Compatible with Clip Studio Paint Ver.3.1.0

 

This tutorial explains how to make your first printable monochrome comic in Clip Studio Paint.

Using the comic below as an example, I will show you how to operate Clip Studio Paint while explaining the procedure of creating a 4-frame comic strip.

 

 

 

This tutorial covers the following steps of comic creation.

For the Clip Studio Paint basic user guide, please see this tutorial:

 

[1] Creating a canvas

After starting up Clip Studio Paint, create a canvas for drawing.

 

 

 

1. Creating a new canvas

 

(1) Click [New] at the upper left command bar.

For the smartphone version, tap [New] on the [Manage Works] screen.

 

(2) We’re going to create a black and white comic for print. Select [Comic] from the [Use of work] dialog box, and from the preset settings, select [A4 Monochrome (600dpi)].

Deaktivate the [Multiple pages] checkbox for this project.

 

Note:

Please read the following TIPS to learn more about creating and setting up a canvas.

 

(3) Click [OK] to create an A4 canvas for print.

 

Note:

To learn more about each palette on the screen, refer to the following TIPS.

 

 

 

2. Set the unit for print

Clip Studio Paint’s default unit of length is set to [px].

When creating something intended for print, if you change the unit’s setting to [mm], the digital line thickness will match actual pen thickness when printed.

 

1. Select [Preferences] from the [File] menu ([Clip Studio Paint] menu on Mac/tablet versions).

Note: On smartphones, select [Menu] > [App Settings] > [Preferences].

 

(2) From [Preferences], click on the [Ruler/Unit] dialog box.

 

(3) Set [Unit of length] to [mm] and click [OK].

 

(4) This changes the [Unit of length]. Brush size, frame thickness, etc. will now all be displayed in [mm], which is suited for print.

 

[2] Frame Border

Using a [Framing template], you can create frame borders on the canvas.

 

This time I’ll use the [Framing template] from Clip Studio Assets.

You can download everything used in this tutorial from the following page:

 

Note: For details on make your own frame borders, please see the following TIPS.

 

 

 

1. Download the [Framing template] Materials

 

(1) Access the [Framing template] details page.

 

(2) Log in with your Clip Studio account. If you do not have a Clip Studio account, select the [Register account] button to register an account.

 

(3) After logging in, click [Download] and once the download is complete, Clip Studio starts up.

Note: If the message “Open Clip Studio” is displayed, select “Open”.

 

(4) The [Clip Studio Account] dialog box will display and you can log in with the same account.

 

(5) The download will begin.

 

(6) When the download is completed, it will be in the [Download] folder under Clip Studio Paint’s [Material] palette.

 

Note: For more information on Clip Studio Assets, please see the following:

 

 

 

2. Pasting the [Framing template]

 

(1) From the Download folder, select [Framing template] and drag and drop it onto the canvas.

 

Note:

Default framing templates are stored in the [Manga material] -> [Frame template] folder in the [Material] palette.

If you use the default framing template, download isn’t necessary.

 

(2) The [Framing template] was pasted to align with the [Default border].

 

In the [Layer] palette, the number of frames has been added to the [Frame Border folder].

 

Note: How to display the layer palette on a tablet

On tablets, tap the icon on the [Layer] palette to display the palette.

 

Note: Organizing by layer folder

This tutorial covers the following steps of 4-frame comic strip creation.

For the four frames on the left that will go unused, you can close their layer folder by clicking the ▼ button. You can click on the ▶ button in the same place again to open it.

With this, I can better organize the layers irrelevant to the work.

 

Next time, I’ll begin the rough sketch of the comic.