Advanced Tips and Tricks
Tm going to assume that most oi you - but not all oi you - understand, that this session on 'masking has to do viith Manga Studio. f you've already looked through the first three parts of this book, you have a pretty good grasp of what you can do with Manga Studio. Or do you This part is all about the more advanced tips, tricks, and functions in Manga Studio, with a heavy emphasis on the EX version of the program. Chapter 14 covers advanced features of both Manga Studio Debut and EX, while...
Customizing your pens and markers
You may find that the pens and markers Manga Studio provides aren't quite to your liking. Maybe the pressure sensitivity is too hard or too soft. Or perhaps you'd like the lines to taper more than they currently do. Not a problem. I cover how to customize your tools in greater detail in Chapter 14, but here's a quick overview of the options you can adjust for your pen or marker with the Tool Options palette, shown in Figure 10-6. Press F3 to activate the palette if you can't see it. Unless...
Online Fomms
You can read all the books and visit all the sites I suggest in this chapter, and it hopefully helps build your knowledge of creating comics. But knowledge can be nothing without application, and what better way to find out how well you're applying what you've learned than by getting real-time feedback from a group of your peers Sprinkled throughout the comics community are many message boards devoted to sharing art with others, with users ready to give critiques to anyone brave enough to step...
Creating your ovOn tone
There's always the possibility that none of the tone patterns that Manga Studio has are what you want. You may be looking for something a bit more unique something that you can call your own. So, make your own pattern It's easy to do in Manga Studio any drawing or picture will work. Simply choose the pattern you wish to create and add it to the program as your own custom tone. Then, you can use and reuse it as often as you like To create your own pattern tone from a drawing, follow these steps...
Adding Depth to Jour Tones
To paraphrase an old adage, sometimes it's best to keep things simple. In the case of tones, sometimes it just works, stylistically, to add a simple layer to an object and leave it at that. The Trigun manga, for example, doesn't go too crazy with tones usually, a simple screen or gradient tone is all that you need for a character or background. But really, what fun is that You want to add a bit more dimension and pizzazz to your work, right Give your page just that little extra to help it pop...
Time to Lay bouln Some Dots
One of the best ways to learn how something works is to use them, so how about applying some tones to a drawing tco I've included sample pages you can play around with, in case you don't have a drawing of your own to work on. You can find them in the Author Chapter CK 11 folder of the CD-ROM. While you can use any of them to practice on, I use pageOOl .cpg as an example in the following steps. Open the page you wish to add tones to and then follow these steps 1. On the toolbar, select the Lasso...
Understanding and Taking Advantage of the Manga Studio EX Palettes
The basic palette that users of Manga Studio Debut and EX have has been covered throughout the course of this book. However, I'm sure you EX users have noticed an additional group of palettes that I haven't touched on yet. To avoid confusion for the Debut users, I set aside these exclusive palettes to this chapter, where I would be able to discuss them in further depth. Considering the cool features you now have at your disposal, you'll be glad I saved these palettes for last. If you want to...
A START TO M
Manga Studio, the world's leading manga and comic art software, gives you the . power and flexibility to easily draw S U f professional-quality comics, manga ff jr i and illustrations. Manga Studio ni j is your all-in-one solution for ' professional, ready-to-pub ish 'I manga and comics from start j to finish, all with easy-to-use tools, filters and special effects. For More Information or to Order Manga Studio is a trademark of e frontier America. Inc. All other trademarks are property of...
Inking lour Comics
Resource The Art of Comic-Book Inking, 2nd Edition, by Gary Martin with various authors Dark Horse Using Manga Studio to ink your work digitally is great. You don't need to worry about running out of ink, or ruining a pen tip because you forgot to properly clean it, or cursing the high heavens when your cat knocks the ink well all over the page you just finished. Now you just need to pray the cat doesn't accidentally pull the plug on your computer before you get a chance to save you work. But...
The Pencil and Eraser loots lour NevU Best Friends
As a person who likes to consider himself a penciler above all else, I find the Pencil and Eraser tools to be the items I absolutely, positively need to have. They give me the freedom 1 want to just go crazy with my roughs like I would with a traditional pencil and paper. The kicker is, with Manga Studio's Pencil and Eraser tools, 1 don't waste paper as I struggle to figure out exactly what 1 want to draw. Believe me, that happens more often than not However, these tools aren't just for those...
