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Comic Book Creator 2.

0 User Guide

Version 2.0.0 Contact: Planetwide Media 32 Journey, Suite 250 Aliso Viejo, CA 92656 http://www.mycomicbookcreator.com/products/cbc2
Note: Screenshots in this document may differ somewhat from those in your version of the product. TM & 2007 Planetwide Games, Inc. All rights reserved. Comic Book Creator 2.0 Help Rev. 9/13/07

Table of Contents
Preface ............................................................................................................................................ 1 Support ............................................................................................................................................ 1 Before You Begin............................................................................................................................. 2 What is a Comic Book? ............................................................................................................... 2 Planning Your Comic Book ......................................................................................................... 2 Collecting Your Media ................................................................................................................. 2 Using Copyrighted Media............................................................................................................ 2 Typographical Conventions......................................................................................................... 3 Activation and Demo Mode ......................................................................................................... 3 Getting Started Using the New Comic Book Wizard ....................................................................... 4 Opening a Comic Book File ........................................................................................................ 4 Saving a Comic Book .................................................................................................................. 5 Changing Comic Book File Properties ........................................................................................ 5 Creating Your Comic Book Content ............................................................................................ 5 Graphic Images ..................................................................................................................... 5 Using Graphic Images in Your Comic Book ..................................................................... 5 Using Fraps Screenshots ................................................................................................. 8 Using Images from the Internet ........................................................................................ 8 Adding Graphic Images to Your Comic Book................................................................... 6 Resizing a Graphic Image Using the Zoom Button .......................................................... 6 Repositioning Graphic Images ......................................................................................... 7 Using Your Own Graphic Images..................................................................................... 8 Customizing Your Images with PD Particles .................................................................... 9 Deleting a Graphic Image................................................................................................. 9 Borders and Backgrounds ..................................................................................................... 9 Changing the Color of a Border........................................................................................ 9 Changing the Width of a Border ..................................................................................... 10 Changing the Background Color of a Panel or Page ..................................................... 11 Word Balloons ..................................................................................................................... 13 Adding a Word Balloon................................................................................................... 13 Resizing a Balloon Tail ................................................................................................... 15 Flipping Picture Balloons ................................................................................................ 15 Adding Text to a Word Balloon....................................................................................... 15 Resizing a Word Balloon ................................................................................................ 16 Adding a Complement Balloon....................................................................................... 16 Resizing a Balloon Joiner ............................................................................................... 17 Deleting a Word Balloon................................................................................................. 17 Caption Boxes ..................................................................................................................... 18 Adding a Caption Box..................................................................................................... 18 Flipping Caption Boxes................................................................................................... 18 Deleting a Caption Box................................................................................................... 18 Clip Art ................................................................................................................................. 18 Adding Clip Art to Your Comic Book .............................................................................. 18 Using Your Own Clip Art................................................................................................. 19 Rotating and Flipping Clip Art......................................................................................... 19 Deleting Clip Art from Your Comic Book ........................................................................ 20 Overlaying Text on a Clip Art Image .............................................................................. 20 Action Words ....................................................................................................................... 20 Adding Action Words ...................................................................................................... 20 Deleting an Action Word................................................................................................. 21 Moving Action Words...................................................................................................... 21 Hiding the Action Word Drop Shadow............................................................................ 21 Repositioning the Action Word Drop Shadow ................................................................ 22 Hiding the Action Word Outline ...................................................................................... 22 Text...................................................................................................................................... 22 Modifying Text Properties............................................................................................... 22 ii

Changing Caption Box Text Alignment .......................................................................... 23 Applying Bold or Italic Formatting to Text....................................................................... 23 Inserting Special Characters .......................................................................................... 23 Changing the Color of an Action Word........................................................................... 23 Changing the Color of Word Balloon or Caption Box Text............................................. 24 Applying a Different Font to Text.................................................................................... 24 Changing Text Size ........................................................................................................ 24 Masks ....................................................................................................................................... 25 Adding a Mask..................................................................................................................... 25 Containers, Templates, and Masks..................................................................................... 25 Deleting a Mask................................................................................................................... 25 Sounds...................................................................................................................................... 25 Adding a Sound with Drag and Drop................................................................................... 25 Adding a Sound with Record ............................................................................................... 26 Editing Sounds with Audacity .............................................................................................. 26 Removing a Sound .............................................................................................................. 27 Animations ................................................................................................................................ 27 Adding Animations to Your Comic Book ............................................................................. 27 Videos....................................................................................................................................... 28 Adding Video to Your Comic Book ...................................................................................... 27 Using Your Own Video ........................................................................................................ 28 Using Fraps Video ............................................................................................................... 28 Video Control Bar .............................................................................................................. 289 Resizing a Video Using Zoom ............................................................................................. 29 Repositioning Videos........................................................................................................... 31 Deleting a Video .................................................................................................................. 31 Defining a Clip from a Video File......................................................................................... 31 Controlling Video Playback.................................................................................................. 31 Setting the Video Print Frame ............................................................................................. 31 Pausing Video Playback...................................................................................................... 32 Navigating and Managing Your Comic Book................................................................................. 33 Navigate in Content Folders...................................................................................................... 33 Using Page Tools ...................................................................................................................... 34 Moving a Page in Your Comic Book ......................................................................................... 35 Adding a Page to Your Comic Book.......................................................................................... 35 Removing a Page from Your Comic Book ................................................................................ 35 Close Page................................................................................................................................ 36 Save Comic Book...................................................................................................................... 36 Save Pages from Your Comic Book.......................................................................................... 36 Insert a Comic Book into Your Comic Book.............................................................................. 36 Publishing Your Comic Book ......................................................................................................... 38 Publishing Options .................................................................................................................... 38 Printing ...................................................................................................................................... 38 Publishing to Folder................................................................................................................... 38 Publishing to PDF...................................................................................................................... 39 Publishing to JPEG ................................................................................................................... 41 Publishing to Picture.................................................................................................................. 42 Publishing to HTML ................................................................................................................... 43 Publishing to Flip Book.............................................................................................................. 43 Publishing to HyperComics ....................................................................................................... 43 Options and Settings ..................................................................................................................... 44 Options Dialog Box.................................................................................................................... 44 General Options ........................................................................................................................ 44 Autosave.............................................................................................................................. 44 Image Browser .................................................................................................................... 44 Printing................................................................................................................................. 45 Error Logging ....................................................................................................................... 45 Fonts Options ............................................................................................................................ 45 Adding Fonts ....................................................................................................................... 45 iii

Removing Fonts ................................................................................................................. 45 Folders Options ......................................................................................................................... 46 Default Folder Pathnames................................................................................................... 46 First Screen Folders ............................................................................................................ 46 Second Screen Folders ....................................................................................................... 47 Startup Options ......................................................................................................................... 47 Display on Startup ............................................................................................................... 47 Check for Program Updates at Startup ............................................................................... 48 Graphical User Interface Language .................................................................................... 48 Other Settings and Menus............................................................................................................. 48 File Menu .................................................................................................................................. 48 Edit Menu.................................................................................................................................. 48 View Menu ................................................................................................................................ 49 Animation Menu........................................................................................................................ 49 Help Menu ................................................................................................................................ 49 Help Topics.......................................................................................................................... 49 FAQ ..................................................................................................................................... 49 Reference Manual ............................................................................................................... 49 Release Notes ..................................................................................................................... 49 Sample Comic Book ............................................................................................................ 49 Comic Book Creator 2.0 Online........................................................................................... 50 Video Tutorials..................................................................................................................... 50 Contact Us ........................................................................................................................... 50 Content Packs Manager ...................................................................................................... 50 Check for Updates............................................................................................................... 50 About Comic Book Creator 2.0............................................................................................ 50 Uninstalling Comic Book Creator 2.0 ............................................................................................ 51 Appendix A--Publish to HTML ....................................................................................................... 52 Publish to HTML Flow ............................................................................................................... 52 Comic Book HTML Tags .......................................................................................................... 53 Static Tags........................................................................................................................... 53 Region Tags ........................................................................................................................ 53 Glossary......................................................................................................................................... 55 Credits ........................................................................................................................................... 56

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Preface
Welcome to Comic Book Creator 2.0, the self-publishing software that allows you to turn your digital images, video, audio, and animations into original comic books. Comic Book Creator provides many page layout templates and a broad range of graphic images you can select from to create a comic book. You can use your own graphic images in your comic books as well as content from a wide variety of content packs available in stores and at www.mycomicbookcreator.com. Use Comic Book Creator's text and graphics formatting tools and PD Particles and Audacity software to put the finishing touches on your original comic books.

Support
Planetwide Media provides customer service, or technical support, for Comic Book Creator 2.0 users and licensees. Before contacting Customer Service for technical assistance, check this manual or the Frequently Asked Questions for this version. If you still require assistance, e-mail your question or issue to: Customer Service: support@planetwidegames.com

Customers within the United States and Canada can reach Planetwide Media by telephone during normal business hours (9:00 AM to 6:00 PM, Pacific Time) Monday through Friday at 1 (800) 560-2993 X 2435. Customer Service team members will respond to voicemail and e-mail messages received after normal business hours at the start of the next business day. For sales, licensing, and distribution questions, please contact: Sales: sales@planetwidegames.com

For telephone sales inquiries, please dial 1 (800) 560-2993 and ask for Sean Conley or Mark Politi.

Before You Begin


What is a Comic Book?
Comic books use everyday language in word balloons and pictures in sequence to tell a story. By blending plot, setting, characters, dialogue, narrative, and symbolism, comic book creators draw their readers into the story.

Planning Your Comic Book


Before you start creating your comic book, you should plan what you want in it. We recommend that you: Decide what genre you want your comic book to be. It could be action, comedy, drama, fantasy, gaming, horror, mystery, romance, or science fiction. Make a list of your characters, their personalities, and physical attributes. You can also include each characters occupation, background information, and how they relate to the other characters. This information is helpful in developing a story line. Create a short and simple story line. Keep the story lively. Action and conflict keep the story moving along at a good pace. Write down what you think the characters will say. Short conversations tend to be more interesting than long ones. You can also write down any information that you want to use in caption boxes to narrate the story. Plan the media--digital images, video, music, sound effects, and animations you want to include in your comic book.

Collecting Your Media


Collect your graphics, which may be scanned digital art, licensed art provided with Comic Book Creator 2.0, screenshots, or just about any digital image you want to use. If possible, assemble these files in one folder on your computer, such as the My Pictures folder, to make them easily accessible. Then collect your video clips, audio files, and animations in the same way. You can use the My Video and My Music folders on your PC or create another folder that groups together all the content of a specific type so it is easy to find when you're creating your comic book. You're ready to create your comic book!

Using Copyrighted Media


You must be careful not to violate copyright laws when using third-party content in your comic book. Graphic images, videos, and audio files you have not created yourself may not be used except for personal use without permission. Note that most images you see on the Internet are copyrighted. With the exception of free graphics sites, you should always send an e-mail to the owner of a graphic image, asking permission before using it in your comic book. An artist whose material you want to use has a number of options in terms of the type of permission he or she can grant you--i.e., free for any use, free for use only in a non-commercial environment, free for use only with credit or with specific permission. As a general rule, you can use copyrighted material for personal use but not for resale or retail distribution. 2

Typographical Conventions
In this manual, bold text indicates dialog box names, button names, and field names.

Activation and Demo Mode


Comic Book Creator 2.0 can start up in three different modes. These modes will either open the software in demo (trial) mode, open it with the full range of features and functions, or close, if the demo period has ended and a software license has not been purchased. These modes are: Demo Mode Activated Mode Expired Mode Opens Comic Book Creator 2.0 for a limited number of days, if you do not have a CD key. Opens Comic Book Creator 2.0 permanently when Comic Book Creator 2.0 is installed and activated with a valid CD Key. Disallows use of Comic Book Creator 2.0 because the demo period has ended without a software license being purchased.

