Creating Comics with Comic Book Creator
(for Windows XP)
NOTE: In order to export your comics as PDF files, you must install the PDF Writer software. To do this, after you install
Comic Book Creator, run the setup program again and select Install PDF Writer.
NOTE: Comic Book Creator includes at least one Content Pack (a collection of clipart and other media assets). Like PDF
Writer, the Content Pack must be installed separately, by running the setup program and selecting to install the Content Pack.
1. Double-click the Comic Book Creator icon on your desktop to start the program:
2. As Comic Book Creator opens, you will see a splash screen with these
choices: Click New Comic Book.
3. Type a title and author for your comic book:
4. Select the initial content pack that you wish to start with (you can modify this later, and you can
even create your own content packs if you wish).
5. Next you will need to choose a page template for the first page of your comic book:
Click here to see MANY more page
layout templates to choose from.
Choose one of these page layouts.
Click Next to go on.
6. When you click you will see the editing screen for the first page of your comic book:
This is the Tools
This is the area, where you
Resource can change the
Browser, where formatting of your
you select all the text, text balloons,
media elements Panels, etc.
for your comic
book.
This is the where
you drag the
media elements
onto your comic
book page. Notice
that it the page
layout template
that you chose.
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Using the Resource Browser
At the top of the Resource Browser you can click these
Buttons to switch between the different collections of
Elements: When you click one
Caption
Balloons (for of these resource
Boxes (for
Screenshots adding types, you will see
adding
(this is where dialogue text) the choices
narrative text)
you access available here.
your photos)
You can simply
drag these elements
into the panels of
your comic book
page.
Page Masks (these
take the place of Go from one page
your layout Text of elements to the
Clip Art next by clicking
templates) boxes
collection these arrows.
Adding your own photos to the Screenshots folder
In order to use your own photos (from a digital camera, from the Internet, etc.), you must save them into a
folder and then tell Comic Book Creator where that folder is.
1. First, place all of your photos you need for your comic book into a folder (a good place to put this
folder is in you’re My Pictures folder in My Documents).
2. When you are back in Comic Book Creator, click on the Screenshots button in the Resource
Browser.
3. At the bottom of the Resource Browser there is a row if dice icons. This allows
you to set up four different folders of images that you can access in the Screenshots mode. Click
on the second icon (#2) to select it.
4. To designate which folder this icon accesses, click the small folder icon that is under the row of
dice. This opens a widow where you can select your folder of pictures for this comic book.
Now whenever you click the #2 dice icon, you will have access to
the pictures that are in this specific folder.
Working with images on your comic book page
With your mouse, drag the images from the Resource Browser to the panels on your comic book page
to insert them there.
You can position your image in the panel by dragging it around
with you mouse.
When you click on an image that is one your comic book page,
you will see a magnifying glass appear below it.
You can change the size of your image by selecting
a magnification in the drop-down menu, or you can
right-click the magnifying glass icon to increase it by 10%
(if you left-click it, it will decrease by 10%).
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Working with dialogue Balloons
To place a dialogue balloon on your comic book page, click the Balloon icon at the top of the Resource
Browser. Type your text in the balloon.
A list of the available balloon styles If you click once on the border of
will appear here. the balloon, you will get handles
that you can use to resize the
Simply drag the balloon from the balloon.
resource Browser into one of the
Double-click to get two green
panels on your comic book page. handles that you can use to change
the direction of the balloon arrow.
You can format this text by
highlighting and, and then use
the text controls at the top of
the screen or in the Tools area
on the right.
You can extend a dialogue text balloon to a second connected balloon. To do this, click the balloon on
your comic book page to select it. Then click the Add Secondary Balloon icon in the Resource Manager.
This creates a secondary, connected
dialogue balloon, which you can
move to the desired location and type
text in it.
Working with Caption Boxes
To place a caption box on your comic book page, click the Caption Boxes icon at the top of the Resource
Browser.
You will then see the available caption boxes in this area.
Drag the desired caption box from the Resource Browser into
one of the panels in your comic book page.
Then you can type text in the box, resize the box, or drag it to a
different position in your panel.
Working with Clip Art
To use the clip art that is supplied with Comic Book Creator, click the Clip Art icon at the
top of the Resource Browser.
You will see the available clip art here.
Drag the desired clip art image from here
into one of the panels of your comic book
page
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Working with Text Boxes and Action Text
To insert a text box into your comic book, click the Text Box icon at the top of the Resource Browser.
Drag one of the text box styles onto your
comic book page.
Then you can move or resize the text box,
and type text into the box
You can also create Action Text by dragging
this icon onto your comic book page
Then you can format the action text by using
the text controls at the top of the screen or in
the Tools area on the right of the screen.
Creating new pages for your comic book
To add additional pages to your comic book, click on the File menu and select
Add Page.
You will then need to choose the panel layout that you want for your new
page.
You can move from page to page by clicking these arrows in the upper right
of the screen:
Saving your Comic Book Creator for editing later
If you wish to continue editing your comic book project later, you must save it as a “.cbcx” file. To do
this, simply select Save As from the File menu. Then name your project and select the destination
(preferably the My Comic Books folder, which is in the My Documents folder).
Publishing your comic book as a PDF file or as an image
If you wish to print your comic book on paper, it will be best to save it as a PDF file.
NOTE: In order to export your comics as PDF files, you must install the PDF Writer software. To do this, after you install
Comic Book Creator, run the setup program again and select Install PDF Writer.
When your comic book is finished, select Publish from the File menu:
Click the PDF icon here.
Then select the destination for your
file to be saved.
If you wish to save the pages of your
comic book as JPEG images, click
this icon. JPEG images are great for
publishing your comic book on your
web site!
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