Transforming selections
In my opinion, the most important thing you can do with a selection, especially if you've selected a particular object, is transform it. The transformation can range from scaling the selection, to rotating it, to distorting it, to simply moving it around the page. Whatever you plan on using it for, you may find it a great timesaver when you make a mistake on the page. I've lost track of the number of times I've worked on a piece of art and discover that I've drawn the head of a character too...
Acquiring Useful Tools
I'll take the leap of faith and assume that you already have a computer running some flavor of Windows or Mac OS X sorry, Linux users You can always see if the program will run though Wine , or else you probably wouldn't be reading this book. However, there are a few pieces of hardware, both internal to your computer as well as external, that you may find useful to have. What's more, you don't need to go on a massive spending spree to get them. Appendix A to this book contains the absolute...
Terminology you should know
As you work with tones in Manga Studio, there are two terms you should become familiar with lines and density. By default, tones are set at a 45-degree angle. If you look closely, you'll see that the dots form a series of diagonal lines. The term lines refers to the number of those diagonal lines you can fit along one inch. Fifty lines means there are 50 rows of dots that fit within one inch. The measurement can also work in the number of dots that fit in an inch. So, using 50 lines as an...
Adjusting and Transforming Rulers
You're going to need to become very familiar with two tools vital to working with rulers in Manga Studio the Object Selector and the Ruler Manipulator. These tools are the ones you'll need to use to make any kind of adjustments or transformations to your rulers. Any kind of specific adjustments you want to make to rulers involves using the Object Selector tool, located on the Tools palette. Chapter 7 discusses the Object Selector in depth. You use the Object Selector to manipulate the endpoints...
OnDemand Publishing
Your manga is done. You see the finished project in front of you in Manga Studio, and you're ready to print it out and distribute it to the masses, either through the mail or possibly at a comic or anime convention. So the next question on your lips is probably, How do I do that The simplest and least expensive option is to create an ashcan comic. All you need to have is a printer, a large stack of paper, a paper cutter, and a stapler. As you can probably surmise, the idea here is to simply...
Feeds.feedburner.com
LOST ik TUE MALL Parkjng L T JKISPLACED amp ALLE.RV INVITATION ' AND, 1- BAP UAIROJT-WHY f E for Han a Studio, many o stovies. would have remained untold. 50, you either bought a copy of Manga Studio and picked this book up because you aren't exactly sure where to go from here, or maybe you saw this on the bookshelf and would like to know exactly what Manga Studio is. This first part of the book gives you some understanding as to what this program is and what it can do to help you create comics...
The Benefits of Using Lagers
1 like to think of the layers feature as an all-in-one solution while drawing digitally. Now, I know that people tend to throw the term all-in-one around quite a bit, sometimes incorrectly. In the case of Manga Studio, however, 1 feel it's apropos using the layers feature allows you to have all kinds of drawing space, tools, guides, and so forth all in one convenient place. For drawing, layers are like a near-infinite stack of tracing paper. On one layer, you can work on your pencil roughs,...
Expanding panels
A recurring trend in comics and manga is expanding the artwork of a panel all the way to the edge of the page. It's a seemingly little trick, but it's really an effective tool if you want to bring the reader a little further into the scene you're looking to establish. Follow these steps to expand a panel to the edge of the page 1. Select the Object Selector from the Tools palette and make sure that the Select All Continuous Points on Ruler check box is selected on the Tool Options palette. 2....
Importing an image He
Perhaps you've already scanned your work into your computer through a different program. Or maybe you've used a digital sketching program to create your roughs. In that case, the Import Image File function best suits your needs. Follow these steps to import an existing art file into Manga Studio 1, From the main menu, choose File1 Import1J Image File. 2. When the Open File dialog box opens, navigate to wherever you've stored your image file, select it, and click OK. You see the Import Images...
Manga Studio EX Only
Discovering additional tool palettes Using the Gradation tool Using the various effects filters on your page Working with the focus line, parallel line, and perspective line rulers Explaining some of the other exclusive Manga Studio EX tools and features. ere's where spending the extra money for Manga Studio EX pays off. W W Fundamentally, there aren't any major differences between Manga Studio Debut and Manga Studio EX. Both versions do an excellent job with exactly what they're intended to do...