Getting Started Using the New Comic Book Wizard


The New Comic Book Wizard guides you through the process of creating your comic book file. Use the New Comic Book Wizard to: Input the title and author of your comic book Select the directory where your graphic files are stored Select a page size for your comic book Select a layout for your first page from the templates provided

When you are finished creating your comic book file, create your comic book content by adding digital images, video clips, music, sound effects, word balloons, caption boxes, and action words as described in the section, "Creating Your Comic Book Content." Access the New Comic Book Wizard either by launching the application or from within the application: 1. Double-click the Comic Book Creator 2.0 icon on your desktop or select "Comic Book Creator 2.0" on the Start menu to launch the application. (If Comic Book Creator 2.0 is already open and running on your desktop, skip this step.) The Welcome dialog box of the New Comic Book Wizard appears. 2. Choose one of the following: If you are in the Welcome dialog box of the New Comic Book Wizard, click the New Comic Book button. If you are in the Editing Window of the application, from the File menu click New. The New Comic Book Wizard Book Identification dialog box appears.

3. Type a title for your new comic book in the Title field or accept the default title, "MyComic Book." Enter your name in the Author field and click Next. The New Comic Book Wizard Content Pack Selection dialog box appears. 4. Select the content pack that contains the art assets that you want to use in your comic book. After you select the content pack from the list, click Next. 5. Select Page Turn "Right to left" or "Left to right," based on whether you are making a Western comic or a manga. Click Next. (Hint: When you are choosing templates, keep in mind that the size of the panel reflects the conception of time. Small panels suggest that time is going by quickly, whereas large panels suggest that time is passing slowly.) 6. Select the Template Folder you want to use, and then your Template Options such as page size, number of panels per page, total number of pages, and whether or not you will have a cover page. Click the template you want to use, and click Next. On the next screen, click Finish. 7. The Editing Window displays the first page, or Comic Book Creator 2.0 main screen, of your new comic book. You can now create your comic book content by adding digital images, video, audio, word balloons, caption boxes, and animations as described in the section, "Creating Your Comic Book Content." (Note: The title of your comic book appears in the title bar of the Editing Window.)

Opening a Comic Book File


The following procedure describes how to open an existing comic book file created with Comic 4

Book Creator 2.0. (Note: Only one instance of Comic Book Creator 2.0 can run on your PC at a time. If Comic Book Creator 2.0, or any other version of Comic Book Creator, is already open on your PC, another instance of the application cannot be opened.) 1. Double-click the Comic Book Creator 2.0 icon on your desktop or Comic Book Creator 2.0 on the Start menu to launch the application. The Welcome dialog box of the New Comic Book Wizard appears. 2. Click the Open Comic Book button. The Open Comic Book File dialog box appears. (If your comic book file is shown in the folder list, you can skip step 3 of this procedure.) 3. Click the Look In drop-down box and navigate to the folder where your comic book file is stored. Select your comic book file and click Open. The media files for your comic book are then loaded into Comic Book Creator 2.0.

Saving a Comic Book


Complete the following procedure when you are ready to save your comic book. (Note: All Comic Book Creator 2.0 files are XML files and are saved with the CBCX file extension.) 1. Click File, Save. The Save Comic Book As dialog box appears. The title of your comic book appears in the File Name field. 2. Keep the current title of your comic book or type a different title in the File Name field. To save your comic book to a different directory, click the Save In drop-down box and select the directory in which you would like to save your comic book. 3. Click Save. Comic Book Creator saves your comic book to the specified file and the Save Comic Book As dialog box closes. You can continue to modify your comic book from the Editing Window. Repeat this process to save additional changes.

Changing Comic Book File Properties


When you use the New Comic Book Wizard to create your comic book file, the title and author names you enter are stored with your comic book file's properties. The Comic Book Properties dialog box allows you to modify this information. You can also enter additional information such as subject and keywords, to help you organize your files so that you can find them easily later. 1. Launch Comic Book Creator and either open an existing comic book file or create a new file. (If Comic Book Creator 2.0 is already open and running on your PC, you can skip this step.) When Comic Book Creator 2.0 is open, click File, Properties. 2. The Comic Book Properties dialog box will appear. You can modify any information in this dialog box except for the Created and Modified dates and times.

Creating Your Comic Book Content


You can use Comic Book Creator 2.0s video, text, and image formatting tools, as well as PD Particles and Audacity software, to customize the look and feel of your comic book.

Using Graphic Images in Your Comic Book


Comic books are visual art in sequence. The graphic images in a comic book help define the reader's interpretation of the story. In Comic Book Creator 2.0, adding graphic images to your comic book layout and design templates is drag-and-drop easy. The following section, "Adding Graphic Images to Your Comic Book," describes how to use Comic Book Creator 2.0s graphics-related tools to add screenshots and clip art to your comic book. 5

Adding Graphic Images to Your Comic Book


To add screenshots or background images to your comic book: 1. Click View, Images/Screenshots or click the Screenshots icon. The Resource Browser will be populated quickly with thumbnails of all of the background images in a given folder that you can add to your comic book. By default, the Resource Browser displays the images included with your copy of Comic Book Creator 2.0. You may also save your own digital images on your PC and use them in comic book creation. (See "Using Your Own Graphic Images.") 2. Determine which image or screenshot you want to add to a comic book panel. Use the right and left arrows to either side of the page numbers to page forward or backward through the pages of available images.

3. Click and drag the thumbnail of the image you like from the Resource Browser into an empty panel on your page. Repeat this step to add screenshots or backgrounds to each panel of your page. (Note: To add a graphic image to the background of your page--i.e., the area around the panels--simply drag and drop the image onto an area on the page outside the panels.) (Note: Comic Book Creator 2.0 will not display the graphic images you have placed in your comic book if you change the directory where the graphic images are stored. If you do change the directory in which you save your backgrounds and clip art, point Comic Book Creator 2.0 to the new directory by following the instructions in "Using Your Own Graphic Images.")

Resizing a Graphic Image Using the Zoom Button


Once you have placed a graphic image in a panel, you can resize it easily using the Zoom button. The Zoom button has two controls--the magnifying glass and the arrow button. It looks like this:

The Zoom button automatically appears below the last graphic image you have added to your comic book. You can, however, display and use the Zoom button for any graphic image on the page. To use the arrow button to emphasize a certain area of the image, click and drag the image until the area you want is framed by the panel. If the Zoom button is not visible, left-click on the image in the panel to display it. Then use the arrow to the right of the numeric display on the Zoom button to choose the amount of zoom you want, from Best Fit to 500%. (Note: When images are first placed in panels, the widest possible view of the image is shown.)

To zoom in, left-click on the magnifying glass. Each mouse click increases the image size 10%, up to 1000%. To zoom out, right-click on the magnifying glass. Each mouse click decreases the image size 10%. When you have zoomed out as far as possible, and the minimum size is reached, Min will display in the center of the Zoom button. To close the Zoom tool, click above, below, to the right, or to the left of the Zoom button, but not on the image in the panel. To zoom an image an exact amount, use the Zoom Tool Panel on the right side of the Editing Window, which lets you control zoom in increments of 1. This is the Zoom Tool Panel:

The Show check box turns the Zoom Tool Panel visibility on and off. The Zoom field below the check box displays the current zoom percentage. You can type any number into this box and the image will be resized accordingly. You can enter any value from 10% to 999%. When using the Zoom Tool Panel, a thumbnail of your image, with the visible portion framed, will be displayed beneath the Zoom percentage. (Note: When you resize a graphic image, Comic Book Creator 2.0 maintains the images proportions and keeps the image centered where you placed it.)

Repositioning Graphic Images


To move an image inside a panel, left-click on the image and drag it until it is where you want it. Then release the left mouse button. To flip or rotate graphic images, left-click on the screenshot and click on the appropriate flip or 7

rotate tool in the toolbar on the right of your screen.

Using Your Own Graphic Images


You can use your own graphic images in Comic Book Creator 2.0 by changing the default file path to the directory that contains your image files, as follows: 1. Save your digital images in a directory that you can access from your PC. . Click File, Images/Screenshots Folder or click the My Pictures Resource Browser. The Browse for Folder window appears. icon near the top of the

3. Click the directory that contains the graphic images you want to use in your comic book. 4. Click OK. The Resource Browser will be populated quickly with thumbnails of the images in the directory selected. (Note: If the Resource Browser remains blank, repeat this process and select the directory path that contains the images you want to use in your comic book.)

Using Fraps Screenshots


To use Fraps screenshots in your comic book: 1. Make sure that you have installed the optional Fraps software from the main installation menu. 2. Start Fraps. 3. Click the Screenshots tab and set the folder in which to save screenshots to My Pictures. Note the Screen Capture Hotkey that you will press to take a screenshot. 4. Start the PC video game from which you want to take screenshots. 5. When you want to take a screenshot, press the Screen Capture Hotkey. The screenshot will appear in your My Pictures folder. 6. To view Fraps screenshots in the Comic Book Creator Resource Browser, click the My Pictures icon. Drag and drop your screenshots in the panels of your open comic book.

Using Images from the Internet


To use images from the Internet in your comic book: 1. Open your current comic book. 2. Open your Internet browser. 3. Find the image you're looking for on the Internet. 4. Click on the image, and drag and drop it into your comic book.

Customizing Your Images with PD Particles


Comic Book Creator 2.0 includes PD Particles, the powerful paint package and art studio software that's perfect for customizing existing digital images and creating new images and animations. To get started with PD Particles, see the quick and easy video tutorials on the PD Particles website at www.thebest3d.com/pdp/index.html.

Deleting a Graphic Image


To delete a graphic image from a page or panel, right-click the image, and click Clear Picture from the option menu that appears. (Note: You can also replace a graphic image by simply clicking and dragging the thumbnail of a new image over an existing graphic image.)

Changing the Color of a Border


A border is the frame around a comic book panel or page. The border and background colors of a panel or page can add interest and emphasis to a graphic image. (Note: By default, Comic Book Creator 2.0 panel and page backgrounds are white with a black border.) 1. To change the color of a border, right-click on a panel or a page background whose border you want to change. When the option menu appears, click Border Color. The Color dialog box appears:

2. To select a color, choose one of the following: To apply a basic color to the border, click the color you want from the Basic Colors palette, and click OK. To apply an existing custom color to the border, click the color you want from the Custom Colors palette, and click OK. To create and apply a custom color to the border, click Define Custom Colors. When the Color dialog box appears, click on the color spectrum to select the color you want. You can also move the arrow up and down along the Lightness Selector to the right of the spectrum to increase or decrease a color's lightness (amount of white or black mixed within the hue.) 9

3. If you selected a custom color, the Color/Solid box displays your custom color choice. Click Add to Custom Colors if you plan to use the color again. Your custom color will be added to the Custom Colors palette. Click OK.

4. You will now see a final dialog box that asks whether to apply the border color change to This Panel Only, All the Panels on This Page, or All the Pages in This Comic Book. Select your choice, and click OK. The color you selected will be applied to the border of the selected panel or page.

Changing the Width of a Border


A border is the frame that appears around a comic book panel or page. Borders add visual emphasis to a panel or page. 1. To change the width of a border, right-click on the panel or page background whose border you want to change. When the options menu appears, select Border Width.

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2. A drop-down list of border widths from 0 to 9 points appears. Click to select a point size. (If you select 0, Comic Book Creator 2.0 hides the border.) (Note: By default, Comic Book Creator 2.0 panel and page borders are black and 2 points wide.)

Changing the Background Color of a Panel or Page


The background color of a panel or page can add interest and emphasis to a graphic image. It can also make a comic book page more visually appealing.

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To change the background color of a panel or page: 1. Right-click on the panel or page whose background you want to change. When the options menu appears, click Background Color. The Color dialog box appears.

(Note: The graphic image or clip art inside the panel must be smaller than the panel in order for the background color to be displayed. If the graphic image completely fills the panel, the background color will not be visible.) 2. To select a color, choose one of the following: To apply a basic color to the background, click the color you want from the Basic Colors palette, and click OK. To apply an existing custom color to the background, click the color you want from the Custom Colors palette, and click OK. To create and apply a custom color to the border, click Define Custom Colors. When the Color dialog box appears, click on the color spectrum to select the color you want. You can also move the arrow up and down the Lightness Selector to the right of the spectrum to decrease or increase a color's lightness (amount of white or black mixed within the hue.)

