Speech balloons - can anyone help?

[mygrimmbrother]

Hi guys

I'm working on the art for a couple of strips for Dogbreath at the mo, and I have been informed by Bolt that I can add the lettering too if I want. I quite fancy having a crack at that, but I don't really know how to add the balloons. I've got a few decent fonts - it's just actually drawing the balloons that's the problem. I asked Bolt about it and he suggested Illustrator, which I have but I'll be honest, I don't know how to use it at all!

Are there any other cool ways to add the balloons, other than using the rather clumsy oval box tool thingy in photoshop?

Any suggestions muchly appreciated chaps x 

[Buddy]

If you're unsure about how to go about it I'd get someone else to do it.

Bad lettering can ruin a good strip.

Or just practice with illustrator until you get the hang of it.

[uncle fester]

Illustrator really is the way forward for doing balloons. There are other bits of software about that are supposed to be tailored towards comics but I haven't found any that are as customisable, (If that's a word?)

But if you're unsure about how to do it, there's a really useful tutorial here that'll set you on the right road:

http://www.balloontales.com/tips/balloon/index.html

Other tutorials in the surrounding links from that page are handy too. Good luck!

[Colin_YNWA]

If you're unsure about how to go about it I'd get someone else to do it.

Bad lettering can ruin a good strip.

Or just practice with illustrator until you get the hang of it.

I can't emphaisze this enough. When I self published a couple of years back I ran around in circles trying to work out how to do lettering and word ballons in Photoshop. My deadline loomed and panic got hold in and I set about my art with a million and one cut out word ballons. Now I'm not saying for one minute that this ruined a good strip BUT it made a brave first attempt a whole lot worse!

Its worth doing it right - or just not panic and do a botch job!

[JohnMcF]

blambot.com has ready made balloons in their resources section. They are free to download and in eps format for use in Illustrator.

[Emperor]

I actually just assembled a few quick bits and bobs on lettering here, which might be a start.

I have done a bit of lettering and found this useful for basic principles (using layers, making shapes, combining shapes, using stroke to get the outline - all of which transfer easily to whatever graphics package you use):
http://tinyurl.com/lbj222

However, Bolt is the best letterer in the British small press (as far as I'm concerned, and is better than quite a few pros too) and I have had the pleasure of observing his work up close. What impressed me was how having a good letterer on board really does make a big difference - good lettering can make can be subtle (although not compared to bad lettering!! In fact in some ways the better letterers are less intrusive) but it really pulls everything together and can hit the text/art balance perfectly.

If you are unsure then let Bolt do it, but have a practice - in fact what might be ideal is comparing your version to Bolt's and really dissecting the differences. Then practice some more

[Richmond Clements]

What does John Byrne have to say on this subject..?

[LARF]

" Hi John! What do you think of my balloons?"

"Not as good as mine, but then again I've been doing this for years and quite frankly I'm brilliant at it, so you'll never be as good as me. I cannot even tell you how to do a great balloon because I've been drawing them for years and it's like going for a piss, it's just natural. How can I explain how to do something so natural to me. Your balloons are w**k, too tight, you need to lighten up, loosen up that's all I can say, because I have to get off now and draw, it's what I'm great at."

"Actually John I was referring to my breasts."

[Jim_Campbell]

Any suggestions muchly appreciated chaps

Right ... I thought that I had my old lettering site saved down on this computer, but I don't! This means it's almost certainly archived onto CD.

I had hoped to bung it up on my Apple .mac webspace but I've got to find the damn thing first. Sorry about this -- I know I've still got all the files, I just need to find them.

Bare with me, MGB, I'll get there!

Cheers

Jim

[mygrimmbrother]

Guys, you are - as ever - absolute stars. Big thanks to you all.

[Bolt-01]

Emperor- you are far too kind- I'm still learning.

Jim- your website was what I was hoping Grimm would be able to get hold of- Thanks.

[Kev Levell]

I think it's worth being able to do some lettering in both programs. As each has it's advantages - illustrator for balloons, body text and logos because each element is "live" and instantly selectable, but Photoshop is good for FX as the 'warp' commands leave the text editable.

[Buddy]

I actually letter my stuff in QuarkXpress.

Does this make me a bad person?

[Buddy]

Like this:-

[Jim_Campbell]

This means it's almost certainly archived onto CD.

Fuck.

Not much point in archiving the fucking thing if you can't find the fucking CD it's on, is there?

Oh, well ... I'd been meaning to re-do it anyway. I'm really sorry, MGB!

The "Balloon Tails" tutorial that Fester links to above is a good start, however.

They have some odd suggestions in places, particularly when talking about removing parts of balloons that overlap the edge of the panel, where they advise creating a box to cover the offending part of the balloon, then using "Send To Back" then using "Minus Back" ... err, or you could leave it at the front and select "Minus Front" ...

If you want to post questions here, or e-mail me direct at jimDOTcampbellATmacDOTcom, then I'll do my best to help out!

Cheers

Jim