing, turn on the Antialiasing setting unless you intentionally want it jagged.

Untitled-1e

Once imported, use the magic wand to clean up whatever you want removed, and you'll be set.  This way, you'll have awesome-looking effects while bypassing the limitations of Manga Studio's software.

Claude & Monet

Between the combination of fonts available, the settings in your manipulation software and your own mind, you can do just about anything.  You wouldn't be the first person to do it this way, and you probably won't be the last, either.

For more details on process lettering, check out Comic Book Lettering the Comicraft Way by Richard Starkings and JG Roshell. These guys know their stuff and it's a book I reference often.  Granted, we could go into the aesthetics of manga vs. western effects lettering (manga's tends to be thinner, even when translated into English) but the mechanics are very much the same.

Tomorrow, we'll go over one of the most important things you'll need for your comic: your identity.

TOMORROW: Day 4 – OMGWTFBBQ!: Identity Design