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Tanako
Jan '20

So i am working on a new comic and I can't decide if i should hand draw the text bubble or use a vector tool as i have always been. I was told by someone that hand-drawn looks more fluid with the comic compared to when it's drawn with a tool. So what do you guys think? which would you like to see when reading a comic?
It's easier when you use a tool to draw the round shape compared to drawing it by hand and this is the reason why I've always done it this way. but regardless, i'd like to know which one majority of people like.

  • Hand-drawn word bubbles
  • Vector drawn
  • Does not matter

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    Jan '20

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    Jan '20
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darthmongoose
Jan '20

I always think it depends on the comic, personally. More sketchy styles with looser inking are more likely to look good with hand drawn, at least in my opinion. Vector is a solid, safe bet and easier to edit, but some people do really good hand-drawn bubbles that absolutely work with their art.
Ultimately I'd rather see characterful hand drawn bubbles that match the inking on the art than crappy default oval tool ones with soulless straight tails and the wrong line thickness, but I'd conversely rather see nice neat, clean vector bubbles than messy hand drawn ones that don't leave enough breathing space or stand out enough. In other words, do what you can make look good.

KelheorRegular
Jan '20

I draw them by hand, it feels more... natural :slight_smile: but it also kinda depends on the comic.

jcmraz
Jan '20

As long as it fits or matches the comic style it doesn't matter. Hell even if it doesn't as long as they're placed well, out of the way and follow the correct page eye path it's fine

Shanny8
Jan '20

Truthfully I cannot draw a hand made balloon to save my life, so I'll go with vector drawn- besides, that's all I've been using for years; I can usually manipulate those enough that they look decent enough for my work.

TAMAnnoyingThe Cow
Jan '20

Gonna be honest as a reader- how you make your word bubbles matters very little to me in comparison to your actual text- if it’s all typed I have no problem, but if your hand writing your text then I’ll drop the comic if it’s too hard to read.

Shanny8
Jan '20

Not so much if the text is hand written(though I wont read it if it's not uniform and too messy), but if you're using stuff like sans serif or serif fonts that dont even fit comics period, I wont even take a look at it. I know sometimes that folks "wanna do stuff different" but that is really an eye-twitching pet peeve of mine. I dont even mind the diff color of word balloons or diff fonts- but make sure the style of fonts being used fit the comic; it's teeth grinding when I look at a page & see Arial or Times New Roman being used in a word balloon- or some font that the creator might have thought was "cool" but it has too many swashes/loops and takes up a lot of space.

IndigoShirtProd
Jan '20

I hand draw mine, mainly because the standard round bubbles would fit my 'geometric' style. Like others have mentioned, it depends on the style of the comic. Though, I do prefer to use an already established font as opposed to handwriting the text in my comic.

Tanako
Jan '20

wow these are very good points listed. I have always used the pre made shapes because it's faster and easier. when you hand draw it, you have to make sure it looks right and usually it will take a couple of tries if it isn't something you are accustomed to. I want to try it. i believe that if you want to learn something repetition is a good way to master it. so i guess i'll give it a try and i think it looks okay with my pages.
as of text, i use comic fonts so i think it should be legible.

rajillustration
Jan '20

Can we get an art sample to see what both would look like with the style of your new comic?

LovelyOtter
Jan '20

I've always preferred hand-drawn, since it gives off a more stylistic look. Vector-drawn bubbles look too perfect, in my opinion.

gabriellabalagna
Jan '20

Either kind looks fine to me. It depends on the style and if you're drawing the panels by hand as well. Personally, I use the ellipse tool to make the ovals for bubbles and then I draw the tails in by hand:

Darth_Biomech
Jan '20

Vector is a nice clean shape that can be procedurally outlined (in PS at least), changed and tweaked however you like at any moment. I guess for some comic styles hand-drawn bubbles work better, but for me it's vector only.

Just remember that an oval is not the only shape in existence.
3

akemikae
Jan '20

I used to draw mine by hand, but then I realized that they looked awful next to my super clean lineart and coloring. So it really depends on the comic and what type of drawing will be with it. I'd say it'd be easier for us as a group to decide with a page of your WIP comic with both, and then we would be able to tell which suits your drawing.

Tanako
Jan '20

I've always used vector because its "Simple", clean and fast. dosen't take time to make and you dont spend too much time trying to get a perfect shape. however, i was thinking of challenging my self. and when i did the hand drawing, it looked good. but then again, i had to do it for many other pages to come so i gave up and that is why in my current comic i use the elliptical tool to draw the word bubbles.
so since a lot of the answer gravitate towards "dosen't matter", i think i will go with the hand drawn just to challenge myself. and, i can only get better at it the more i do it.

Pandastrophic
Jan '20

I love hand-drawing my bubbles, it allows me to be more expressive, like if someone's nervous the bubble would be more wiggly stuff like that.

There is an option in Photoshop (I think I saw it in CPS too) were you can add an outline to your brush strokes and I use that for all my bubbles because it's faster. Its still simple and clean while also having a hand-drawn feel, it looks like this:
Right click on a layer then click "Blending Options"

image.png983x599 106 KB

Right click on a layer then click "Blending Options" you'll get a pop-up which allows you to apply a "style" to that layer.
These are my settings, you can change the thickness of the outline however you like. You can also save these settings perminently in the "Styles" window (the small circle in the screenshot above" so like anytime you need to draw your speech bubbles you just click on that for the outlines!

image.png684x532 18.5 KB

Tanako
Jan '20

Wow this helps alot. Thank you. i will go play around with it. :grin:

JRHoch
Jan '20

It depends on the art. If the art is raw or sketchy then hand drawn is often better. But since most online comics have a very fill-in-color feel, vector usually works better,

Pandastrophic
Jan '20

I've checked how to do that in procreate and i dont think there is a direct option for it, to create outlines you don't just press a button like in photoshop. All the procreate outline tutorials use the layering method, I fee like this technique could be used to make speechbubble outlines, it seems like a lot of steps though.

How To Make Outlines In Procreate - iPad Pro 2018