Publishing
The ultimate product of Comic Life is a published comic - the
application lets you publish in a variety of forms which is a major
reason for some of the unusual page formats that are supported. You can
of course print your comic using the standard print dialog - but you
can also export your comic as HTML or a QuickTime movie. This section
explores all these options.
Printing
If you intend to print your comic you will get best results by choosing
a page format that matches your printer. Comic Life comes with a wide
selection of standard page sizes. Once your comic is complete you can
print it simply by choosing File->Print... and clicking "Print".
Note: Don't be alarmed if it seems to take a while to
print Comic Life uses your high-resolution images for best results and
this can slow down the printing process.
If you want a quick proof of your comic make sure the
"Low-Res Proof" option is selected in the Comic Life settings of the
Print sheet. The printer will use the screen resolution images (~ 72
dpi) for faster printing. Note that this setting is remembered while
the application is running so if you need a final proof then you must
uncheck this option.
Export to HTML
Comic Life can turn your comic into a convenient web presentation with
the Export to HTML feature. To access this feature choose
"File->Export to HTML...". On the export sheet enter the name and
location of the folder that will hold the HTML files and images. You
can also choose a theme for the frame that will surround the comic and
the quality of the JPEG images. Click on the "Export" button to create
the HTML files. Once the export is complete you will find a number of
files in the new folder with the name you selected. These are:
- Launcher.html
- A file containing the HTML needed to display the comic its own
window. You will need to copy the link to another webpage in order to
integrate the comic with a website - depending on where you upload the
comic folder you may need to edit the
javascript.location
value:
<a href="javascript:location='MyComic/Comic.html';
window.open('Comic.html',
'MyComic',
'width=XXX,height=YYY,scrollbars=no,
toolbar=no,status=no,resizable=no')
">MyComic</a>
- Comic.html
- The actual comic HTML file - what is loaded into the new window.
- pages.js
- A JavaScript file that lists all the pages as a JavaScript
array and initializes other important variables. This file is used by
the Comic.html file
- images folder
- Contains the images needed to draw the frame around the comic. Used by Comic.html
- pages folder
- Contains the JPEG images of all the pages in the comic named Page_1.jpg, Page_2.jpg etc.
Export to Fixed-resolution PDF file
Comic Life can export your comic as a fixed-resolution PDF file. This differs from the PDF output available from the print dialogue because all images in a fixed resolution PDF file are re-processed to the resolution you set. This feature is useful for reducing the file size of the PDF when sharing a PDF for viewing on the web, or when you need to to share your printable comic over the web or email. Please note: this feature may take some time complete due to the need to reprocess all images.
Export to iPhoto
This feature makes it easy to get your comics into iPhoto, as single images, for easy viewing and management.
Export to QuickTime
Comic Life can turn your comic into a QuickTime movie for use as part
of a multimedia project. The QuickTime movie can be imported into
iMovie or Final Cut Pro/Express for further editing or simply added
directly to an iDVD project.
To export a QuickTime movie choose File->Export to QuickTime...
In the export sheet choose a name and location for the movie as well
the quality of the JPEG images that form the frames of the movie and
the duration that each page will be presented. Click on "Export" when
you are ready start the process.
Email Comic Button
With a single click you can email a multiple page comic, as a series
of JPG files to your friends and family. Choose a subject, and your
mail application of choice, and a new message will be opened for you
with each comic page attached as cross-platform JPG images. You can now
write the body of your email and send to your receipient of choice.
Easy!