Workfow and app usage for comics

[cluelessn00b]

Hi all, 

I'm looking to create a comic book and have been having a hard time getting good examples of how digital artists setup their workflow, especially using Affinity products. I have the full Affinity Suite v2, and am wondering if anyone has examples of how to set oneself up.

For example, using artboards on Designer as if they are pages, placing panels in each artboard and drawing. And then placing each artboard image in pages in Publisher to create a book. Would that be a good way to do it? Do folks have other suggestions/examples?

I'm not looking for tutorials on how to draw cartoons or comics, but more how I would set up the process to produce effectively and efficiently.

Thank you

cn

[Old Bruce]

2 minutes ago, cluelessn00b said:

For example, using artboards on Designer as if they are pages, placing panels in each artboard and drawing. And then placing those in pages in Publisher to create a book. Would that be a good way to do it? Do folks have other suggestions/examples?

Or using Pages and Spreads in Publisher instead of using Artboards in Designer and doing all the drawing work in Publisher's Designer persona.

[cluelessn00b]

@Old Bruce Thank you, that's a great idea and simplifies it significantly! I intend to draw on the iPad. Does the Affinity Publisher on iPad Pro support the designer personas? (I remember seeing it on the Desktop though I've never used it).

[Old Bruce]

4 minutes ago, cluelessn00b said:

@Old Bruce Thank you, that's a great idea and simplifies it significantly! I intend to draw on the iPad. Does the Affinity Publisher on iPad Pro support the designer personas? (I remember seeing it on the Desktop though I've never used it).

I honestly don't know if Publisher on iPad has the personas. You can always just open the Publisher file in Designer and choose which page/spread to work on. The three applications can open each other's files, there are no differences between .afdesign, .afphoto, and .afpub files.

[cluelessn00b]

13 minutes ago, Old Bruce said:

I honestly don't know if Publisher on iPad has the personas. You can always just open the Publisher file in Designer and choose which page/spread to work on. The three applications can open each other's files, there are no differences between .afdesign, .afphoto, and .afpub files.

 

That's great to know. I'll give that workflow a shot. Thank you.

[StuartRc]

Hi, Interesting question!

Works very well if you set up a structured workflow

From a personal perspective I would rely heavily on templates and integrate a workflow that encompasses the whole Affinity Suite. Using just Publisher (because it's publisher- Pages + documents!) would be a mistake as you are restricting the application of some extremely useful features that are not directly available. 

This is particularly true when you consider the upcoming new features added to Designer 2.04 | 2.1 (Vector Warp | Vector Fill | Brush Panel Enhancements | Knife Tool | Bitmap Fill new options and Style picker etc....) Affinity Apps work very well and closely together.. they were designed this way!

Considerations
1. Consider using templates at a Page; Panel and tier level. Also create a valid asset structure that is available to all the apps
2. Decide what tools are needed to speed up workflow: Pre-define brush categories | Typefaces | Styles | Palettes (Re-usable)
3. More complex bit -setting up different page sizes U.S and UK Comic templates are different standards!)
4. Create assets for Panels Tiers and Pages
5. Define you pages that can be 'pulled as templates from Affinity Designer into Publisher. (When A comic gets larger ..much easier to work on the master document)
6. It is not just a matter of building a page template with spreads and pages.. need to decide how your panels + Tiers are going to fit the pages (templates inside templates)
7. Flexibility: the more variation you can add to assets and templates the better
8. Make use of the most valuable tools. Clip Paint has a lot of integrated features to speed up workflow. Some are available in Affinity but a. Not called same feature and b. work slightly different and simpler in some ways (a considerable advantage)
9. May need to make a series of structural templates to help you (Sketching | inking | Pencil work) rather than try and create everything by drawing inside spreads of publisher

[cluelessn00b]

@StuartRc Great suggestions and insights. Based on these posts, it looks like I should pay special attention to how I could the different apps efficiently, given how integrated they are. It's been a while since I've explored all the features, so I intend to do that with an eye on how those would work for my setup. If I eventually find a good method, I'll come back and post about it (will be a couple of months maybe... I'm just getting started.)

Super appreciative of how responsive this forum is! 

[StuartRc]

No Problem...have a look at this it might give you some ideas!

[cluelessn00b]

2 minutes ago, StuartRc said:

No Problem...have a look at this it might give you some ideas!

 

Wow, you're talented  I'll go through it all.

[StuartRc]

There are a few videos but limited to particular techniques
1. Comic & cartoon illustration using vector tools with Robert Hansford

2. Affinity Photo Comic Book Effect Micheal Wilson

3.Create simple comic page | affinity designer Jago vector

4. Making Comics with Affinity Designer: Pt.1 Reusable Panels Labsquad Media 

5. Vintage Style Comic Page in Affinity Photo Frankentoon

6. Propaganda Kit Frankentoon

7. Iannocent Channel

8. Creating a detailed illustration in Affinity Designer with RSKT

9. Squishy Christi du Toit

10. Clamnuts Bob Byrne