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If you selected a custom color, the Color/Solid box displays your custom color choice. 3. Click Add to Custom Colors if you plan to use the color again. Your custom color is added to the Custom Colors palette. Click OK.

4. The Change Panel dialog box will appear, asking whether you want to apply the background color change to This Page Only or to All the pages in this comic book. Select your choice, and click OK. The color you selected will be applied to the background of the selected panels or pages. (Note: By default, Comic Book Creator 2.0 panel backgrounds are white with a black border.)

Adding a Word Balloon


Word balloons are used to help tell your story. You can use one balloon in a panel to show a single character talking or additional balloons to show a dialog between multiple characters. To add a word balloon to a panel: 1. Click View, Balloons or click the Balloons icon in the Resource Browser. The Resource Browser displays a selection of word balloons you can use in your comic book. There are two types of balloons in Comic Book Creator 2.0--Line (or Vector) Balloons and Picture (or Bitmap) Balloons. Each has its benefits. Line Balloons are drawn by the computer and print and render with high resolution. You can also move the tail of the balloon to any position you want independent of the body of the balloon. The red handles allow you to shape the body of the balloon. The green handles move the tail.

Picture or Bitmap Balloons are not drawn on the screen but pasted the same way clip art 13

is added to a page. Because the balloon is an image, it can have more design features, such as ice, flames, etc.

You can tell the types of balloons apart in the Resource Browser by the icon in the lower left-hand corner of the thumbnail image of the balloon. The multicolor shape icon designates Line or Vector Balloons. The blue camera icon designates Picture or Bitmap Balloons.

2. Line Balloons There are three basic Line Balloon shapes you can select from including oval, rounded rectangle, and rectangle. (For instructions on creating a complement balloon, see "Adding a Complement Balloon.") You may want to use a consistent balloon style throughout your comic book or multiple styles. You may want to use a round balloon style for a specific character and a square balloon style for another character. Drag a word balloon from the Resource Browser to a panel so that its tail is about halfway to the speakers mouth. Repeat this step to add additional word balloons to a panel or page. Usually there should be no more than three balloons per panel as short conversations are typically more interesting than long ones. (Note: To move a word balloon, left-click on the outer edge of the balloon and use the Move tool to drag the word balloon where you want it to appear.) (To add text to a word balloon, see "Adding Text to a Word Balloon.") 3. Picture Balloons There are many styles of Picture Balloons. To add a Picture Balloon to a panel or page, click and drag it from the Resource Browser to a panel. Repeat this step to add additional word balloons to a panel.

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Resizing a Balloon Tail


To adjust the balloon tail, left-click on it and use the green sizing handle to drag it where you want it to be, or to make it longer or shorter. You can also click the edge of a balloon, and press the spacebar to display the green resizing handles. Click and drag the handles wherever you want the tail.

Flipping Picture Balloons


Picture Balloons are pasted on the screen like clip art and caption boxes. Because they are images, picture balloons' tails cannot be moved the way Line Balloons' tails can. You can move Picture Balloons by using the 180 flip or rotate buttons. These buttons are found in the Tools panel on the right side of the Editing Window.

When you select a Picture Balloon and then click on these flip buttons, the balloon will flip, or rotate, 180 each time you click the button.

Adding Text to a Word Balloon


Dialogues make up the majority of the story line. Type the words that you want your comic book characters to say in the word balloons. The text you add to a balloon should be direct and easy to understand. The reader should be able to read it within a second and it should lead to the next element of the story line. All balloons support a text area. You will find the same behavior and text features in both Line and Picture Balloons. Word balloon text is always centered in the balloon. A default font style is applied to all balloon text. You can, however, change the font color, style, or size of your balloon text, as described in "Applying a Different Font to Text." 1. Add one or more balloons to your comic book page as described in "Adding a Word Balloon." If you already have one or more balloons on your comic book page, skip this step. 2. Left-click inside the word balloon. The text cursor appears near the top center of the selected balloon. 3. Type your text inside the balloon. As a general rule, you should limit the text to 25 words per balloon. By default, the font style applied to your text is the first font in the font style dropdown list in the Font tool panel on the right side of your Editing Window. The default point size is 7. (To change the font color, style, or size, see "Modifying Text Properties.") Comic Book Creator 2.0 allows you to enter more text than the default word balloon can actually display. If the word balloon only displays part of the text you entered, you can make the text fit by: Rewording or deleting some of your text so that it fits inside the word balloon. Resizing the word balloon. Adding a complement balloon, as described in "Adding a Complement Balloon." Changing the text size or font. For procedures on changing text size, see "Changing the Size of Text." For procedures on changing the font, see "Applying a Different Font to Text." Also note that you can add caption boxes to help tell the story. (See "Adding a Caption Box.")

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Resizing a Word Balloon


It is easy to resize a word balloon. The sizing feature is particularly useful if you want to add more text to your word balloon. 1. Left-click the border of the word balloon you want to resize. The red sizing handles appear around it.

2. Left-click and drag one of the sizing handles to make the balloon larger or smaller as follows: To adjust the width of the word balloon, drag a sizing handle on the right or left, horizontally away from the balloon's center. To adjust the height of the word balloon, drag the top or bottom sizing handle vertically, away from the balloon's center. To adjust the width and the height of the word balloon at the same time, drag a corner sizing handle diagonally, away from the balloon's center. (Note: You can also use the sizing handles to change the proportions of a word balloon.)

Adding a Complement Balloon


You can enlarge the space available for dialogue in a Line Balloon by adding a complement balloon to it. (Note: This feature is not available for Picture Balloons.) To add a complement balloon: 1. Click View, Balloons or click the Balloons icon from the Resource Browser. The complement balloon is the fourth thumbnail in the Resource Browser list.

2. Left-click the word balloon to which you want to add a complement balloon. The sizing handles appear around the selected word balloon. 3. Right-click the complement balloon in the Resource Browser. (Note: Only one complement balloon can be added to each word balloon. If you try to add more than one balloon, an error message appears.) A complement balloon is added to the lower right corner of the selected word balloon. The complement balloon will be the same style as the word balloon. (Note: You can change the size of the word balloon or the complement balloon using the sizing handles.) to drag it to You can also left-click on the complement balloon, and use the Move tool another area of the comic book panel. A joiner connects the complement balloon to the word balloon. For procedures on resizing the balloon joiner, see "Resizing a Balloon Joiner." 4. Left-click inside the complement balloon to enter your text. 16

Resizing a Balloon Joiner


A balloon joiner is the connector between a word balloon and a complement balloon. By default, balloon joiners are 4 points wide. You can increase or decrease the width of a balloon joiner as described below: 1. Left-click the border of the word balloon or complement balloon that has the joiner you want to change.

2. To make the balloon joiner wider, in the Balloon section of the Tools panel on the right of your screen, click the Size up arrow until the joiner is the size you want. You can increase the size up to 15 points. To make the balloon joiner thinner, in the Balloon section of the Tools panel on the right of your screen, click the Size down arrow until the joiner is the size you want. The minimum joiner width is 1 point. In the following example, the balloon joiner is widened to 15 points, which is the widest possible setting. Note that if you delete the complement balloon, the attached balloon joiner is also deleted.

Deleting a Word Balloon


To delete a word balloon from a panel: 1. Left-click on the border of the word balloon you want to delete. The sizing handles appear around the selected word balloon. 2. Press the Delete key on your keyboard. The word balloon is deleted. (Note: If you delete a word balloon, the text inside the balloon and its complement balloon, if any, are also automatically deleted. Also note that you can delete only one word balloon at a time.)

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Adding a Caption Box


Caption boxes are used to narrate the comic book story. Text in caption boxes helps tell the story by indicating time, setting change, and mood. As a general rule, limit your text to 25 words per caption box. If you decide to create a comic book without dialogue, you can use caption boxes instead of word balloons to tell the story. 1. Click View, Caption Boxes or click the Caption Box icon in the Resource Browser. The Resource Browser displays a selection of caption boxes that you can use in your comic book. 2. Drag the caption box from the Resource Browser to the area of the panel where you want it to appear. 3. Left-click inside the caption box and type your text.

Rotating and Flipping Caption Boxes


Since Caption Boxes are images, you can flip these objects 180 using the horizontal and vertical flip buttons. These buttons are found in the Tools panel on the right side of the Editing Window.

When you select a caption box and then click a flip button, the Caption Box will flip or rotate each time you click the button.

Deleting a Caption Box


The following procedure describes how to delete a caption box from a panel. (Note: You can only delete one caption box at a time.) 1. Left-click on the border of the caption box you want to delete. The sizing handles appear around the selected caption box. 2. Press the Delete key on your keyboard. The caption box is deleted.

Adding Clip Art to Your Comic Book


Comic Book Creator 2.0 comes with numerous clip art images you can add to your comic book. You can also use your own clip art in your comic book. To add, move, or resize clip art: 1. Click View, Clip Art or click the Clip Art icon in the Resource Browser. The Resource Browser displays a list of thumbnails of clip art you can add to your comic book. By default, the Resource Browser displays the clip art included with your copy of Comic Book Creator 2.0. 2. Decide which clip art you want to add to your comic book panel. To display the next page of 18

thumbnail clip art images you can select from, click the right scroll arrow. To display the previous page of thumbnail clips, click the left scroll arrow.

The scroll arrows can only be used if the directory has more than one page of clip art. To display a different directory of clip art to choose from, see "Using Your Own Graphic Images." 3. Drag a thumbnail image from the Resource Browser to a panel of your comic book page. Repeat this step to add more clip art to your comic book page. 4. Left-click on the clip art and use the Move tool appear. to drag the image where you want it to

5. Use the sizing handles to make the clip art smaller or larger as follows: To adjust the width of the clip art image, drag a sizing handle on the right or left horizontally, away from the center of the image. To adjust the height of the clip art, drag the top or bottom sizing handle vertically, away from the center of the image. To adjust the width and the height of the clip art at the same time, drag a corner sizing handle diagonally, away from the center of the image.

(Note: You can also use the sizing handles to change the shape and proportion of the clip art.) (Note: Comic Book Creator 2.0 will not display the clip art in your comic book if you move your clip art files from one folder to another or change the name of the directory where they are stored. If this happens, point Comic Book Creator 2.0 to the new folder that has the clip art that you want to use as described in the following section on using your own clip art.)

Using Your Own Clip Art


You can use your own clip art in your comic book by changing the default file path to the directory that contains your clip art files, as follows: 1. Collect your clip art files and save them in a folder or directory that you can access from your PC. 2. Click File, Clip Art Folder or click on the My Pictures The Browse for Folder window appears. 3. Select the folder with the clip art in it. 4. Click OK. The Resource Browser displays thumbnail images of the clip art in the selected file. (Note: If the Resource Browser is blank, it means that there is no clip art in the selected directory. Repeat this process to select the correct folder that contains the clip art.) icon in the Resource Browser.

Rotating and Flipping Clip Art


Clip Art objects can be rotated and flipped by using the flip buttons in the Tools panel on the right side of the Editing Window and by using the green rotate handle that appears beneath clip art after you place it on a page. 19

The button on the left is for horizontal flipping. When you select a clip art image and then click on this button, it will flip horizontally 180. Each time you click on this button it will flip again. The second button from the left is for vertical flipping. When you click on clip art and then click the flip button, the clip art will flip vertically 180. Each time you click on this button it will flip again. The third and fourth buttons from the left are for 90 rotation. When you select a clip art image and then click on either of these buttons, it will rotate 90 in the direction of the arrow on the icon. Every time you click on a button the clip art will rotate 90. If you want to rotate the clip art freely, click on the rotate handle, which is the green circular handle beneath the clip art on the page. Click and drag it to rotate the clip art freely in 360. (Note: These are the same flip and rotate operations that can be performed on Picture Balloons. See "Flipping Picture Balloons.")

Deleting Clip Art from Your Comic Book


To remove clip art from a panel or page: 1. Left-click the clip art you want to remove from the page. 2. Press the Delete key on your keyboard. The clip art is deleted.

