Book Description
Over 90 hands-on recipes to help you create digital comics from page setup to exporting the final product
About This Book
- Design creative and custom digital comics with the perfection equivalent of pen-and-paper drawings
- Explore the latest features from Manga Studio EX 5 such as custom brush effects, layers, masks, 3D objects, panels, and multiple-page story layout
- A pragmatic manual with engaging recipes and attractive screenshots that make comic creation fun and easy
Who This Book Is For
This book is intended for competent comic artists working on Manga Studio who want to create more attractive comics by using powerful tools and features from software for digital comic creation.
What You Will Learn
- Create story files and custom pages for any Web or publishing project
- Customize brushes for special ink effects, hatching and cross-hatching, and much more
- Work with vector images in Manga Studio EX 5
- Use the new Symmetry ruler and the new Line tools to create your illustrations faster and more efficiently
- Make and save custom screentones, and add them to your comic pages
- Punch up your illustrations with color palettes and special effects
- Add 3D models to create or accentuate your comic scenes
- Finish a project by exporting it for the Web or for a printed collection
In Detail
Manga Studio is a software application for the digital creation of comics and manga. Manga Studio EX 5 has all the features of Manga Studio 5, professional story creation tools, and other special features that make it the ultimate illustration tool for serious comic, manga, and graphic artists. Made specifically for comic artists and illustrators, it has some of the most powerful digital art creation tools available. From digital perspective rulers to a library of screentones, Manga Studio 5 works for the artist with an intuitive, customizable interface and tools. With Manga Studio EX 5, you can create custom page templates, save commonly used designs, make custom brushes, mimic traditional media, pose 3D objects directly on the art canvas, and export all of your comic pages for print or the Web.
The book starts with everything you need to know to set up custom pages for your comic or Manga project. These recipes will take you all the way through to exporting your illustrations for print or to display them on the Web. You will learn how to create custom brushes that you will use for inking, or for repetitive tasks such as drawing foliage or rubble. Next, you will move on to understanding Layer Modes and Layer Masks. Then, you'll learn how to finish up your illustrations with color, screentones, special effects, and 3D objects. Finally, you will be taught to export your hard work and share it with the world, either through the Web or in print.
This cookbook will give you just the right recipes to turn on the power of Manga Studio EX 5 and get you creating more illustrations faster and more efficiently.
Style and approach
An easy-to-follow, and informative book full of recipes that explore real-world topics for the comic creator. Each recipe is explained with detailed steps and interesting screenshots.
Downloading the example code for this book You can download the example code files for all Packt books you have purchased from your account at http://www.PacktPub.com. If you purchased this book elsewhere, you can visit http://www.PacktPub.com/support and register to have the files e-mailed directly to you.
Table of Contents
- Manga Studio Ex 5 Cookbook
- Table of Contents
- Manga Studio Ex 5 Cookbook
- Credits
- Foreword
- About the Author
- About the Reviewers
- www.PacktPub.com
- Preface
- 1. Creating and Manipulating Pages and Page Templates
- Introduction
- Setting up and saving a standard-sized comic page file
- Adding the story's title to the page
- Adding the author's name to the page
- Adding page numbers and folio information to the page
- Creating a multi-page file
- Setting up cover pages
- Creating two-page spreads
- Applying a framing template
- Creating a custom framing template
- Creating and using cover templates
- Accessing the Page Manager
- Rearranging story pages
- Deleting story pages
- Editing the story information
- Editing the basic work settings
- Using the Story Editor to enter text
- Searching and replacing entered text
- 2. Customizing Brushes
- Introduction
- Creating a gritty inking brush
- Breaking out with a broken glass brush
- Creating a cracked detail brush
- Making a foliage brush
- Creating a cross-hatching brush
- Making a fabric trim brush
- Making a ruffle brush
- Making a brick brush
- Blowing up an explosion brush
- Creating a feathering texture brush
- 3. Getting a Handle on Vectors
- 4. Using the Layer Modes
- Introduction
- Using the Darken mode
- Using the Multiply mode
- Using the Color burn mode
- Using the Linear burn mode
- Using the Subtract mode
- Using the Lighten mode
- Using the Screen mode
- Using the Color dodge mode
- Using the Add mode
- Using the Overlay mode
- Using the Soft light mode
- Using the Hard light mode
- Using the Difference mode
- 5. Making Selections and Layer Masks
- 6. Using New Rulers and Line Tools
- Introduction
- Using Symmetry ruler
- Making action lines with the Scattered stream line tool
- Making action lines with the Dark stream line tool
- Adding moods with the Gloom stream line tool
- Making rain drops with the Rain stream line tool
- Making focus lines with the Scattered saturated line tool
- Making focus lines with the Dark saturated line tool
- Making focus lines with the Dense saturated line tool
- Using the Brightness tool
- Creating dark flashes with the Burst tool
- 7. Adding and Creating Tones and Materials
- 8. Playing with Color Palettes
- 9. Creating Special Effects
- 10. Using 3D Objects
- 11. Exporting the Finished Product
- Index