Deciphering the differences between Computones and Manga Studio tones
I mention earlier that using Computones feels a bit more tactile or real than when working with the base Manga Studio sets. Perhaps that's because unlike using the base tones, you have a smaller margin of error with Computones f Computones don't automatically generate a new layer when you select them. So either you have to create a new layer for each tone manually, or you need to keep them all on one layer. f You can't adjust the tone settings of Computones after you place them on the page. If...
Creating Your First Manga Page A QuickStart Guide
P Creating a new page Using the Pencil tool to create the roughs Using the Pen tool to ink the page Adding tones to the drawing Saving and reopening the new page Exporting the page to a file Printing the page M MJhile the rest of this book is devoted to a detailed look at the ins and ww outs of Manga Studio, sometimes a person just wants to know the absolute basic things needed to create a comic from start to finish. Ask and ye shall receive this chapter is just for you. This chapter is all...
Masking off areas
If you've ever painted your house, I'm sure you've had to block off parts of a wall such as electrical sockets or windows so you wouldn't accidentally paint over them. Usually, you cover the area s with some blue painter's tape to protect it. Then, when you're all done painting, you simply remove the tape, and all the places you want protected come out clean. Masking in panel layers work the same way. The idea here is that you mask off areas of the panel layer that you want to protect. This...
The Part of Tens
Are you using that 'clone' tool again 1 7his part contains two chapters. Chapter 16 covers ten or so books and Web sites that I think you'll find useful to look through as you reach the next stage in your artistic evolution. During those times when you're ready to put your fist through your computer, check out some of these suggestions. It's cheaper than replacing a monitor. Chapter 17 is all about comfort and convenience. In there, I offer ten suggestions to help improve your overall Manga...
Understanding the Essentials of Comic Creation
While the following subsections can apply to Manga Studio, they cover the art of manga and comic creation in a more general and abbreviated sense. I guess you could call this section Sequential Art 101. Over the course of the book, I throw around a lot of comic terminology. Some terms you may be familiar with, others may be new. I even try to throw in a few terms that I think you should be familiar with in general, as you're going to encounter them as you go along on your artistic career. And...
Pasting screentones into selections
Filling a selection with a solid color can and will be useful to you as you work, but I think that selections are most useful when you're working with screentones. I discuss screentones in much further detail in Chapter 11, but the short version of applying tone to a page is to open the Tones palette, select the tone you want to use, and then paste it in place. Without laying down a selection beforehand, the tone is pasted on the whole page at once, and you then need to erase away all that you...
The Fill toot
The Fill tool is a great timesaver when you need to fill large areas of a drawing with black. Now, you accomplish in one click what would have required several passes with markers of various sizes. When you're on a bit of a deadline, you'll find that this is a nice tool to have around. jq To access the Fill tool, you can press G or click the Fill tool icon in the Tools fV palette. When selected, the cursor changes into a paint bucket when you hover it over the page. All you need to do now is...
The Properties palette
With all of the layer types, you can view a layer's properties in two ways I. Pressing F7 on your keyboard. Clicking the Properties button on the main toolbar. When the Properties palette is open, you'll notice that there are a few options to adjust, but most of them are grayed out. That's because, for the most part, the options on a new layer are locked, and the palette reminds you about the settings you created with the new layer. You really only have the option to rename your layer from this...
Table of Contents
About This Foolish Conventions Used in This How This Book Is Part 1 Welcome to Manga Part II Roughing Part 111 Refining and Exporting Your Part IV Advanced Tips and Part V The Part of Icons Used in This Where to Go from Parti Welcome to Manga Chapter 1 Getting to Know Manga Studio 9 How Manga Studio Differs from Other Drawing Programs 9 Finding out what Manga Studio can do for Knowing what Manga Studio can't do Debut versus EX Which Is Right for Getting to Know Your New Recognizing the Main...
HouJ Manga Studio Differs from Other Drawing Programs
In many ways, Manga Studio is similar to other drawing programs available, such as Adobe Photoshop or Corel Painter. Each of these programs is good in its own right, but because Manga Studio is first and foremost a comic creation program, it has a few functions that set it apart from other drawing programs and that help make your life as a digital artist easier. The one critique I have about the program is that its name was changed from the original Japanese name of Comic Studio to Manga Studio...