Overlaying Text on a Clip Art Image


To overlay text on clip art, start by adding a piece of clip art to your page or panel. 1. Click View, Caption Boxes or click on the Caption Box icon in the Resource Browser. The Resource Browser displays a text box that you can overlay on your clip art. (You can also add an action word to your clip art.) 2. Do one of the following: To overlay text on your clip art, drag the text box from the Resource Browser to the area of the clip art where you want the text to appear. Then, type your text. Use the sizing handles to move or resize the text box. To overlay an action word on your clip art, drag the action word style from the Resource Browser to the area of the clip art where you want the text to appear. Then, type your action word(s). Use the sizing handles to resize the action word.

(Note: The overlay text and the clip art are separate entities. Therefore if you delete or move the clip art, the text remains unless you delete or move it separately.)

Adding Action Words


Action words are typically used to convey sound effects or exclamations. This type of text is used most in action-based comic books. Action words are meant to draw attention to the panel or page and create excitement by emphasizing the action in a story. As a general rule, use action 20

words to convey loud noises, such as sirens and explosions. Leave the background noises out of your comic book. 1. Click View, Text or click the Text icon in the Resource Browser. The Resource Browser displays an action word style you can use in your comic book. 2. Drag the action word style from the Resource Browser to the area of the panel where you want it to appear. A large cursor appears. 3. Type your action word(s). You can type action words across multiple panels. 4. To deselect the action word, click to the left of it or press ESC. (Note: Action words are always left-aligned. The default action text is red, uppercase 48 point text. You can change the font settings, but remember that action words should stand out. For more information on changing text, see "Changing the Size of Text.")

Deleting an Action Word


To delete an entire action word from a panel, left-click on the action word. When you see the Move tool , click Delete. The entire action word will be deleted.

To delete part of an action word, double left-click on the word, and use the arrow keys to place the cursor to the left of the characters you want to delete. Press Delete to delete characters one at a time. (Note: You can only delete characters that appear to the right of the cursor.)

Moving Action Words


To move an action word in a panel: 1. Position the cursor on the action word you want to move. The Move 2. Use the Move appear. tool appears.

tool to drag the action word to the area of the panel where you want it to

3. To deselect the action word, click to the left, above, or below the action word.

Hiding the Action Word Drop Shadow


By default, action words have a black drop shadow that makes the text appear three-dimensional. To remove the drop shadow: 1. Left-click the action word you want to change. 2. On the Tools menu in the right side of the Editing Window, click to clear the Show Drop Shadow check box. The drop shadow is removed from the action word. 3. To deselect the action word, click to the left, above, or below the action word. 21

(Note: To reapply the drop shadow, click the action word and select the Show Drop Shadow check box.)

Repositioning the Action Word Drop Shadow


By default, the drop shadow is 5 points away from the action word. To increase or decrease the space between the drop shadow and the action word: 1. Left-click the action word you want to change. 2. Either: Click the Position up arrow to increase the space between the drop shadow and the action word, or Click the Position down arrow to decrease the space between the drop shadow and the action word until the text has the effect your want.

In this example, the drop shadow is offset by 10 points, which is the maximum amount of space you can have between the action word and its drop shadow. 3. To deselect the action word, click to the left, above, or below the action word.

Hiding the Action Word Outline


By default, action words are outlined with a thin black line to set the text apart from the background. The action word outline typically appears more defined on the printed page. To remove the outline from your action word: 1. Left-click the action word you want to change. 2. On the Tools bar, click to clear the Show Text Outline check box. The outline is removed from the action word.

(Note: To reapply the text outline, click the action word and click the Show Text Outline check box.) 3. To deselect the action word, click to the left, above, or below the action word.

Modifying Text Properties


Comic Book Creator 2.0 provides many of the same text formatting tools as other popular selfpublishing products. Use these tools to change the font color, style, and size of any text in your comic book. This includes action words, clip art overlay text, and text in word balloons and 22

caption boxes. (Note: To modify the text inside a word balloon or caption box, select the object and then select the text you want to change. To modify an action word, however, simply left-click on the text.)

Changing Caption Box Text Alignment


Comic Book Creator 2.0 allows you to change the vertical alignment of text inside a caption box. Note that you cannot change the alignment of action words or text inside a word balloon. 1. Select the caption box text you want to change. 2. Do one of the following: To align the text on the left side of the caption box, click Align Left To align the text in the center of the caption box, click Align Center To align the text on the right side of the caption box, click Align Right . . .

Applying Bold or Italic Formatting to Text


To apply bold or italic formatting to text: 1. Highlight the text or left-click the text you want to change. 2. Do one or both of the following: To apply bold formatting to the selected text, in the Font tool panel, click Bold To apply italic formatting to the selected text, in the Font tool panel, click Italic . .

Inserting Special Characters


To insert special characters, in the Font tool panel, click lambda .

Changing the Color of an Action Word


By default, action words are red with a black drop shadow. To change the color of the action word and its the drop shadow: 1. Left-click the action word you want to change. 2. Complete one or both of the following steps: To change the color of the action word, go to the Font tool panel, click the Color dropdown arrow, and select the color you want.

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To change the color of the drop shadow; go to the Drop Shadow menu in the Font tool panel, click the Color drop-down arrow, and select the color you want.

3. To deselect the action word, click to the left, above, or below the action word.

Changing the Color of Word Balloon or Caption Box Text


To change the color of word balloon or caption box text: 1. Select the text you want to change. 2. Click the Color drop-down arrow in the Font tool panel and then select the color you want.

(Note: By default, balloon text and caption box text are black.)

Applying a Different Font to Text


To apply a different font to text: 1. Select the text or left-click the action word you want to change. 2. In the Font tool panel, click the desired font name in the font style box immediately above the Size drop-down box.

Changing Text Size


To change the font size of action words or other text: 1. Select the text or left-click the action word you want to change. 2. In the Font tool panel, click a point size in the Size drop-down box.

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(Note: Comic Book Creator 2.0 provides many font sizes that you can apply to your text. Word balloon and caption box text is 7 points by default. Action word text is 48 points by default. You can only use the provided font sizes for your comic book text. If you enter a different font size in the Size box, the size of the selected text will not change.)

Adding a Mask
Masks are designs that have transparent areas that match up with template panels. In Comic Book Creator 2.0, you can convert a piece of clip art into a mask by right-clicking the clip art. When the menu appears, select Set as Mask. The clip art will appear as a page mask.

Containers, Templates, and Masks


In order to match up templates with masks, Comic Book Creator 2.0 provides container files that combine a template and a mask in a single file. These files are located in the Templates folder, since they are used to create new pages.

Deleting a Mask
To delete a mask: 1. Right-click on the mask. 2. When the option menu appears, select Clear Mask.

Adding a Sound with Drag and Drop


Sounds are entertaining in a comic book. In Comic Book Creator 2.0, sounds are dynamic events that can be triggered with a mouse click, when a Comic Book Creator 2.0 file is open. If you have recorded a sound with Comic Book Creator 2.0, or imported your own audio files, they can be added to your comic book by dragging and dropping them from the Resource Browser onto balloons, caption boxes, pages, panels, and clip art. Sounds can be published with your comic book to HTML files, Flash page flippers, web pages, and web sites. To add sounds to an object: 1. Click View, Audio or click the Sounds icon in the Resource Browser. The Resource Browser displays audio files that you can use in your comic book. 2. Select an audio file from the thumbnail audio file descriptions in the Resource Browser and drop it onto an object. When you click on the object, the sound will play.

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Adding a Sound with Record


You can add sounds to your comic book by recording a sound, saving it, and using the Resource Browser to add it to an object. To add a sound with Record Sound: 1. Right-click on an object. 2. When the options menu appears, click Record Sound. The Comic Book Creator 2.0 Sound Recorder dialog box appears. You will be recording a sound and saving it to a file. The fields are as follows: Sound File to Record is the name of the sound file to be recorded. Sound Format to Record is the format to be recorded. Comic Book Creator 2.0 supports MP3, WAV, and WMA audio formats. MP3, WAV, or WMA Settings determine the frequency, which helps determine the size and quality of the file. The Channels selector will be either Mono or Stereo, depending on your audio input device. Bitrate Quality/File Size sets the digital conversion rate for the file. Encoder Quality/Speed determines how much time it takes to turn the audio into an MP3 stream. The higher the quality, the longer it takes.

3. Click Record. If you have a microphone or line input connected to your computer, you should see some movement in the sound levels at the bottom of the Comic Book Creator 2.0 Sound Recorder dialog box when you click Record. 4. When you are finished recording, click Stop. button in the Resource Browser. You should now see the new audio 5. Click the Refresh file listed in the Resource Browser. 6. Drag and drop the new audio file onto your comic book page.

Editing Sounds with Audacity


You can edit your music and sound effects files if you have installed the free Audacity software along with Comic Book Creator 2.0. It's a good idea to edit your audio files before including them in your comic book. Note that while Comic Book Creator 2.0 can accept MP3, WAV, and WMA files, Audacity can only edit MP3 and WAV files. This means that if you have a WMA file that needs audio editing, it will need to be converted into either an MP3 or WAV file before Audacity can read it. Don't worry, though. We have included a file (lame_enc.dll) on your PC CD that will convert your WMA files into MP3 files so that you can edit them in Audacity. Audacity software can be downloaded by anyone at http://audacity.sourceforge.net. If you have any questions regarding the use of Audacity, please refer to the documentation included on your installation CD, or to Audacity personnel via their website. To edit sound files with Audacity: 1. Double-click the Audacity launch the application. logo on your desktop or select Audacity on the Start menu to 26

2. If the audio file is on a CD or MP3 player, first save it to a folder or your desktop. 3. The next step varies depending on what type of audio file you're using: a. If the audio file you want to edit is an MP3 or WAV file, simply drag and drop it from your folder or desktop into Audacity. (After editing your file, you may choose to Save Project As an Audacity project for future reference.) Then, choose File, Export File As and select the file format you want to import into Comic Book Creator 2.0--i.e., WAV or MP3. (If you are exporting your audio file as an MP3, the lame_enc.dll file will convert it into an MP3 for you automatically.) b. If your audio file is a WMA file, you will need to convert it into an MP3 file before you can edit it in Audacity. To convert a WMA file into an MP3 file, go to your web browser and search for a free WMA to MP3 converter. Download the software of your choice, such as Blaze Media Pro, to your desktop. Open that software. Add your audio file, select and open it, choose your desired settings, and click OK to convert the file into an MP3. Once your file is an MP3, simply drag and drop it from your desktop or folder into Audacity. (Note: Since Audacity cannot input or output MP3s without an encoder or converter, using WAV files will be simpler than using MP3 files.)

Removing a Sound
Sounds can be easily removed. Right-click on the object where the audio file is located. When the option menu appears, select Clear Sound.

Adding Animations to Your Comic Book


Animated GIF files contain several images that are packed into a single file. Comic Book Creator 2.0 can then play them in sequence like a flip book. This allows them to appear animated on the screen. They can be played when your book is published as a Flash flip book either online or on your PC. You can also choose a static frame to be used when your comic book is printed or published in a format that does not support animation. The following procedure describes how to add animations to your comic book: 1. Click View, Animations or click the Animations icon in the Resource Browser. The Resource Browser displays thumbnails of the animated GIFs you can add to your comic book. You can also save your own animated GIFs on your PC and use them in your comic book. 2. Determine which animated GIF you want to add to your comic book panel. 3. Drag a thumbnail clip from the Resource Browser to a panel on your comic book page. 4. Use the Move tool to drag the image where you want it to appear.

5. If you would like to stop an animation from playing, right-click on the animation and select Stop. If you want to resume playing, right-click the animation and select Play. You can also click on the animation filename in the Animation menu to stop the animation from playing. 6. When the animation is stopped, use the keyboard arrow keys (Up and Down) to step through the frames of the animation.

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7. If you want to set the Print Frame, right-click on the page or panel containing the animation, and select Set As Print Frame. The current frame becomes the Print frame. If you forget which frame is the Print frame, right-click on the panel containing the animation, and select Display Print Frame.

