How To Use An Online Comic Book Maker to Give a Gift
Do you have a family, friend, or loved one's birthday coming up? What about a special occasion or holiday? Do you want to make a comic for your boyfriend, girlfriend, or significant other? You’ve been wracking your brain for something original to get them but can't seem to find the perfect gift.
You want something that will be unique and make them feel special, but everything you look at seems so generic.
Why not give them a custom gift by creating an original comic book?
A custom comic book made just for them is original and probably something they haven’t seen (or received) before, and by using a FREE online comic book maker, you can create your comic with ease without being an artist or a writer!
Check out our comic book gift suggestions below and start creating your gift today!
First, decide what kind of comic you want to give as a gift
You have some options depending on the type of comic you want to create and we’ve outlined three different methods below.
Method 1: Create a comic that retells a true story from your recipient's life
Retelling a special moment is a great way to highlight an exciting event. This type of comic is great if you want to rely on the information you already have instead of writing a story from scratch. Examples could be retelling how you met, your love story, or their favorite vacation..
Method 2: Create a fictional comic that has your recipient as the star
If you want to let your creative juices flow, create a fictional comic that centers around your recipient. This is a great method if you want to create a unique story and make them the star or superhero of the comic.
Method 3: Create a montage of a sentimental event
Make your recipient truly smile by creating a comic that outlines a montage of sentimental events. Highlighting milestones, accomplishments, or important events is a great way to remind your recipient how special they are.
So how do you turn these gift ideas into comics? Check out how to structure them below.
How to structure your comic to retell a true story
If you’re retelling a true story, make sure that your comic includes relevant information specific to your recipient. If you’re focusing on one single event, narrow down the specific information you want to include in the comic. Dates, settings, people, etc.
For example: If you want to create a comic that retells how you first met your recipient, you might want to include the event that led to your meeting, where you met, when it was, what your first impressions were, and then how your friendship progressed.
Think of a comic as showing a snapshot of the scenes you want to portray.
It should unfold like any story with a beginning, middle, and end, so thinking about how you would want to present the story can help you when creating the scenes in each panel.
Once you’ve mapped out the specifics, you can start structuring it into a comic book using an online comic book maker adding text for dialogue and captions. You can retell the story using a narrative approach or add text to include commentary!
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Think about how your recipient talks. Use their voice/tone/slang throughout the comic if you’re adding in dialogue. This will help make your comic more personal and specific to them.
How to structure your comic to tell a fictional tale
First, consider what the plot of your comic is and the story you are trying to tell. If your fictional tale is all about your recipient conquering villains, and saving the day - then you might want to consider adding a bit of background info to their character to set up the scene.
After understanding your plot you might want to consider giving your story one major event to focus on. To do this, think about what the core message is that you want your comic to convey. Is there one value you want to highlight in your recipient’s character? Create a tale that spotlights or depicts that one value through one event.
For example: If your comic is about turning your recipient into a superhero, you might want to create a power that depicts one of their core values. If you want to highlight how brave they are, maybe their super power is that they have no fear and defeat crime by staying true to who they are! Make sure to highlight that quality throughout the comic.
Once you know your plot, section your story into scenes to organize the flow of your comic. Use an online comic book maker to customize your panels and print out templates so that you can write in your descriptions for each panel.
When you have your templates filled out you will be able to work off the mockups to put your comic together. Adding characters, settings, and text to turn your story into a comic!
🔥HOT TIP🔥 Things to consider structuring your story
Characters: Who will be in your story & how you will introduce them.
Setting: If you’re using multiple settings, represent that in the landscape of your panels.
Conclusion: How will your story end? What’s the main thing you want your recipient to take away from it?
How to structure your comic as a montage of sentimental events
Creating a montage is a great way to highlight accomplishments, events, or special moments in their life. So how should you structure it? First, decide on what events you want to add to the montage.
Some to consider are birthdays, graduations, first job, awards, anniversaries, first house, travels, and any that are relevant to your recipient. It can also help to think how far back you want to go. Are you starting at their 1st birthday or their adult life?
Make a list of all the events you want to add to the showcase.
Once you know the number of events your comic will have, you can start thinking about how you want to represent each one. You could have a single picture with a caption or you could have multiple panels with multiple pictures.
There is no wrong or right way to do it. But if you want more space to add text, consider doing one event per page. This will give you more room to add some captions or text depending on how much detail you want to include.
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Another option for a gift idea is using an online comic book maker to create a flipbook with pictures! Add your favorite images and caption them for fun.
Some other things to consider when creating your comic
You can tell your story solely through narration. Just add a text box at the bottom of your layout and write your dialogue there.
Don’t forget to give your comic a cover! Add a headline and customize it to depict what your comic is all about.
Depending on how you want to give your gift, you can download it and share it via email or print it out and give it as a hard copy.
Custom gifts are great for any occasion!
Make one for a loved one on valentines day and share your love story.
Give one as an anniversary gift to highlight your wedding day.
Create one as a graduation gift with a timeline of accomplishments.
Online Comic Book Makers for the Win
Most online comic book makers are free to use and give you access to a variety of pre-drawn characters, features, settings, and objects! This means you don’t have to be a skilled artist to create your comic. Take advantage of the free elements to make your comic unique to you and your recipient.
Check out Storspread’s software for free, and create your comic book gift today!
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