Comic Book Software- Advanced Tools For Advanced Comic Book Illustrators
Comic books have been around for quite some time now; chances are you have picked up an issue or two in your life time. The evolution of comic book art has also come a long way, from its humble beginnings of black and white shaded outlines to today’s glossy full color renditions. The comic book industry is getting more and more sophisticated, gone are the days of 100% hand drawn comics, the new millennium has given rise to different kinds of comic book software that add sophistication to an already interesting literary genre.
During comic books early beginnings the degree of difficulty involved in the process of creating one book or issue was considerably high. Artists would do rough sketches, refine them, put them into panels, have them colored and inked, and finally have them published. Sounds pretty linear and point blank but the amount of manpower and time involved in finishing a page were ridiculous. It often takes a team of 10 -20 people to finish just one issue every week, which is a stark contrast to how many people are needed nowadays using comic book software.
Using technology to automate and facilitate tasks, comic book companies can now have fewer people working on one specific issue leaving others open to attend to other issues. Artists can now draw and refine sketches, put these details in panels, have them inked and colored automatically, and convert them to neat compilations for printing using just one software. Comic book software can provide an individual with the means to do the work a whole team of people used to do. Because of the automation possibilities that software provides, the mundane tasks are easily removed from an artist’s process flow.
Comic book software can also provide artists with more freedom to move and experiment. Since the program does not require actually putting down illustrations on paper, an artist can easily retract his or her steps or deviate to different ideas without the risk of losing work that has already been accomplished, this is very efficient cost wise because no paper or ink is wasted. There are also certain effects that are impossible to do hand drawn that software can accomplish at a press of a button. Tasks such as coloring a certain element that would take an artist a couple of minutes to do by hand can be done in seconds with a few clicks.
Comic book software can even help budding artists keep up with the demand of work. Errors are less likely to occur because each procedure is based on calculated inputs unlike traditional methods where changes mean going back and starting from scratch. The software can allow artists to save work at certain states so in case they need to go back a certain point, it wouldn’t involve too much of a hassle.
Comic book software are great additions to an artist’s arsenal of illustration and developing tools. Of course human input and creativity is still vital for comic books to become a success but at least the mundane repetitive tasks can be kept in check.