Adding Video to Your Comic Book


Video clips add excitement and interactivity to your comic book. Video of a funny moment or milestone can make your comics even more entertaining! To add video to a panel or page: 1. Click View, Video or click the Video icon in the Resource Browser. The Resource Browser displays video files you can use in your comic book. 2. To point Comic Book Creator 2.0 to your personal video files, click View, Folders. Click the right arrow ">" to go to the second screen of folders. 3. Click the browse button "..." at the end of the Videos Folder text bar. 4. When the Browse for Folder dialog box appears, select the directory or folder that contains your video files. 5. Click OK. The Resource Browser will be populated quickly with thumbnails of the videos in the selected directory. (Note: If the Resource Browser remains blank, repeat this process and select the folder that contains the video files you want to use in your comic book.) 6. Drag a thumbnail of the video onto a panel. (Note: The Zoom and Video Control Bar appears beneath the last-added video.) To play a video or video clip, click Play Play, the Pause button replaces it. or click anywhere on the video. When you click

Using Your Own Video


You can use our own video in Comic Book Creator 2.0 by changing the default file path to the directory that contains your video files, as follows: 1. Save your video files in your My Videos folder. 2. With your current comic book open in Comic Book Creator 2.0, click the Videos near the top of the Resource Browser. Click the Select Browser Folder dialog box will appear. 3. Click the My Videos directory. 4. Click OK. The Resource Browser will be populated with thumbnails of the videos in the My Videos directory. (Note: If the Resource Browser remains blank, repeat this process and select the directory path that contains the videos you want to use in your comic book.) 5. Click on the thumbnail of the video you want to use and drag and drop it into a panel in your comic book. icon

icon. The Browse for

Using Fraps Video


To use Fraps video in your comic book: 1. Make sure that you have installed the optional Fraps software from the main installation menu. 28

2. Start Fraps. 3. Click the Movies tab and set the folder in which to save video to My Videos. Note the Video Capture Hotkey that you will press to capture real-time video. 4. Start the PC video game from which you want to take video clips. 5. When you want to capture video, press the Video Capture Hotkey. Recording will start. Press the Video Capture Hotkey again to stop recording. The video clip will appear in your My Videos folder. 6. To view Fraps videos in the Comic Book Creator Resource Browser, click the Video Drag and drop your video clips into the panels of your open comic book. icon.

Video Control Bar


These controls appear on the Video Control Bar, which appears to the right of the Zoom button: Stop. Click to stop video playback. Back 1 Frame. Click to reverse one frame. Play. Click to play video. Pause. Click to pause video. Forward 1 Frame. Click to advance one frame. Go to IN Position. Click to go to beginning of video clip (IN point.) Mark IN/OUT. Click to mark the starting point or endpoint of a video clip. Go to OUT Position. Click to go to video clip endpoint. Capture Print Frame. Click to take a still image from the video clip, for printing. Loop. Click to play video clip continuously from IN point to OUT point. Elapsed Time/Frames. Displays elapsed time in minutes and seconds, or frames. Click to toggle back and forth between elapsed time and elapsed frames. Total Time/Frames. Displays total time of video file in minutes and seconds, or total number of frames. Click to toggle back and forth between total time and total frames.

Resizing a Video Using Zoom


Once you have placed a video in a panel, you can resize it easily with the Zoom feature. The Zoom feature has two controls--the magnifying glass and the arrow button. A row of video control features appears to the right of the Zoom feature. It looks like this: 29

The Zoom and Video Control Bar automatically appears beneath the last video you have added to your comic book. The Zoom and Video Control Bar will also appear when you click on a video, unless you have hidden it by clicking to uncheck the Show box in the Zoom Tool panel. This is the Zoom Tool panel:

This is the Show box:

To zoom a video an exact amount, enter the percent zoom you want in the Zoom box in the Zoom Tool Panel. You can enter any value from 10% to 999%.

To use the arrow button to zoom in, click and drag the video until the desired area is framed in the panel. If the Zoom button is not visible, left-click on the video in the panel to display it. Use the down arrow to choose the amount of zoom you want.

To zoom in, left-click on the magnifying glass. Each mouse click increases the size of the video image 10%. For finer zoom control, press the Control key and left-click the magnifying glass to zoom in 1% at a time. To zoom out, right-click on the magnifying glass. Each mouse click decreases the size of the video image 10%. For finer zoom control, press the Control key and right-click the magnifying glass to zoom out 1% at a time. To close the Zoom tool, click away from the video being edited. (Note: When you resize a video, Comic Book Creator 2.0 maintains the images proportions and 30

keeps the video centered where you placed it.)

Repositioning Videos
To move a video inside a panel, left-click on the video and drag it until it is where you want it. Then release the left mouse button.

Deleting a Video
To delete a video from a page or panel, while the panel with the video is selected, click the Delete key, click Edit, Delete, or right-click the video and select Clear Video from the menu that appears. (Note: You can also replace a video by simply clicking and dragging the thumbnail of a new video over the existing one.)

Defining a Clip from a Video File


To define the starting and ending points of the section of a video in your comic: 1. Find the desired starting point of your video clip using Play the Slider . 2. Click Mark IN/OUT , Forward 1 Frame , or

and select Set IN Point from the menu that appears. , Forward 1 Frame , or the

3. Find the desired endpoint of your video clip using Play Slider . 4. Click Mark IN/OUT

and select Set OUT Point from the menu that appears. to Go to IN Position, or click and drag the

To go to the starting point of your video clip, click slider to the starting point. To go to the endpoint of your video clip, click to the endpoint.

to Go to OUT Point, or click and drag the slider

and select Clear IN Point. To clear the starting point of your video clip, click Mark IN/OUT To clear the endpoint of your video clip, click Mark IN/OUT and select Clear OUT Point. Then, if you like, you can reset the starting and ending points of the video clip, or leave the video full-length.

Controlling Video Playback


To play a video clip continuously, click Loop . Click again to turn off the Loop function.

Setting the Video Print Frame


1. Find the desired print frame of your video clip using Play Slider . 31 , Forward 1 Frame , or the

2. Click Capture Print Frame

or right click on the video and select Capture Print Frame.

The frame you selected will appear when you print your comic book. To view the print frame you have selected, right click on the video, and select Go to Print Frame.

Pausing Video Playback


To pause playback, while the video is playing, click Pause the video in the panel. , press the spacebar, or left-click

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Navigating and Managing Your Comic Book


Commercial comic books average 22 pages in length. To estimate how many pages you need, break down the plot of your comic book into pages and panels. Be aware of how much space you are using to tell different parts of your story. (For example, if you have a 12-page script, you should be halfway done with your story by page 6. If not, you will have to speed the story up or slow it down to finish the story by page 12.)

Navigate in Content Folders


You will note, in the Resource Browser portion of the Editing Window of Comic Book Creator 2.0, that the content pack selected is shown at the top of the Resource Browser. Here, the content pack Basic has been selected. There are ten icons at the top of the Resource Browser. From left to right, top to bottom, they represent Screenshots, Balloons, Caption Boxes, Clip Art, Text, Video, Sounds, Animations, My Pictures, and Launch Default Browser:

Use the individual icons to do the following: Add or edit Screenshots. Add or edit Speech Balloons. Add or edit Caption Boxes. Add or edit Clip Art. Add or edit Text. Add or edit Videos. Add or remove Sounds. (Note: This feature is not available in selected versions of the software.) Add or remove Animations. (Note: This feature is not available in selected versions of the software.) Click to set the Screenshots folder to My Pictures.

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Click to Launch Default Browser. At the bottom of the Resource Browser, there are four folders. Each folder represents a directory, or subfolder, containing content--e.g., screenshots, balloons, clip art, videos, etc.

When you click on a folder, the name of the type of content in that folder will be displayed in the text box two rows below the four folders. In this example, Screenshots has been selected. In the row immediately below the folders, the icons from left to right mean Reload Browser, Select Content Folder, Go to Browser Page, and Reset Folder Path to Default. If you click Reload Browser, your browser immediately reloads. If you click Select Content Folder, the Browse for Folder dialog box opens. If you click Go To Browser Page, the Enter Page Number dialog box appears. If you click Reset Folder Path to Default, the Reset Page to Default Path dialog box appears. Below the text box is a page counter. The arrow buttons on either side of the content page counter allow you to move backward or forward through the content directory.

Using Page Tools


Comic Book Creator 2.0 has several controls that are used for navigation and to manage the pages in your comic book. The navigation controls consist of: Go to Page 1 Go to Previous Page Page Information and Go To page Go to Next Page Go to the Last Page 34

The Page Information box tells you what page you are on, and the total number of pages in your comic book. When you click on Page Information, you will see a dialog box that allows you to jump to any page in your comic book.

Moving a Page in Your Comic Book


To change the location of a page in your comic book: 1. Go to the page you want to move. 2. From the File menu, click Move Page or left-click on the Move Page Page dialog box appears. 3. Choose one of the following: button. The Move

To move the current page to a specific page in your comic book, accept the default selection of Page Number, and enter the number of the page to which you want to move the current page. To move the current page to the first page of your comic book, select First Page. To move the current page to the last page of your comic book, select Last Page.

4. Click OK. The current page will be moved to the specified location in your comic book. The Page Number box displays the new page number of the page you moved and the total number of pages in your comic book. Verify that the page is where you want it in your comic book.

Adding a Page to Your Comic Book


To add a page to your comic book: 1. From the File menu, click Add Page or left-click on the Add Page button. The Choose Template dialog box displays the templates you can select from for your new page. 2. Choose one of the following: If you want the new page to be the last page of your comic book, from the Add As options on the right side of the Choose Template screen accept the default selection of Last Page. If you want the new page to be the first page of your comic book, select First Page. If you want the new page to be the next page of your comic book, select Current Page.

3. Click the template you want to use. (Note: When you add a page, the only templates available to you will be those which are the same size as the first page of your comic book. For example, if you started your comic book in 4" X 6" format, the only templates available when you add a page will be 4" X 6." The same holds true for 4-panel comic strips, 5" X 7" pages, and standard, full-sized 8 1/2" X 11" pages.) 4. Click OK. The Editing Window displays the new page you have just added to your comic book.

Removing a Page from Your Comic Book


To delete a page from your comic book: 35

1. Go to the page you want to remove. To use the Remove Page tool, there must be at least two pages in your comic book. Therefore, if you have just one page in your comic book, you can delete the page only if you add a new page to your comic book first. (Note: For the procedure for adding a page to a comic book, see "Adding a Page to Your Comic Book.") 2. From the File menu, click Remove Page or left-click on the Delete Page selected page is deleted from your comic book. button. The

Close Page
To close a comic book, click File, Close.

Save Comic Book


To save your comic book, click File, Save, CTRL+S, or left-click the Save button:

Save Pages from Your Comic Book


The following procedure describes how to save pages from your comic book. This feature is useful when you want to export a page or series of pages from a large comic book. You can also save odd or even pages which can help if you are having your comic book printed professionally. 1. From the File menu, click Save Pages. 2. The Save Pages dialog box displays the options available for exporting pages. In Save Page Range, specify the page or pages to be exported: Pages All Odd Pages All Even Pages All Pages Enter a page number, set of page numbers, or range. Save all odd pages in one file. Save all even pages in one file. Save all pages in one file.

In Save Pages As, choose how you would like the pages saved: Single File One File Per Page For a single CBCX file containing all of the pages. For a set of CBCX files with each file containing a single page.

3. Click OK. The Save Comic Book Pages dialog box appears so that you can enter the name(s) of the export file(s). 4. Click Save. The new CBCX file(s) are created.

Insert a Comic Book into Your Comic Book


This feature is useful when you want to build a larger comic book out of a page or series of pages from other comic books. To insert another comic book into your comic book: 1. From the File menu, click Insert Book. 36

2. The Insert Comic Book File dialog box appears. Find and click on the name of the comic book you wish to import into your currently-open comic book. 3. Click Open. In the Insert Comic Book File dialog box, specify where you would like the new material inserted. You can insert it as the first or last page, or at a specific page in the middle. 4. Click OK. The selected comic book material is inserted into your currently-open comic book.

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Publishing Your Comic Book


Publishing Options
Comic Book Creator 2.0 has several ways to output a comic bookto a printer, to file(s), to a folder, to HTML, and to website.

