Comic Draw by plasq 4+

Really great and powerful app but one critique...

One of my favorite apps that I use all the time, but I wish there was an option to edit the speech bubbles more. It’s one of the easiest and many ways to reinforce the message or mood of what the character is saying/thinking.

I want to be able to break the speech bubble into two parts (while they’re still merged), or be able to make the tail go inwards for off panel speeches. Also, when the character is yelling, I wish that there wasn’t just a spiky variety for the bubble but one where I can make the spikes more curvy. With being able to edit the bubbles, it can add so much: wavy speech bubbles for weak or fading speeches or black speech bubbles for negative emotions, etc.

Since there are only limited speech bubble designs, I usually draw the speech bubbles myself, but even the option to just add text (without a speech bubble) is also very limited and stays in italics (compared to adding text inside a bubble). This is honestly the only critique I have from using this amazing app and I hope these features can be added.

Developer Response ,

Hi there! Thanks for the great review. Most of these points we believe can be done already in Comic Draw.

"I want to be able to break the speech bubble into two parts". For this you can use the Extension balloon - it is the latest balloon in the Toolbar, and you draw it over the bottom part of an existing balloon. You can move the extension balloon away or let it merge into the existing balloon.

"or be able to make the tail go inwards for off panel speeches." This can easily be done by grabbing the green node at the end of the tail and moving it behind its bubble.

"I wish that there wasn’t just a spiky variety for the bubble but one where I can make the spikes more curvy." If you tap the spiky balloon in the Toolbar twice, you get 4 different spiky varieties - one of which has more curvy spikes - and under "Paintbrush > Balloon (tab) > Variety" - slide that to get more .. well .. variety. :)

“fading speeches” I think you mean the Opacity of the balloon? If so, you can go to "Paintbrush" > Style (tab) > Options > More Options > And reduce the slider down the bottom. If you also want to do this for text, then go to "Paintbrush" > Balloon (tab) > Text Options > tap the Color box > And reduce the slider down the bottom.

“black speech bubbles for negative emotions, etc.” The color of the balloons can be changed via "Paintbrush" > Style (tab) > Options > Fill (tab) > Swipe across to get to black.

“option to just add text (without a speech bubble) is also very limited and stays in italics” Before you start typing, simply tap the "i" in the format bar, and Italics will turn off. If you select B (Bold) then Italics is also forced on with the default Lint McCree font.

Hope that helps! If you have any questions - please get in touch with us via the Tools icon (when in My Comics) > Get Support... Or send us an email via plasq@plasq.com

Thanks very much!

Everything a cartoonist needs in one place

I’ve been learning my way around this app for the last week or so, and I’ve loved every minute of it. This thing is amazingly comprehensive, easy to use, and fun to play with. Every necessary tool a cartoonist needs is right here, in one box. The set of pencils, pens, and brushes is just right— all the basics are covered well, and no overwhelming list of weird variants with obscure, limited uses. You can even roll your own custom brush without much trouble if you need to. The screen tone and pattern brushes are equally concise, but wonderfully flexible. Setting up individual pages and multi-page documents is smooth and straightforward. Working with color palettes are a breeze. (One minor quibble- I wish I could manually enter RGB values instead of fiddling with color wheels, but that’s just my personal preference.) This app plays well with others, too! It’s easy to export files to work on them in other apps, then bring them back for finishing touches. I haven’t had as much time working with the script writing features, but so far, they’ve worked well and have only made my life easier. Honestly, I could gush about this thing all day. It’s just so refreshing to find a toolset like this that works, really, actually *works*, and is a joy to use.

Can’t believe I can do all this on an iPad!

I recently ran a successful Kickstarter to fund my first comic book. Originally, I planned to draw everything by hand, scan the artwork, then color everything in Photoshop. But after taking Comic Draw for a serious test drive, I now realize I can do all that (and more) directly on my iPad Pro. This app has opened up a whole new world for me creatively. Thank you, Plasq!!!

My only suggestions for the app are minor (and not worth subtracting a star, so I’m still giving it five stars). For instance I’d love to see the same “snap to grid” functionality for drawing comic boxes on the lettering layer that you have on the pencil and inking layers. I’d like to have a more sophisticated color picker that lets us choose specific RGB, CMYK and HEX values for colors, and so on.

But even if the lack of certain features (such as a more robust color picker) keep you from using this app as an all-in-one solution, it’s still a powerful tool to integrate somewhere into your workflow. Currently, because I’m running Comic Draw on an iPad Pro, I’m able to create full-sized pages at 600dpi, with up to 11 layers, and export them as Photoshop files. And drawing on the iPad Pro with an Apple Pencil is a DREAM!!!