Here at Zingerding, we try to be at the forefront of the web comic strip world. That even means discovering sites that are doing things similar to what we’re trying to do.

This is first of three blog posts where we discuss the sites and demonstrate what they can do.

StripGenerator.com

StripGenerator.com encourages you to start creating your strip right from the home page.  A big orange button labeled “Create your strip!” greets you front and center.  Clicking on it brings you right to StripGenerator.com’s rudimentary, but very usable, strip creation tool.  You don’t even have to log in!

Using a simple drag/drop interface you construct your strip by placing the items on each panel, attaching some type of bubble and putting text in the bubble for the dialog.  The items include Humans, Beings (think animals, aliens, and other weirdness), Objects (TVs, baseball bats, etc.), Shapes, and Bubbles (a wide variety of text bubbles).  The simplicity of the interface encourages you to roll your sleeves up while the potpourri of items gives you a decent range of options.  This, in conjunction with the responsiveness of the interface, gets you going on creating the strip.

While the interface is inviting, you are limited to only objects in StripGenerator, a big drawback.  In other words, if you have your own that you’d like to feature, you can’t upload it into the system.  Not only would this dissuade the “power” artist to use the tool, it makes all of the strips look the same.  Could you imagine if your Sunday comics all looked the same?  While you still may laugh at the words, your eyes might be bored.

Another limitation is that strips can only be three panels or less.  While three panels is certainly common for comic strips, it can be severely limiting.  Would Bloom County have been served as well if there were only three panels to work from?  Probably not.  Creative freedom is key if a an artist wants express his/her ideas.  This includes the number of panels provided.

Promotion of the strips is a bit awkward through StripGenerator.com’s strip blogging.  From the home page, this is a separate link.  While it is definitely convenient to not need a login to to create strips, it also unnecessarily complicates the site if you want to share your strip with the world and engage in a conversation.  While this may be good for the people who prefer anonymity if they want to make a point (especially if it’s controversial), it isn’t for those that want to engage in a conversation.  The very nature of the Internet is a vehicle for conversation: the unexpected give-and-take between content creator and consumer.  This lack of tight integration chokes the flow of that conversaion.

All in all, StripGenerator.com is very good site for those that want to get their Comic Strip chops.  It is so easy to use that it practically invites everyone to create their own strips.  Still, after you get your initial chops, you may find its limitations too constraining.

Next Week: A step up with Pixton.com!

Our initial posts about 4-panel blank comic strips and 3-panel blank comic strips were so popular that we’re doing it again in a 2 panel version!

What is a blank comic strip template?

A blank comic strip template is a file created in image editing software such as Photoshop or illustrator that is set up to standard comp strip sizes. These standards are typically set by newspapers since that is where most comic strips have historically lived.

Where can I get a blank comic strip template?

Right here! We have a standard 2 panel template for you to use right here in this post. The dimensions of the whole strip are 3×10 inches. The jpg is 300 dpi which comes to 3000×900 pixels. These can be printed if you prefer to draw them by hand.

Here is a JPEG of a 2 panel blank comic strip.

Here is a PDF of a 2 panel blank comic strip.

Our initial post about blank comic strips was so popular that we’re doing it again in a 3 Panel version!

What is a blank comic strip template?

A blank comic strip template is a file created in image editing software such as Photoshop or illustrator that is set up to standard comp strip sizes. These standards are typically set by newspapers since that is where most comic strips have historically lived.

Where can I get a blank comic strip template?

Right here! We have a standard 3 panel template for you to use right here in this post. The dimensions of the whole strip are 3×10 inches. The jpg is 300 dpi which comes to 900×3000 pixels. These can be printed if you prefer to draw them by hand.

Here is a JPEG of a 3 panel blank comic strip.

Here is a PDF of a 3 panel blank comic strip.

One of the fastest ways to get started creating comic strips is to start with a blank comic strip template.

What is a blank comic strip template?

A blank comic strip template is a file created in a image editing software such as Photoshop or illustrator that is set up to standard comp strip sizes. These standards are typically set by newspapers since that is where most comic strips have historically lived.

Where can I get a blank comic strip template?

Right here! We have a standard 4 panel template for you to use right here in this post. The dimensions of the whole strip is 3×10 inches. The jpg is 300 dpi which comes to 900×3000 pixels. These can be printed if you prefer to draw them by hand.

Here is a JPEG of a 4 panel blank comic strip.

Here is a PDF of a 4 panel blank comic strip.

The lightbulb is the punchline. So what’s the best number of panels to use to get there? Of course you know it can depend. Assuming we’re talking about the typical newspaper strip format, let’s explore what panel count does to a strip. A comic strip is limited in size so breaking the space down into different segments creates different experiences for the reader. We’ll talk about single panel strips another time so let’s focus on the common 2, 3 and 4 panel comics.

This isn’t the “rule” for all strips but it’s worth thinking about when laying out a comic. Generally speaking, larger panels denote a longer period of time and smaller ones will portray a more rapid procession of time. The examples below have no content at all so you can see what panel size and count alone can do for the reader experience.

Strip A seems to take longer while C feels like several short segments of time. This is the result of panel count AND panel size. Four panels the size of A would feel different than the four in C. But there isn’t room for four larger panels so the decisions of panel size are crucial to the pacing of your strip.

This does differ from comic books because books have more leeway with layout. Comic strips however, have different space and time challenges. Mixing up panel sizes within a strip can give you great freedom to encourage the pace of your reader’s experience. Now throw some content in there, your characters and dialog, and you’ve got an even more complex system of time progression.

Do you experiment with panel sizes to guide the reader to the lightbulb?