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Create a comic book

BOOM! Making your first comic book is simple.

Dan Kemp avatar
Written by Dan Kemp
Updated over 2 weeks ago

Creating comics is great fun, and may be the perfect solution to get reluctant writers engaged in literacy.

Access the comic templates

Some of the comic styles (for example comic text and speech bubbles) can be found in the standard Book Creator options. But if you want the full set of comic styles, you need to open up a comic template.

Click the New Book button and scroll down so you can see the comic templates. As per the basic templates, you can choose from Portrait, Square or Landscape.

An image showing three comic book layouts. The first is labeled "PORTRAIT 2:3 Comic", the second is labeled "SQUARE 1:1 Comic", and the third is labeled "LANDSCAPE 4:3 Comic".

Now, when you click the + button in the toolbar, you'll see at the bottom the menu for comic styles: Panels, Speech, Thought and Stickers. Comic text options can be found under Text.

A menu with options for Tools, Media, and Apps. The Tools menu is selected, and the options are Images, Camera, Pen, Text, and Record. Below are four colorful comic book style icons.

Using comic page templates

We have a library of over 800 designed page templates that can be added into any book, and this includes comic pages! To access these, go to the Templates menu which can be found by clicking on + then Media.

A menu showing the Media options. Options are Templates, Shapes, Icons, Files and Embed

You can use the search bar at the top, or scroll down the left hand side until you find the category Comics. Underneath, you will notice subcategories for Basic: white panels, Wow: some comic design and color, Amazing: completely comic designed, and then one-six of panels on a page. Simply press on the page you want, and select Add to book.

A short video showing the options you can select under the 'Comic' section in Templates. There are the categories: Basic, Wow, Amazing, One Panel, Two Panels, Three Panels, Four Panels, Five Panels and Six Panels

Panels

Panels allow you to add images or photos shaped to the panel, just like in a real comic book.

Once a panel template is added, you can add an image to it by pressing on the plus button in the middle of the panel, then pressing on the images icon (to add free and safe Pixabay or Google images), the camera icon (to take a picture with your device), or the files icon (to add an image from your computer). Read more about working with images and video here.

A white box with a blue border and locks in each corner. A plus sign is in the middle of the box, with a menu below it that says "Images", "Camera", and "Files".

All panels are able to be edited to fit your creative design needs, simply select the panel, then select the Inspector (i) in the toolbar to view the options available.

Backgrounds

There are a range of comic style page backgrounds to choose from. To access these, press anywhere on the page background you want to change, then press the Inspector (i) in the toolbar, making sure you're on the Page tab, then Comic Backgrounds should be the first to appear at the top of the list.

A screen showing the background options for comics. Features 15 different colourful styes of background.

Speech/Thought bubbles

Once a comic template page has been added, there are two places where you can access these bubbles. The first is from the four comic options found under the Tools tab after you add a comic page to your book. The second is under the Media menu, where you can find the Shapes tab. You can type directly into the bubbles by clicking on the middle of the shape once it is added to your page. If you want to change the look of the bubble, click the Inspector (i) when the bubble is highlighted.

Text

There are dozens of fonts to choose from. We recommend Komika Title and Unmasked BB to give the classic comic book feel.

Stickers

One of the four comic options that get unlocked when a comic template is chosen, is stickers. Choose from our pre-designed stickers or select a blank one and add your text over the top of it. All stickers can be resized.

A screen of stickers with comic book style text. The text includes "BANG!", "YEAH!", "WOW!", "ARGH!", "AWESOME!", "OOH!", and "AMAZING!". The word "STICKERS" is at the top of the image.

Adding audio and video

You can still add audio and video to your comic books. Press the + button and under the Tools menu you’ll find camera and record in the menu.

The top of the screen has a plus sign, an information icon, and a play icon. Below that are the options for TOOLS, MEDIA, and APPS. The TOOLS menu is open, with options for Images, Camera, Pen, Text, and Record. Below the Record option are four comic book style icons.

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