Comic strips are a fun and engaging way to tell a story visually. With the rise of webcomics and graphic novels, creating your own comic strip has never been more popular. Luckily, there are some great free online tools that make the process easy – even if you don’t have advanced drawing skills.
In this guide, we’ll walk through a simple way to make a comic strip using two free tools:
- Comicgen – An AI-powered web app that auto-generates comic layouts and characters for you
- Google Slides – A versatile presentation software that provides templates for adding captions, speech bubbles, and other comic elements
Follow these steps to quickly create your own comic strip that you can print or share digitally.
Step 1: Plan Out Your Basic Story
Before diving into the tools, take a minute to think about the key elements of your story:
- Setting – When and where does this take place?
- Characters – Who are the main characters? Heroes? Villains?
- Plot – What happens over the course of the story? How does it begin and end?
- Conflict – What problem does your hero face? What stands in their way?
Jot down some quick notes to guide you as you start building scenes.
Step 2: Generate Comic Layouts and Characters with Comicgen
Head to Comicgen.com and click on “Make Your Own Comic” to begin.
You’ll see a blank comic canvas where you can:
- Add new characters and props from the left sidebar
- Customize poses, facial expressions, and actions
- Create multiple panels and customize the layout
- Re-position characters across panels
- Add speech bubbles and text captions
Play around with different layouts and characters to visualize parts of your story. The simple drag-and-drop interface makes it easy to experiment.
Step 3: Export Comicgen Scenes as Images
Once you have a scene you like, export it by clicking the camera icon at the top right of the canvas. This will download the scene as a PNG image file.
Repeat this for additional key story moments and comic scenes you want to include.
Step 4: Import Images into Google Slides
Open a new Google Slides presentation and create a blank slide. Click “Insert > Image” from the top menu to upload your Comicgen images.
Resize and position the comic images on each slide as needed.
Step 5: Add Speech Bubbles, Captions, and Text with Google Slides
Now use Google Slides tools to add:
- Speech bubbles – Insert a text box with oval shape and pointed tip to create a speech bubble tail. Position next to characters.
- Captions – Insert text boxes at the bottom of comic panels for narration and commentary. Format with background color.
- Text – Add any other text elements needed to supplement the visuals.
Customize font, color, and position as desired.
Step 6: Share and Print Your Comic Strip
When finished, you have a few options for sharing your new comic strip creation:
- Print – Print directly from Google Slides for a quick physical copy
- Export as PDF – Save as a PDF to preserve original formatting
- Share link – Copy shareable link to let others view in Slides online
- Embed – Embed comic strip slideshow on blogs or websites
And just like that, you’ve made an entire comic strip without needing to draw anything!
The combination of Comicgen’s AI-generated art plus Google Slides versatility for adding text makes comic creation accessible for anyone.
Tips for Enhancing Your Comic Strips
Here are some additional tips for taking your auto-generated comics to the next level:
- Show don’t tell – Rely more on visuals than text to tell the story when possible
- Vary angles – Rotate or zoom character positions to add visual interest
- Use color – Try different palettes to set tone or mood of scenes
- Add movement – Show action lines, motion streaks to depict movement
- Include sound effects – Use onomatopoeias like “Boom!” and “Pow!” for impact
With practice, you can create very expressive comic strips to bring your stories to life. And the best part is having fun along the way!
So grab a friend, brainstorm some ideas, and try making your own comics with Comicgen and Google Slides today.
