Comic Life

Pros

• Unique idea and output
• Many editing options
• Wide range of templates

Cons

• Program is resource intensive
• Vector graphics could be confusing for some people
• The file browser could operate a little better

Comic Life is an application that allows anyone to turn a series of photographs or images into pages from a comic book. The program can import files from the local hard drive. It can also connect to cloud-based network drives to find images. A useful feature is that Comic Life can directly import images from digital cameras, webcams or other image capture devices. Although many of the filters and other options are designed to deal with real-life photographs, it is possible to use any series of images to generate a digital comic book.

Starting Comic Life opens up a page that contains a few dozen different templates. The templates all have a comic-like feel although they are divided into categories. The categories include formal templates for an office, educational templates for a school and some basic single-panel layouts. It is also possible to start with a completely blank template. The templates have pre-made graphics around the borders and sometimes images around the frames. They define spaces where photos can be dragged and dropped into the comic page. Most of the templates include a few additional pages following the same theme so that it is possible to make a comic spread across several pages.

Comic Life has many tools that can make it simple to create a comic. Most things on the screen can be dragged and dropped into position. This includes some of the talk bubbles along the bottom. Adding text to the bubbles is as easy as clicking and typing in the words. Several different options are available for fonts and talk bubbles. The background of the bubble can be colored with a gradient. The font, size and color of the text can be changed as well. Multiple talk bubbles can be added anywhere on a page regardless of the underlying template.

Managing and editing images is simple in Comic Life. A file browser is on the bottom right that makes it easy to select pictures to add to the comic. Pictures can also be dragged directly from the desktop or another directory into the application. A selection of filters lets anyone change the appearance of photos fast. Many of the filters like mosaic and rotoscoping give the images a more comic book feeling. Pictures can be placed inside of panels so that the borders frame each image.

Everything in Comic Life is vector-based. This means the individual shapes and images all remain editable within the application. This makes it easy to refine the positioning of different elements. An interesting feature is the ability to select simple panel layouts based on the appearance of typical comics. The layouts are divided by comic types and even decades. One thing to know is that Comic Life is not a lightweight program. It requires a good amount of system resources to run. Comic Life is a fun way to create unique pieces of art for any occasion.

Pros

• Unique idea and output
• Many editing options
• Wide range of templates

Cons

• Program is resource intensive
• Vector graphics could be confusing for some people
• The file browser could operate a little better