Printing
Comic Book Creator 2.0 has been designed to create the highest possible quality output. A comic book is made up of both drawn and raster (image) objects. Drawn objects are redrawn at the resolution determined by the printer. This produces crisp text, word balloons, and lines. Raster (image) elements are scaled up to meet the printer resolution. This scaling can create problems such as blocks or stair stepping. When comic books are printed, they are actually rendered in a PDF format and then sent to the printer. This helps achieve a higher quality output. 1. To print a comic book, from the File Menu, click Print, or click on the Print button on the toolbar. 2. The print dialog box appears. This dialog box allows you to select the printer, the print range, and the number of copies to be printed. 3. When you click OK, your comic book pages will be sent to the printer. The number of each page will be displayed as it is rendered and send to the printer.

Publishing to Folder
1. To publish a comic book to a folder, from the File menu, click Publish. 2. If you have changed your comic book and not saved it recently, Comic Book Creator 2.0 will prompt you to save your comic book before using the Publish feature. If you click Save, your work will be saved and you will then see the Publish Comic Book To dialog box. If you click Cancel, you will return to the Comic Book Creator 2.0 main screen. 3. The Publish Comic Book To dialog box has several options on the left side: Website Publish comic book to website. (Note: This feature is not available on certain licensed versions of the software.) Publish images and comic book file to a folder. Publish images to Portable Document Format. Publish one JPEG image per comic book page. Publish one image per page in a variety of digital formats including JPEG, BMP, TIFF, PNG, and EPS. Create each page as a JPEG image and link them together in an HTML document that can be published to a website.

Folder PDF JPEG Picture

HTML

The Publish button starts the publishing process. The Close button closes the dialog box and returns you to the main Comic Book Creator 2.0 screen. 4. To publish to a Folder, from the File menu, click Publish. When the Publish Comic Book 38

5. 6. 7.

8.

To dialog box appears, enter or browse to a folder that will be the destination for your comic book. If you have previously saved your comic book, then you may want to click on the check box to Overwrite Existing Folder File. If you click the browse button , you will see the browse dialog box. The browse dialog box allows you to select or create a directory where you would like to save your comic book files. When you have selected your destination folder, click Save. After selecting the destination folder, you will be returned to the Publish Comic Book To dialog box with the directory you chose entered. Click the Publish button to start. Your comic book and all of its component files will be written to the folder you specified. When this is finished, you will see a dialog box that tells you that publishing to folder is completed. Click OK to return to the Publish Comic Book To dialog box. If you go to the directory that you selected, you will find a comic book file (extension CBCX), a DTD file (used by the CBCX file), and a series of subdirectories that contain the images and art assets. This directory can be compressed or written to a CD. You can use this process to transfer a comic book or back up your work.

Publishing to PDF
1. If you have changed your comic book and not saved it recently, Comic Book Creator 2.0 will prompt you to save your comic book before using the Publish feature. If you click Save, your work will be saved and you will then see the Publish Comic Book To dialog box. If you click Cancel, you will return to the Comic Book Creator 2.0 main screen. 2. The main Publish Comic Book To dialog box has several options on the left side. From the File menu, click Publish. 3. When the Publish Comic Book To dialog box appears, click the PDF icon on the left side. Go to the Publish Comic Book to PDF File field and enter or browse to a folder that will be the destination for your PDF document. If you have previously saved the comic book, then you may want to check the box to Overwrite Existing PDF File. If you click on the browse button, you will see the browse dialog box. From the standard browse dialog box, you can select the directory and file that you wish to create. 4. There are several check boxes in the upper right side of the Publish Comic Book To dialog box that provide additional PDF publishing features: Print PDF After Publish. Check this box to send the document to the printer after it has been published. You will see the print dialog box as described in the section entitled "Printing." (Note: This option is not available on some versions of the product, or in demo mode.) View PDF After Publish. If you check this box, it will bring up the PDF document in Adobe Reader so you can see your comic book on your monitor. E-mail PDF After Publish. This feature will attach your comic book PDF to an e-mail message. Overwrite Existing PDF File. If you check this box, you will overwrite any existing PDF file of the same name.

5. In the lower part of the Publish Comic Book To dialog box when PDF is selected, you will find additional PDF options. You can enable PDF document security, or create a compressed ZIP archive file, which is helpful if you are planning to post or e-mail your content. 6. Enable PDF Document Security. Check this box to enable security features specific to PDF documents. Click the Options button to open the PDF Document Security Options dialog box that contains the PDF features available.

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No Printing. If this is selected, the PDF file will be marked so that it cannot be printed from the viewer (i.e., Adobe Reader.) No Copying Contents. When checked, this will disable the Copy command in the viewer. No Modifying Contents. If you check this box, the document will be marked as readonly. No Modifying Annotations. If you check this box, the document will be marked as readonly and cannot be annotated. Password Protect Document. If you check this box, the document will not be viewable unless the user inputs a correct password. This enables User and Master Password protection. The User Password is used for reading the document whereas the Master Password is used to unlock the document for editing.

7. Create ZIP Archive. Check this box to compress the PDF document into a ZIP archive file. You can then click on the Options button to bring up the individual features. If you check the E-mail ZIP File box, the ZIP file will be attached to an e-mail. This is performed the same way that E-mail PDF After Publish is done. In fact, if you check both E-mail ZIP File and Email PDF After Publish, the software will send two e-mails. ZIP Archive File Path and Name. This field enables you to create a ZIP file in a separate directory. Your PDF may be in your main comic book directory, whereas the ZIP file may be in a backup directory. ZIP Archive Comment. This field allows you to add a comment to your ZIP file. This comment will appear in most zip utilities when the file is unzipped. Encrypt ZIP file. This check box will encrypt the ZIP file using an encryption standard compatible with most zip programs. Password. This field is enabled when the Encrypt ZIP File box is checked. The password is used as a key for encrypting and decrypting the ZIP file. Delete Zipped File. Delete a previously-saved ZIP file. Overwrite ZIP File. Overwrite a previously-saved ZIP file. Compression Level. This drop-down box provides the different compression levels available when zipping the file. The higher the compression level, the longer it takes to create the ZIP file. OK/Cancel. Press OK to begin creating a ZIP archive. Press Cancel to return to the previous screen.

8. From the Publish Comic Book To dialog box, press the Publish button to begin PDF generation. (Note: If you click Close, you will be returned to the main Comic Book Creator 2.0 screen.) The printer status dialog box will appear, and display the page currently being printed. PDF generation works in a similar manner to printing a document. 9. After the pages are generated and written to the PDF file, a small dialog box appears to let you know that the process has been completed. When you click OK, you will be returned to the Publish Comic Book To dialog box. 40

Publishing to JPEG
1. If you have made changes to your comic book and not saved it recently, Comic Book Creator 2.0 will prompt you to save your comic book before using the Publish feature. If you click Save, your work will be saved and you will see the Publish Comic Book To dialog box. If you click Cancel, you will be returned to the Comic Book Creator 2.0 main screen. 2. From the File menu, click Publish. The Publish Comic Book To dialog box appears. Click the JPEG icon on the left side. Publishing to JPEG creates a series of JPEG images of your comic book. 3. To publish to JPEG, in the Save Pages to Folder field, enter or browse to a folder that will be the destination for your JPEG images. If you have previously saved your comic book as JPEG images, then you may want to check the Overwrite Existing Picture Files box. If you click the browse button, the browse dialog box will appear. From the standard browse dialog box, you can select the directory and file name that you wish to create. 4. In the Publish Comic Book To dialog box, there are two controls under the folder name that control the image resolution and quality. The first control sets the Resolution DPI (dots per inch) of the image. The higher the DPI, the higher the image quality, and the larger the image file size. The second control is used to control JPEG Quality. This is done by setting image compression. The higher the quality (toward 100), the lower the compression. The lower the quality (toward 0), the higher the compression, and the smaller the file size. 5. Create ZIP Archive Check this box to compress the JPEG images into a ZIP archive. Click the Options button to bring up the ZIP Archive Options dialog box. If you check the E-mail ZIP File box, the ZIP file generated will be attached to an e-mail. ZIP Archive File Path and Name. This field enables you to save the ZIP file in a separate directory. Your JPEG images may be in your main comic book directory whereas the ZIP file is in a backup directory. ZIP Archive Comment. This field will be added to the ZIP file as a comment and will appear in most zip utilities when the file is unzipped. Encrypt ZIP File. Check this box to encrypt the ZIP file using an encryption standard that is compatible with most zip programs. Password. This field is enabled when the box for Encrypt ZIP File is checked. The password is used as a key for encrypting and decrypting the ZIP file. Delete Zipped Files. Deletes previously-saved ZIP files. Overwrite ZIP File. Check this box to overwrite a previously-saved ZIP file of the same name. Compression Level. This box provides the different compression levels available when zipping the file. The higher the compression level, the longer it takes to create the ZIP file. The available compression levels are listed below:

OK/Cancel. Press OK to begin creating a ZIP archive. Press Cancel to return to the previous screen. 6. From the Publish Comic Book To dialog box, click Publish to begin JPEG image generation. A printer status dialog box will appear. JPEG generation works in a similar manner to printing a document. (Note: The title of the dialog box will note whatever image 41

format is being published--PDF, JPEG, etc.) 7. After the pages are generated and written to individual image files, you will see a dialog box that tells you that the process has been completed. When you click OK, you will be returned to the Publish Comic Book To dialog box.

Publishing to Picture
1. If you have changed your comic book and not saved it recently, Comic Book Creator 2.0 will prompt you to save your comic book before using the Publish feature. If you click Save, your work will be saved and you will then see the Publish Comic Book To dialog box. If you click Cancel, you will return to the Comic Book Creator 2.0 main screen. 2. From the File menu, click Publish. Click the Picture icon on the left side. The Publish Comic Book To dialog box appears. In the Save Pages to Folder box, enter or browse to the folder that will be the destination for your picture files. If you have previously saved the comic book as images, then you may want to check the box to Overwrite Existing Picture Files. If you click the browse button, you will see the browse dialog box. From the standard browse dialog box, you can select the directory and file that you wish to create. 3. There is a drop-down box under the folder destination field called Picture File Type where you can select the type of image format to which you want to save your comic book. For JPEG files, you may also set Resolution DPI and JPEG Quality. For other file types, you may set Resolution DPI only. The available formats are: BMP (Default). BMP is a standard bitmap format used in Windows. Comic Book Creator 2.0 uses the 24-bit color version of this format. You can also set the Resolution DPI. PNG. This name is an acronym for Portable Network Graphics, a bitmap format similar to GIF. It was approved as a standard by the World Wide Web Consortium to replace GIF because of GIFs use of a patented data compression algorithm called LZW. PNG was developed to be completely patent- and license-free. Comic Book Creator 2.0 uses the 24-bit color version of this format. You can also set the Resolution DPI. TIFF. This name is an acronym for Tagged Image File Format, a widely-supported file format for storing bitmapped images. This format has many options and variations which make it versatile, but also incompatible at times. Comic Book Creator 2.0 uses the standard 24-bit color version of this format. You can also set the Resolution DPI. EPS. This bitmap format name is an acronym for Encapsulated PostScript. EPS is the graphics file format used by the PostScript language. It can be either binary or ASCII. Comic Book Creator 2.0 uses the EPS standard called Level 2. You can also set the Resolution DPI. JPEG. The JPEG image format is an implementation of the Joint Photographic Experts Group standard, which is a data compression technique for color images. The amount of compression in the image is controlled by the JPEG Quality setting. The higher the quality (toward 100) the lower the compression, and the larger the image file. The lower the quality (toward 0), the higher the compression and the smaller the image file. You can also set the Resolution DPI. 4. To the right of Picture File Type is the Resolution DPI control. The higher the DPI, the larger the image file. When you select the JPEG image format, the JPEG Quality slider appears. (Note: It does not appear for non-JPEG file types.) 5. Below Picture File Type is the Create ZIP Archive option. This feature compresses image files into a ZIP archive. You can then click the Options button to bring up additional related features. If you check the E-mail ZIP File box, the zip file generated will be attached to an email. 6. When you click the Publish button, image file generation begins. A printer status dialog box will appear. Image file generation works in a similar manner to printing a document. (Note: The title of this dialog box reflects the type of image--JPEG, BMP, TIFF.) 7. After the pages are generated and written to individual image files, you will see a small dialog box that lets you know that the process has been completed. When you click OK, you will be returned to the Publish Comic Book To dialog box.

