Panel and Image Layout
The primary layout element in Comic Life is the panel. This can be
thought of as a box into which you can place an image and whatever
other elements such as balloons and captions are needed.
Add a panel
To add a panel simply drag a panel from the panel well on the Libraries
tab. A new panel is added and selected on the page.
Repositioning a panel
To move a panel simply select it and drag it to the appropriate
location. You can use the Arrange->Align menu to quickly position
the panel relative to the page.
Resizing a panel
Select the panel and drag any of the resize handles to change the size. Holding down the Shift key when resizing constrains the dimensions, preventing accidental warping.
Note if the panel is irregular then the resize
handles actually change the shape of the panel rather than resizing the
panel in a rectangular manner. (See the panel inspector for more
information).
Adding an image to a panel
Once you've positioned and sized your panel you'll want to add an
image. Choose an image in the Browser and drag it on top of your panel.
Release the mouse button to add the image to the panel. If the panel was empty to start with then the image is
scaled to best fill the panel and selected allowing you to adjust its
position with the panel. If the panel already contained images than the image is added on top of the existing images. See the Working with
images section for more information.
If you have any other elements in the panel notice
that the image is dropped behind them as images are always made the
background of the panel (unless another image is already the
background).
Adding multiple images to a panel
By default panels only accept one image at a time - a new image dropped on a panel will replace the current image in that panel.
To add a second image to a panel simply hold down the Apple or Cmd key when dropping the image onto the panel and the second image will be added.
The additional image is made smaller than the panel so that you can see it has been added to rather than replacing the original image.
You can move and resize these images within the panel to get the arrangement you need. Use the Bring Forward/Move Backward Arrange menu items to adjust the order in which the images are displayed.
Tip: Dragging images from other applications into Comic Life does not yet support the Apple/Cmd key option.
To get around this simply drop the image on to the page first and then move it onto the panel while holding down the Apple/Cmd key.
Panel Details
The panel details lets you switch between rectangular and polygonal
panels.
Irregular
Panels are typically rectangular in shape but you can create irregular
shaped panels by checking this box. When checked the four corners of
the panel are able to be positioned independently allowing you to
reshape the panel as needed. You can change the number of sides of the
panel from a minimum of 3 (for triangular panels) to a maximum of 8
(for complex polygons).
If you uncheck the box the panel will be converted back to a
rectangle that is sized to the maximum bounds of the irregular panel.
Lock
Prevents the panel from being moved or resized.
Style properties
Use the Style popup menu to pick a different style, or simply
experiment until you create a style you like.
If you have made a variation to the selected style, then a pencil-indicator
appears next to the style name. Your element is now unique!
If you want to share this new style, then create a New style.
New styles can be created
under Style Attributes with the '+ New' button - a sheet appears that
lets you
name the new style. When you click "OK" the new style is created and
the element is set to use the new style. Now you can set other elements
to have the same style.
You can also Update the
current style - be careful! - this will also change the
attributes of every other object (in this style).
The default style cannot be changed, so you will need to create a new
style, which you can then use on other elements.
If you don't like your changes, press the Revert button to go back
to the original style.