The Tones palette in Manga Studio Debut
Before you can start adding tones to your page, it would probably be a good idea to find them in the program. Fortunately, they're very easy to find You just need to open the Tones palette, shown in Figure 11-8. To do that, either press F6 or choose WindowCTones. The Tones palette in Manga Studio Debut. .i u sqj C S DiarrrxJ Cross 3Deaqn t _j 4 scenerv slr aoe It would take the rest of the book to cover all of the various types of tones available to use, so instead 1 point you to the Materials...
Optimal Settings or lour Uork
Sadly, it isn't enough to simply print or export the file and be done with it. You need to make sure that the settings you've adjusted are the right ones for the medium. Otherwise, you could end up with poor-quality pages, and that's not going to please any of your readers. It can be tricky to get your work to look the way you want it to in a Web-compatible format. When I started using Manga Studio and tried to export for the Web, I ended up with pages that flat-out looked terrible either the...
Adjusting your tones
It's one thing to see the tone as a sample it's another when it's on the page. Sometimes a tone you think will look right turns out to be too dark or light. Or maybe the line count isn't to your liking. Now, you can always clear out what you just pasted on the page and paste a new tone, but there's actually a simpler way to adjust the tone to your liking. The first thing you need to do is open the Layer Properties tab, if it isn't open already. To do that, either press F7 or choose Window1...
Etching With drawing toots
When used with the Transparent Ink color, you can use the main drawing tools of the program to etch away the unwanted sections of tones and create effects you can't do with the Eraser. V Pencil tool If you're looking to create an effect similar to rubbing away tones with a block or pencil eraser, try using the Pencil tool. Unlike the Eraser tool, which gives you a complete hard-edged erasure, the Pencil tool can give you something that's softer and a more subtle. This can be useful if you want...
Tweaking the Pattern Brush tools advanced options
The Pattern Brush has a completely different set of advanced options, as shown in Figure 14-8, than the other drawing tools. As I mention in Chapter 10, it would almost take forever to go over the available options for each type of Pattern Brush, so I list all of the options you see on the palette. Keep in mind that not all of the options are available, depending on the type of Pattern Brush you're adjusting options you can't use will be grayed out. The Pattern Brush advanced options. There's a...
The Marquee toot
You can use the Marquee tool to create basic rectangular or elliptical selections on the page. It's actually very similar to the Shape tool which I discuss in Chapter 8 , with the exception that you aren't automatically committed to a filled-in or outlined shape. See Figure 9-1. To get started, either click the Marquee tool button on the Tools palette or ,f press M. In addition, you can cycle between the rectangular and elliptical tool by either pressing and holding the Marquee tool button and...
The Lasso toot
Unlike the Marquee tool, which creates a basic shape, the Lasso tool helps you create a more specific selection on the page. If you're looking to create a more complicated polygonal shape, or maybe outline a character or object on your page, this is the tool to use. To select the Lasso tool, you can either click its icon on the Tools palette, or you can press L on your keyboard. Like the Marquee tool, you can cycle between the Lasso and Polyline tools by holding down the Lasso button until its...
Creating Word Balloons in Manga Studio EX
You Manga Studio EX users out there have things a lot easier than Debut users, as far as creating word balloons go. In fact, all you need to do is take advantage of the Word Balloon function, and you can use any of EX's prein-stalled balloons. If none of the default templates are to your liking, you can simply create your own, which you can re-use as many times as you want Or you can create them by hand see the Creating Word Balloons in Manga Studio Debut section, earlier in this chapter. After...
Exporting Hour Work to an External File
Whether it's to send to friends or family, to post on the World Wide Web, or to colorize in Photoshop, sometimes you need to save your work in a file format that isn't Manga Studio-exclusive. Fortunately, you have that option. Using the Export function, you can export your work to one of several common image file formats, including the Photoshop PSD file. Even more, you can choose to export by either physical size in centimeters and resolution or by pixel size. Each has its own advantages over...
Creating Word Balloons in Manga Studio Debut
You've created all the dialogue for the page. Now it's time to add some word balloons so that the reader knows who's saying what to whom. First, the bad news Creating word balloons isn't the easiest thing to do in Manga Studio Debut. Fact is, it's a multistep process to create word balloons for your text. Manga Studio EX really shines here the process of making word balloons is much easier with this version. If you're using Manga Studio EX, skip ahead to the Creating Word Balloons in Manga...