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Publishing to HTML
1. If you have changed your comic book and not saved it recently, Comic Book Creator 2.0 will prompt you to save your comic book before using the Publish feature. If you click Save, your work will be saved and you will then see the Publish Comic Book To dialog box. If you click Cancel, you will return to the Comic Book Creator 2.0 main screen. 2. From the File menu, click Publish. Click the HTML option on the left side. The Publish Comic Book To dialog box appears. This feature will take an HTML (text) file and process it so that it has the proper links to the JPEG image files that represent the separate pages of the comic book. 3. In the Save Page HTML Files to Folder box, enter or browse to a folder that will be the destination for your JPEG images and HTML file. If you have previously saved the comic book as an HTML file and images, then you may want to check Overwrite Existing HTML Files. If you click the browse button, you will see the browse dialog box. From the standard browse dialog box, you can select the directory and file that you wish to create. 4. The HTML Template box under Save Page HTML Files to Folder is used to select which HTML template you are going to use. The system looks in the HTML directory specified in View, Options, Folders. The HTML Templates Folder contains at least one entry entitled Default Template." This template renders images, one after another, horizontally, in a web browser. 5. The JPEG Quality slider appears when you select HTML. It is used to control image quality. This is done by setting the amount of compression in the image. The higher the quality (towards 100) the less compression. The lower the quality (toward 0), the more compression, and the smaller the image file. 6. Publish with Flash Page Flipper. If you check the Publish with Flash Page Flipper check box, Comic Book Creator 2.0 will publish a more complicated HTML page directory. It will be an HTML page that references a Flash SWF object that is included in the base HTML directory. This Flash object will then take the page images (JPEGs) and publish them as a Flash flip book. The entire directory must be moved to a web server in order for the page flipper to work. 7. Create ZIP Archive. This feature takes the HTML file and JPEG images and compresses them into a ZIP archive. You can then click on the Options button to bring up the individual features. If you check the E-mail ZIP File box, the ZIP file generated will be attached to an e-mail. 8. When you press the Publish button, HTML generation begins. You will see a printer status dialog box. 9. The pages are generated and written to individual image files that are contained in their own directory. The HTML file is then written. It references the image files in the directory. You will then see a small dialog box that lets you know that the process has been completed. When you click the OK button, you will be returned to the Publish Comic Book To dialog box.

Publishing to Flip Book


1. To publish a comic book to flip book, follow the directions for Publishing to HTML and make sure you check the Publish with Flash Page Flipper box. Your comic book will be published in HTML. 2. To play your Flash flip book on your PC, go to File, Open, select Files of Type "All Files (*.*)," click Open, and open the file named "PageFlip.htm."

Publishing to HyperComics
To publish a comic book to the HyperComics website, click File, Publish to HyperComics. The Logon to HyperComics screen will appear. If you are not registered at HyperComics, click on the click here hyperlink above the Logon Name text box to register at HyperComics so that you can publish directly to that website. If you are already registered on that site, enter your Logon Name and password, and click OK. 43

Options and Settings


Options Dialog Box
The Options dialog box contains preferences and settings for Comic Book Creator 2.0. The settings provide the defaults and directory locations of various elements used throughout the software. There are four classifications of settings in the Options dialog box--General Options, Fonts Options, Folders Options, and Startup Options.

General Options
General Options includes settings for Autosave, Image Browser, Printing, and Enable Error Logging.

Autosave
Autosave is a feature that saves your comic book automatically at defined intervals. Autosave Comic Book Every X Minutes. This setting allows you to define, in minutes, how often you want the program to autosave. Autosave To. This defines how the autosave will work. There are three settings: 1. Single temporary file. A temporary file is created and stored in the same directory where you saved your comic book. This file is overwritten every time an autosave occurs. The temp file will be deleted when Comic Book Creator 2.0 is exited properly. If an error occurs, you can reclaim your work by renaming the temp file and opening it in Comic Book Creator 2.0. If you had not saved your comic book, it will be in the My Documents\My Comic Book directory. The temp file will have your comic book's name in curly brackets (i.e. {MyComicBookName} or {Unnamed}.) 2. Incremental temporary files. This autosave option is similar to the single temporary file except that a new temporary file is created each time autosave runs. So if autosave runs four times, there will be four temporary files. This gives you a running history of your work. These files will be removed when the program is exited properly. The incremental temp files are named in the same way as the single temporary file (as described above) except that they have a timestamp. Example: {MyComicBook.613817375}.cbcx {MyComicBook.613877468}.cbcx {MyComicBook.613937561}.cbcx {MyComicBook.613997654}.cbcx If you have not yet saved a new comic book to a file, the string "Unnamed" is used in place of a file name: {Unnamed.613817375}.cbcx {Unnamed.613877468}.cbcx {Unnamed.613937561}.cbcx {Unnamed.613997654}.cbcx 3. Comic Book Save File. This saves your work to the comic book file that you named during your initial Save. No temporary files are created. (Note: An autosave operation is only performed if the comic book contains changes not yet manually saved by the user. Once the user has saved the comic book, the autosave operation is suspended until the user makes another change to the comic book.)

Image Browser
Image Browser settings refer to the number of thumbnails that appear in the Resource Browser. Here, you can select the maximum number of screenshots, pieces of clip art, and My 44

Pictures that will be displayed at one time in the Resource Browser. The default is 25 thumbnails per page. Maximum Number of Screenshots per Page. This setting determines how many screenshot thumbnails will be shown per page in the Resource Browser. You can see that the page count on the bottom of the Resource Browser illustrated says that we are on page 1 of 9 ("1/9") pages of screenshots. Maximum Number of Clip Art per Page. This setting determines how many clip art thumbnails will be shown per page in the Resource Browser. Maximum Number of My Pictures per Page. This setting determines how many My Pictures thumbnails will be displayed at one time in the Resource Browser.

Printing
Printing. A single check box turns on or off the print footer identification label. This footer reads, "Created with Comic Book Creator 2.0." (Note: When the software is in demo mode, this feature cannot be turned off.)

Error Logging
Error Logging. Check the Enable Error Logging box to enable error logging. (Note: Choosing this option will require you to restart Comic Book Creator 2.0.)

Fonts Options
Adding Fonts
Comic Book Creator 2.0 comes with fonts that are commonly used in commercial comic books. You can also add Microsoft Windows fonts to Comic Book Creator 2.0s font menu. If you selected the Custom option when you installed Comic Book Creator, there are extra comic book fonts loaded onto your Windows system that you can select from and add to Comic Book Creator 2.0. 1. Select Options from the View menu. 2. Click Fonts. The Fonts pane appears. 3. From the Installed Windows Fonts pane, click the font(s) that you want to add to the Fonts for Comic Book menu. To select a range of fonts, click one font, then hold down the SHIFT key while you select the other font(s). To select multiple nonadjacent fonts, click one font style, then hold down the CTRL key while you select the other font(s). You can also see a preview of the font in the Fonts box at the top of the font selection dialog box. 4. Click Add. The selected fonts are moved from the Installed Windows Fonts to the Fonts for Comic Books pane. 5. Click OK. The Fonts for Comic Books pane closes and the Editing Window appears in the foreground. The Windows fonts you selected are added to the Font Style box.

Removing Fonts from Comic Book Creator 2.0


If you have several fonts on your Font Style menu, you might want to remove the ones that you 45

do not use. The following procedure describes how to remove fonts from Comic Book Creator 2.0. Note that if you remove a font, you can easily add it back whenever you want to. 1. Select View, Options. 2. Click Fonts. The Fonts pane appears in the right of the Options, Fonts dialog box. 3. From the Fonts for Comic Books pane, click the font(s) that you want to remove from the font menu. To select a range of fonts, click one font, then hold down the SHIFT key while you select the other font(s). To select multiple nonadjacent fonts, click one font, then hold down the CTRL key while you select the other font(s). 4. Click Remove. The selected fonts are removed from the Fonts for Comic Books pane and then added to the Installed Windows Fonts pane. If you removed a font and you want to add it back, see "Adding Fonts to Comic Book Creator 2.0."

Folders Options
Default Folder Pathnames
Folders Options is where you will find the default names and pathnames for each folder: Comic Book Folder. This is where your comic book (CBCX files) are saved. Typically, this will be set to the My Documents\My Comic Books directory. This is consistent with Microsofts preference for storing documents. If you click the browse button at the end of a text box, you can browse to or type in a new directory. Page Templates Folder. The top level templates directory goes here. The templates are normally stored in Program Files\Planetwide Games\Comic Book Creator 2.0\Templates. Content Pack. This is the group of folder paths and commands associated with the maintenance of a content pack. The first control in this group is a drop-down box that contains a list of available content packs. This list is generated from the CBCI files contained in the root Comic Book Creator 2.0 application directory. If you select a content pack on the list, you will see the path names of its component files appear below, in the dialog box. Defaults Button. Clicking this button resets a content pack to its original directories. If you have modified a content pack through the Screenshots Folder or Clip Art Folder browser selections, clicking the Defaults button will reset the paths to point to their original source material. Save As Button. This button allows you to take the current folder settings (as listed below) and write them to a new CBCI file. This creates a new content pack which will appear in the content pack list with its new name.

First Screen Folders


When you first open Options, Folders, the Options dialog box appears with the Screenshots, Clip art, Captions, Balloons, and HTML Template Folder pathnames appear in the lower half of this dialog box. Screenshots Folder. This is the directory that contains your images and screenshots. The default directory for screenshots is typically Program Files\Planetwide Games\Comic Book Creator 2.0\Content Pack\XXXX\Screenshots with a subdirectory based on the content pack. Clip Art Folder. This is the directory that contains your clip art images. The default directory for clip art is typically Program Files\Planetwide Games\Comic Book Creator 2.0\Content Pack\XXXX\Clip art. If you have other clip art directories, then you would want to set the directory to point to that location instead of the default. Captions Folder. This is the directory that contains caption image files. The default 46

directory for captions is typically Program Files\Planetwide Games\Comic Book Creator 2.0\Content Pack\XXXX\Captions. Balloons Folder. This is the directory that contains your bitmap balloon images. The default directory for balloons is typically Program Files\Planetwide Games\Comic Book Creator 2.0\Content Pack\XXXX\Balloons. HTML Template Folder. This is the directory that contains HTML files that can be used as templates. The default directory for HTML files is typically Program Files\Planetwide Games\Comic Book Creator 2.0\Content Pack\Basic\HTML Templates.

Second Screen Folders


To reach the second screen of content folders, click the ">" button on the right side of the dialog box, and a new Options screen containing Videos, Sounds, Animations, and My Pictures pathnames will appear. Videos Folder. This is the directory that contains videos. The default directory for videos is typically Program Files\Planetwide Games\Comic Book Creator 2.0\Content Pack\XXXX\Videos. If you have another directory containing videos, then you would want to set the directory to point to that location instead of the default. Sounds Folder. This is the directory that contains audio files. The default directory for sounds is typically Program Files\Planetwide Games\Comic Book Creator 2.0\Content Pack\XXXX\Sounds. If you have other audio directories, then you would want to set the directory to point to that location instead of the default. (Note: Sounds are not available on selected licensed versions of the software, but can still be recorded by the user and included in a comic book.) Animations Folder. This is the directory that contains animated GIFs. The default directory for animations is typically Program Files\Planetwide Games\Comic Book Creator 2.0\Content Pack\XXXX\Animations. If you have another directory containing animated GIFs, then you would want to set the directory to point to that location instead of the default. (Note: animations are not available on selected licensed versions of the software.) My Pictures Folder. This is the standard My Pictures Windows directory that you can use to import your own digital images into your comic book. (Note: At this time, destination directories for some types of content, such as balloons and captions, cannot be changed. They may be modifiable in the future.)

Startup Options
Startup settings determine the behavior of Comic Book Creator 2.0 when it first launches. Display on Startup determines whether the New Comic Book Wizard or the last working comic book opens. Check for Program Update on Startup determines whether the software checks for available updates each time it starts up.

