Scott McCloud: Lettering Comics in Illustrator (2 of 2)

[SpikedSkull]

A nice tip for selecting layers like your balloons: hold ctrl and alt, then right-click on whatever you want to select (a life-saver with tons of layers!).

You can do all of this in Photoshop, which is how I do it. I guess it's all just preference. I think it would take longer to switch back and forth -- Photoshop can keep everything vector (text/balloons/etc.), and you can modify it at anytime. I literally do my whole comic with vector shapes in Photoshop (see GrammarComic com).

[gregg0v]

Thanks for the information. Very helpful!

Could you please comment on text size and readability? I saw that you were using 8pt. But you have a custom font, so I wonder if that affects your choice. Does resizing the text after typing make it look skewed or print differently than choosing a larger point size?

Also, could you please comment on your custom action in PS? Is it javascript based? Would you say that with a little head scratching an intermediate PS user could make similar actions?

;)

[mccloudvideo]

@gregg0v Resizing type in either program is never a problem, so long as it's not too small for your target resolution. And you can record and replay any series of steps in Photoshop using the the program's own Actions palette.

[Car2nsbysketch]

Wonderful tutorial Scott, greatly appreciated. Unfortunately I also have what seems to be a simple "duplicating question." When you made those "tails" for the voice balloons, how did you duplicate them into the circle pattern? Sorry for the simple question.

[mccloudvideo]

@Car2nsbysketch To make a circular pattern of tails, I take a single tail, copy it, rotate 180°, and place directly below or beside the other. Then I group that pair, select the group, click on the rotate tool and choose, say, 30° rotation with copy (can be any amount, provided that it's an even fraction of 360°). Repeat until you have a circular group of tails.

[mccloudvideo]

@mccloudvideo Whoops. Answered the above before I saw this post. Sorry! That system is fine. :-)

[mccloudvideo]

@Car2nsbysketch You can make a ring of dupes like that using the rotate tool. Just choose your center point while the object is selected, double-click the rotate tool and choose a number of degrees that fits into 360 (15, 20, 30, 36... there are a lot of choices) and hit the copy button. Repeat until the circle is filled out.

[bozovideo]

Excellent!

I have been finalizing the art with panels in photoshop and taking it into Illustrator just to do the lettering. But I love this approach with treating the panels as a sort of "cut-out" window. Building the panels using the gutters as objects is a real eye-opener.

Very smart.

Thanks!

[freezerbee]

Fantastic. Just when I think I've learned everything I possibly could from this guy he lays something new on me. I had abandoned Illustrator for Photoshop long ago but this adds a whole new workflow angle. Just goes to show you, sometimes using more than one program can save some time.

I'd love to see some of the theory that goes into that massive PS action he runs at the end.

[SunnySmog]

Great tutorial, just thought I'd mention you can cut out the step of deleting the surrounding elements before exporting to photoshop. Just draw a rectangle the size of the desired psd/print file center align it to the art board then select it and under "object " in the main nav select "crop area" then select make. That should export just the selected area of your cs3 file.

[PenguinJockey13]

@PlasmicSteve; how about taking the creative initiative and making your own template? That is the entire point of Scott's tutorial - to show other people how they can make one for themselves, and then put it into practice. It'll take you a fragment of time now knowing what methods to use, and seeing how Scott arranged his components. (sorry to get a bit preachy here, but geez.)

[mccloudvideo]

@PenguinJockey13 Aw, I understand Steve's initial impulse. Getting your hand on the real thing can be very useful sometimes. But yeah, in the long run, DIY is going to be more constructive.

[PenguinJockey13]

@mccloudvideo Yeah, true. That was a bit 'trollish' of me. I almost bit my lip and refrained, because I do understand the intent; I've bought a few templates before so I could save time, or deconstruct the process. I like to see other creative processes and techniques, then take what I find useful and adapt it to my needs.

This tutorial series showed me some great methods in Illustrator that I was unaware of. Thanks for sharing!

[gonzo191]

damn ur way is super efficient, i love it

[Bedaffled1]

The efficiency is so satisfying!

[smeagol92055]

You make this all look so easy!

I've been making webcomics for years, ever since I read your Understanding/Reinventing/Maki­ng Comics trilogy, and I'm still amazed at how brilliant and yet full of common sense you are!

You're truly one of my biggest inspirations, Mr. McCloud.

[PlasmicSteve]

Ah, I hear you Scott - thanks for replying. You're right - I'm just feeling lazy and greedy!

[dynotaku]

I was always confused about lettering in Illustrator casue I always do my lettering last leaving me to wonder how I got it all back down to a web scaled jpg. I assumed that you'd pop it back out to photoshop but it seemed like a lot of redundant work at that point. This way does seem to be more efficient. Unfortunately I don't like to draw in photoshop, but maybe I'll adapt some of this to my process. Thanks for the video.

[LeeinLimbo]

Great tutorial, Scott, and thank you for doing the audio track, as well.

[PlasmicSteve]

You know, many people would pay for your template, including me - at least a few bucks. Have you considered selling it?

[julialichtblau]

@PlasmicSteve seconded!

[mccloudvideo]

@PlasmicSteve Appreciate the sentiment, Steve, but I'm afraid my template wouldn't be much use to anyone not creating a book in the exact same format.

Anyway, once you're comfortable with the basics, it can actually be a lot of fun to create your own template with everything you could ever need. Maybe you prefer burst-style balloons, for example, or diagonal gutters, or lots of overlap layers; or even just green backgrounds instead of blue! ^__^

[TheKennoarkkan]

omg scott mcloud has a youtube channel 'o'!!! hi scott :D good stuff