Getting to Knout iour Lager Tgpes
Manga Studio provides a selection of layer types to use in your work. You're going to see them a lot over the next few chapters, so now is a good time to get to know them, j- Raster Layer This is the basic drawing layer that you use for roughing and inking your work, as well as adding various effects, like speed lines. Most of the drawing tools can be used on this layer. Vector Layer An option available to Manga Studio EX users, this layer is used primarily for inking. Unlike a raster layer, a...
Adjusting the brush settings
The default brushes work just fine as is. But there's the possibility that they don't feel right to you. Maybe you'd like to increase the pressure sensitivity of the Thin Pencil tool or remove the tapering from the brush Pen tool Well, there's nothing stopping you from customizing these tools to better suit your style of working. After all, you're going to be using them to create your next great masterpiece, so why not make them comfortable to use The good news is that it's quite easy to adjust...
Scanning in our Line Art
Some artists like to get their hands dirty with a good dip pen, India ink, and correction fluid and would rather just scan inked line art into Manga Studio for touch-ups and screentoning. 1 cover the scanning process in more detail in Chapter 5, but here's a quick run-through and a few suggestions for scanning your inked art preparing your new ink layer 1, If you haven't already set up your scanner in Manga Studio, choose File1 Import1 Select TWAIN Device and select your scanner in the Select...
Filters as Rulers Using the Parallel Focus and Perspective Line Rulers
I think the speed line, focus line and vanishing point filters introduced in Chapter 14 are a great way to create special effects or prepare drawing guides when you just want it done quickly. But what if you want something a bit more hands-on Manga Studio EX actually provides an alternative version to all three of those filters the parallel, focus, and perspective line rulers. Each of these perform the same basic function as their respective filters. The big difference is that instead of the...
Adding focus tines
Focus lines are a staple of manga that help to create the trademark look of the genre. It's a simple effect that you can use in a variety of ways, including expressing motion towards the reader, focusing attention towards an item or person, or when created with reverse colors creating effects, such as star-hursts. Check out Figure 14-12 for some examples of focus lines in action. You can use the Focus Lines filter in a variety of ways. You can use the Focus Lines filter in a variety of ways. To...
Using the Materials Catalog or quick reference
Manga Studio comes preinstalled with thousands of tones and patterns to use. That number is even larger if you own Manga Studio EX. So, it can be a bit daunting to find the right type of tone for your work. Fortunately, the hunting process is easier than you may think. The Materials Catalog that comes with the program in electronic form contains every single tone and pattern type available to Manga Studio Debut and EX users. It also covers all the default and EX-exclusive Computones, as well as...
Troubleshooting
1 tried my best to compile programs that work on most computers with the minimum system requirements. Alas, your computer may differ, and some programs may not work properly for some reason. If you're having problems, the two likeliest culprits are that you don't have enough memory RAM for the programs you want to use, or you have other programs running that are affecting installation or running of a program. If you get an error message such as Not enough memory or Setup cannot continue, try...
Aligning rulers
If you're working with multiple rulers, you may find you need to line them up in either a certain direction or position. Manga Studio has a few functions you can use to rotate and adjust your rulers to whatever position, spacing, or angle you need. The Verticalize function takes your selected rulers and adjusts them until they're all at a 90-degree angle, which you can see in Figure 8-10. The sizes and general positions of the rulers remain the same. The Verticalize function quickly aligns your...
Creating rulers With the Line and Shape tools
Here's where figuring out how the Line and Shape tools work discussed earlier in this chapter pays off. These are the tools you use to create the rulers. In fact, they're the only ones you can use on a ruler layer, because none of the other drawing tools will work. Follow these steps to create rulers with these tools 1. Create a starting point with your mouse or stylus on the canvas. 2. Drag the mouse or stylus to the ending point of your ruler and release. If you're drawing a curve, you need...
Creating a custom brush
If you want to keep the default brushes as they are, but you'd still like to have a few custom ones to work with, you can easily create new brushes. Follow these steps to create a custom brush 1. From the Tools palette, click the drawing tool you'd like to create a new brush from. For example, you may want to select the Pen or Magic Marker tool. 2. Open the Tool Options palette F3 on your keyboard . 3. Click the Show Menu button and select New Tool Option Settings. 4. When the New Tool Option...