Display on Startup
New/Open Comic Book Wizard This option brings up the New Comic Book Wizard when the program first launches. This option loads the last comic book you worked on when the program launches. This option brings up a blank Editing Window when the program launches, and lets the user choose the course of action from the File menu. 47

Last Opened Comic Book

Nothing

Check for Program Updates at Startup


If this item is checked, Comic Book Creator 2.0 will check for program updates and patches at startup. If updates or patches are available, a dialog box will appear describing them.

Graphical User Interface Language


Comic Book Creator 2.0 supports multiple languages in the user interface. To choose another language, select it from the Graphical User Interface Language drop-down box. Languages currently available are English, French, and Spanish.

Other Settings and Menus


Use these commands and shortcuts to help you create your comic book:

File Menu
The File menu lists most of the major program functions. This includes the commands to create a New comic book or Open a previously saved one. Each command is described below: New. Create a new comic book. Open. Open a previously-saved comic book. Recent Books. See a list of previously-saved comic books that you can click to open. Close. Close the current comic book. Save. Save the current comic book. Save As. Save the current comic book with a new name and/or pathname. Add Page. Add a new page to your comic book. The new page dialog box will appear and you will be asked to choose a template, and where to add the new page. Remove Page. Delete the currently-active page. Move Page. Move the current page. Save Pages. Save page(s) of your comic book separately. Insert Book. Insert another comic book into your comic book. This tool is useful when you are creating your comic book in sections, or working with remote authors. Print. Print out the page or comic book. Publish. Publish your comic book. Images/Screenshots Folder. Set the Images/Screenshots Folder for the Resource Browser. Clip Art Folder. Set the Clip Art Folder for the Resource Browser. Properties. Set comic book properties, including title, author, subject, keywords, and comments. The information in the properties page is saved with the comic book and can be used for information and identification. (Note: The Created and Modified fields are set by Comic Book Creator 2.0 and are not modifiable.) Exit. Exit Comic Book Creator 2.0.

Edit Menu
The Edit menu contains common editing functions: Undo. Undo an action in Comic Book Creator 2.0. Redo. Redo an action in Comic Book Creator 2.0. Cut. Cut objects including text blocks, word balloons, caption boxes, and clip art. Copy. Copy objects including text blocks, word balloons, caption boxes, and clip art. Paste. Paste objects including text blocks, word balloons, caption boxes, and clip art. Delete. Delete objects. 48

Remove Mask. Remove any mask that has been created from clip art. Select Content Pack. Change the current content pack by selecting another one from a list.

View Menu
The View menu has three functional sections: 1. The first section sets the display for the Resource Browser. It includes selections for Images/Screenshots, Balloons, Caption Boxes, Clip Art, Text, Video, Audio, and Animations. Click any of these items to populate the Resource Browser with thumbnails of available content. 2. The second section contains the Refresh button which is used to redraw the comic book in case a drawing problem occurs. 3. The last section contains Folders and Options selections.

Animation Menu
The Animation menu allows the user to play or stop any animated GIF on the page. Click on the name of a specific animation at the bottom of the Animation menu to stop a specific animation from playing.

Help Menu
The Help menu provides access to information about Comic Book Creator 2.0. In addition to providing information, you will also find a place to check for and install program updates and patches. Each item in the menu is described below: Help Topics Comic Book Creator 2.0 Help is located here. Clicking Help opens a standard Microsoft Windows help file for Comic Book Creator 2.0. FAQ Clicking FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) opens the Comic Book Creator 2.0 FAQ in a browser. The contents of the FAQ are also contained in an HTM file in the main program directory. Reference Manual Clicking Reference Manual opens the product reference manual, user guide, or help manual in a PDF reader. The Reference Manual is also located in the main program directory. Release Notes Clicking Release Notes opens the Comic Book Creator 2.0 README file in a browser. It contains the latest information about the product release installed on your system. This file is also located in the main program directory as an HTM file. Sample Comic Book If you click Sample Comic Book, a sample comic book in PDF format will appear in a PDF 49

reader. Comic Book Creator 2.0 Online This will launch your default web browser and bring up the home page for Comic Book Creator 2.0 Online. Video Tutorials Clicking Video Tutorials will launch your default web browser and bring up a list of video tutorials for Comic Book Creator 2.0. Contact Us Clicking Contact Us will launch your default web browser and bring up a web page where you can create send an e-mail to Planetwide Media. Content Packs Manager This will launch the Content Packs Manager, which tells you which content packs are installed and whether or not they are activated. Some content packs require activation, as for Comic Book Creator 2.0. When the Content Pack Manager window opens, you can select a content pack, and click the Activate Content Pack button to activate a specific content pack. Check for Updates This launches a program that checks to see whether Comic Book Creator 2.0 is current or there are updates or patches available. If an update or patch is available, the program will offer to download and install it for you. You may need to close Comic Book Creator 2.0 for some updates and patches to install properly. About Comic Book Creator 2.0 Click on About Comic Book Creator 2.0 for basic information about your software version, build, or to buy Comic Book Creator 2.0, activate your software, check for updates, or continue in demo mode. If your software is operating in demo mode, four buttons will be displayed at the bottom of the About Comic Book Creator 2.0 dialog box, with options to Buy Now!, Activate Product, Check for Updates, or Continue in demo mode. Each button is explained in detail below: Buy Now! Press this key to buy Comic Book Creator 2.0 online. Activate Product. Pressing this button starts the process of activating your software, which is necessary for it to function with all of its features and content. See "Activation and Demo Mode" for more details. Check for Updates. Clicking this button launches an update program that queries the support server to find out whether there are any software updates or patches available. A dialog box will appear telling you whether or not there are updates or patches available and to ask whether you would like to update your software. Continue. Press Continue to proceed in demo mode. The About Comic Book Creator 2.0 box will then close, and the software will continue in demo mode, with limited features and functions.

If Comic Book Creator 2.0 is registered and activated, this dialog box says, "This Product is Registered." 50

Uninstalling Comic Book Creator 2.0


To remove Comic Book Creator 2.0 from your PC, use the Windows Remove Programs tool or the Uninstall Comic Book Creator 2.0 shortcut from the Start menu. To use the Windows Remove Programs tool: 1. Close all applications and files. 2. Click Start on the task menu, and then select Control Panel. The Control Panel appears. 3. Double-click Add or Remove Programs. The Add or Remove Programs window appears. 4. Click Comic Book Creator 2.0. A Change/Remove button appears for the selected application. 5. Click Remove. A dialog box appears, prompting you to verify that you want to remove Comic Book Creator 2.0 from your PC. 6. Click Yes to continue the uninstall process. While Windows removes Comic Book Creator 2.0, the Windows Configuration dialog box displays a progress bar indicating how much of the uninstall is complete. 7. Repeat the process to uninstall each content pack. To use the Uninstall Comic Book Creator 2.0 shortcut from the Start menu, click Start, All Programs, Comic Book Creator 2.0, Uninstall Comic Book Creator 2.0. Repeat the process to uninstall each content pack. Delete the shortcuts manually from your desktop as well as from C:\Documents and Settings\*username*\Start Menu\Programs\.

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Appendix A--Publish to HTML


Publish to HTML Flow
The Publish to HTML feature of Comic Book Creator 2.0 reads in an HTML file and replaces specific tags with information from your comic book. This gives you a customized HTML file for the comic book that you are working on. To publish to HTML, Comic Book Creator 2.0 follows these steps:

The most interesting part of the Publish to HTML feature is the HTML template file. This is a normal HTML-formatted file except for the inclusion of some special comic book tags. These tags make all the difference in the world. The HTML template files are found in a directory that is determined by the path set in the View, Options, Folders dialog box. 52

The HTML Template Folder box will show you the names of the HTML template files located in that directory. (Note: The default HTML template will always appear in the list even if there are no other HTML files in the directory.)

Comic Book HTML Tags


Comic Book Creator 2.0 uses Static Tags and Region Tags. For detailed information, see "Static Tags" and "Region Tags."

Static Tags
These tags represent data contained in the comic book. This is typically string (character) information that can be replaced easily. The tags are: Summary Information: This information is gathered from the summary data found in File, Properties. {TITLE}. Title information. {AUTHOR}. Author information. {SUBJECT}. Subject field. {KEYWORDS}. Keywords that help identify the comic book. {COMMENTS}. Comments field. {CREATIONDATE}. The date the comic book was created. {MODIFIEDDATE}. The date the comic book was last modified. Comic Book Information: {COMICFILENAME}. The name of the comic book file, which also serves as the prefix of the image file names generated for each page of the book. {NUMBEROFPAGES}. Total number of pages.

Region Tags
These tags represent a region or area of the HTML file that is duplicated. It is used to represent the different pages in your comic book. Since the HTML file does not know the size of your comic book, the region tags help duplicate HTML code for n number of pages. {STARTDUPREGION}. The start of a duplicated region of HTML code. This code can be used only once in a file. {ENDDUPREGION}. The end of a duplicated region of code. This code can only used once in a file. {PAGEn}. Represents a comic book bitmap file at page n where n is a number from 1 to {NUMBEROFPAGES}. (Example: {PAGE3} or {PAGE10}.) {PAGENEXT}. Get the next page of a comic book image file. 53

The following is an example of HTML template code: <HTML> <BODY> <TABLE><TR> {STARTDUPREGION} <TD><DIV>{PAGENEXT}</DIV></TD> {ENDDUPREGION} </TR></TABLE> </BODY> </HTML> The following is an example of output from the Default HTML Template: <HTML> <HEAD> <TITLE>MyComicBook</TITLE> </HEAD> <BODY> <H1>MyComicBook</H1> <TABLE> <TR> <TD><DIV> <IMG SRC='.\Images\aaaaa-001.jpg'> </DIV></TD> <TD><DIV> <IMG SRC='.\Images\aaaaa-002.jpg'> </DIV></TD> <TD><DIV> <IMG SRC='.\Images\aaaaa-003.jpg'> </DIV></TD> <TD><DIV> <IMG SRC='.\Images\aaaaa-004.jpg'> </DIV></TD> </TR> </TABLE> </BODY> </HTML>

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Glossary
Drop Shadow By default, Comic Book Creator 2.0 places a shadow image called a drop shadow to the lower right of action words. A term used for commercial comic books, the inker is the artist who applies ink to the penciller's drawings, making them ready to be photographed and printed. A term used for commercial comic books, the letterer positions and draws the word balloons and usually draws display lettering (such as logos and sound effects words) as well as transferring dialogue into speech balloons and caption boxes. An individual framed illustration of a comic book page. A comic book story is told in a sequence of panels. PDF is an acronym for Portable Document Format, a document format developed by Adobe Systems Incorporated. It is a file format that preserves the fonts, formatting, colors, and graphics of any source document, regardless of the application and platform used to create it. PDF Files are a de facto standard for distributing formatted documents over the Internet. PDF files are compact and can be viewed, navigated, printed, and shared using Adobe Reader software. Word balloons with jagged outlines often used for action words. A full-page panel, usually but not always the first page. This panel contains the title, credits, and a large introductory illustration intended to entice the reader to read the comic book. Pointer leading from balloon to speaker. The area in which a comics character's dialogue appears, usually with a tail pointing to the speaker.

Inker

Letterer

Panel

PDF

Splash Balloon Splash Page

Tail Word Balloon

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Credits
Software development by Ralph Seibert, Ron Sharp, James Murray, Hsiang Wong, Colin Fahey, Jason Gordon, Quan Nguyen, Scott Inglis, Kevin Downey, Cameron Austin, and Brian Turner. Graphics, artwork, and project support from Andre Costa de Sousa, Eydie Pinney, Scot Trodick, Damien Evans, Bill Vallely, Kenneth Chia, Courtney Weldy, Jessica Ruiz, and Karen Stoller. Additional support from John Lewis, Dan DeCollibus, Rhett Florian, James Mellili, Mark Politi, Jonathan Moore, Ray Russomanno, Stacy Casper, Polly Hoskins, Jeffrey Dickson, Kevin Donovan, Tom Schiff, and Marvin Winkler. All of us at Planetwide Media thank you for buying Comic Book Creator 2.0!

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