Chosing a style

Now your images need style! While in the details panel, double click on an image and choose the style that conveys the feel that you are looking for in your graphic novel. I like "acrylic comic", but you may find something you like better.

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Adding pages is simple using the "+" sign at the bottom left. Now the sky is the limit! Tell your story and enjoy yourself!

Adding dialog

You have a page of pictures. Now it's time to tell a story. Use dialog "bubbles" by dragging them and dropping them where you want them. Fill them in with text and stretch them to make them look as good as possible.

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Make sure that your dialog leads in to the next page. Keep the reader interested in what is going to happen next!

Placing pictures in Comic Life

Think about your story, and decide on the first few pictures. Sometimes it might be easier to develop the dialog ahead of time. Other times the dialog may seem to flow better after the pictures are placed in order on the page. First, let's place the pictures.

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After placing them think about the story that will be told on this page, and how this page will contribute to the next ones.

Onward to Comic Life!

Now that you've done some planning, taken some photos, and created an album of those photos in iPhoto, we're ready to get started blocking out some pages. First, we'll choose a background fill and basic framework for our first page. Then, if you want to have consistency throughout your novel, save an custom designs so that they will be available for you later.

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How did it go? Let me know if you had any problems, or share your experience in the comments.

Working with iPhoto

Once you have begun photographing your characters you can easily import those photos into iPhoto. Simply connect your digital camera to your computer using the supplied connecting cable for your camera. iPhoto will automatically open and ask if you would like to import photos. Tell it that you would like that very much. Then follow the instruction in this video clip to create a photo album just for your graphic novel pictures.

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Be sure to take many more photos than you think you will need. Remember, it's only hard-drive space, right? Take both close-up photos of expressive faces, and wider shots showing some scenery and multiple characters.

In the comments section of this post, discuss your experiences with using the digital camera and putting your pictures into iPhoto. What challenges did you face? How did you resolve any issues that came up?

Why Graphic Novels?

Creating graphic novels can be exciting, educational and fun. Not only are you creating a story with characters, a setting, and a plot, but you are also using pictures along with text to tell the story. Comic Life makes creating a graphic novel from scratch an easy undertaking.

Take a moment to look at some of the graphic novel resources on the left side of this blog. Jot down any ideas that come to you as you view these resources.

Before getting started, you should plan your graphic novel's storyline. This might include making a list of characters. When making your list of characters, consider who will play the part of each character. Since we will be using digital photography to create this graphic novel, you will need to think about costumes if they would be appropriate for the setting.

Next, think about the plot. Do you want your graphic novel to be an adventure story? Will the story have a moral? Will there be a plot twist? Most stories have a clear beginning, middle, and end. You might want to put together an informal outline of the story, as a way of organizing your ideas and providing a reference for yourself during the next step, which will be to begin photographing your story.

Comment on this post. In the comments provide a brief discussion of your ideas for the storyline of your graphic novel. Include the names of your characters, who will play each part, and a brief description of each character.