Hello! My name is Liz Staley and I’m a long-time user of Clip Studio Paint (I started using the program back when it was known as Manga Studio 4!). I was a beta-tester on the Manga Studio 5 program and for Clip Studio Paint, and I have written three books and several video courses about the program. Many of you probably know my name from those books, in fact. I write weekly posts on Graphixly.com and on CSP Tips, so be sure to come back every week to learn more Clip Studio Tips and Tricks from me!

Though Clip Studio Paint is great for artists of all styles and backgrounds, there are many tools in the program specifically for comic artists.

In this article we will cover the following topics:

File Creation

Frame Border Tools

3D Models

Speech Balloon Tools

Let’s make a comic!

File Creation

Of course making a comic starts with the file creation! Whether you’re making a graphic novel for print or a Webtoon continuous scrolling comic, Clip Studio Paint has presets for just about anything you could need - and you can create custom settings for anything else!

At the top of the New file settings you will find categories for illustrations, Webtoon, comics, fanzine, all comics (print and Webtoon) and animation canvas settings. Clicking on one of these categories will change the available settings and also change the Presets listed in the menu.

Under the “All comics” preset category you will find a lot of different preset sizes for canvases. This includes different paper sizes like A4, B4, etc. There are also standard sizes for Webtoon canvases (a comic that continuously scrolls down, which is a great format for reading on mobile device screens!). You can choose one of these presets to quickly create a file for the comic you’re creating.

Users who have Clip Studio Paint EX can make multiple page files, and honestly they are amazing even when you’re just creating a Webtoon, but are invaluable when making comics for print! In the New file window, check the box next to “Multiple Pages”, then select or enter the number of pages you want to create. In the View box you can have the display set for pages for print or to be continuous for Webtoon format. 

For a detailed breakdown of all the features you need to know to create multi page files for print, check out the following article: https://tips.clip-studio.com/en-us/articles/3458

For the Webtoon specific new file features, this article is vital! https://tips.clip-studio.com/en-us/articles/4161 

For the rest of this example I’ll be using the print pages format just to make things easier on me! 

When creating a new comic file, I love to make my life easier by adding a framing template to each page. Click the checkbox next to Template to turn the option on, then click the box marked “none” to open the framing templates that are saved in the Materials Library. I like to select a 1 Frame template to add to every page - this will make more sense in the next section, but I promise it’s a time saver!

After setting up your multiple page graphic novel or Webtoon file, click on OK to make the file. This may take a few moments depending on the number of pages being created and your hardware. Once the file is created you will see a page management tab with all your canvases displayed as icons. As you draw these thumbnails will display your comic pages, which I love for checking pacing and layout. You can see in the screenshot below that mine all have the 1 frame template on them as well. Continue to the next section to see why I love adding templates to my files!

Frame Border Tools

Comics have frames, of course, and Clip Studio Paint has many different ways to make comic frames. My favorite way to do this is using the Cut Frame tools! In the Frame Border sub tools, select the “Cut frame border” sub tool category. Then select the Cut Frame Folder tool.

Remember how we added that big one frame template to all the pages in the previous section? Now we can take the Cut Frame Folder tool to separate that frame into individual frame folders! Click and drag with the Cut Frame Folder tool across the frame template. Hold down SHIFT on your keyboard to lock the tool to angle increments if you need a precise separation such as perfectly vertical or horizontal. 

Once you’re happy with the placement, release to complete the operation. Now the single One Frame template folder in the Layer palette will become two separate panel folders. You may need to rename these to make them the order you want them to be, by the way! 

The purple area around each frame border is a layer mask, so nothing drawn outside of the boundaries of the frame will show, making this a huge time saver! 

I like to continue this process of cutting the frame folder until I have the number of frames I need. If inset panels are needed I like to use the “Create Frame” tools to put them in. In the Tool Property palette make sure that the “Fill Inside Frame” checkbox is checked to fill the new frame in with a solid color background so that the frame lines behind it are not visible. 

3D Models

Backgrounds are very important in comics to set the scene and make the world of the story feel real. However, sometimes you just need to make a background very quickly because of deadlines, or there’s a recurring object in your story that just takes forever to draw (like a bicycle, car, etc!) and you don’t have time to do it over and over again! Clip Studio Paint’s 3D models really help with these problems and they’re very easy to use!

Open the Materials Library (by default on the right side of the user interface. If you can’t find it, go to “Window - Material - Material: 3D” to open the 3D materials folder) and go to the 3D folder. I’m going to add a background to the first panel in my example comic, so I’m going to click on the Background folder and then the “School Facility” subfolder. 

Choose a 3D model and click to select it, then drag from the Material Library to the canvas. You may need to download the 3D model first if it is not already downloaded. 

Use the 3D controls to rotate, zoom, and pan the 3D model into the position you want it to be in. 

You can also add character models and small objects to make the scene more realistic and interesting to look at. Clip Studio Paint includes several character models and small objects such as umbrellas, laptops, cell phones, and more. You can also find many more 3D models for free or paid in the Clip Studio Assets library!

This looks fine as is for a color comic, but what if you’re creating a black and white comic or you want to color the background yourself? Click on Layer - Convert to lines and tones…

In this window you can change the 3D models to lines and tones, just lines, or just tones. Click on the Preview checkbox to see what the results will look like if it’s not showing already. 

In this window you can change the 3D models to lines and tones, just lines, or just tones. Click on the Preview checkbox to see what the results will look like if it’s not showing already. 

https://tips.clip-studio.com/en-us/articles/8594 

Speech Balloon Tools

Another thing that is pretty unique to comics are speech balloons. These show what character is speaking or thinking, and can also convey mood or draw attention to a specific part of a drawing. 

To learn about how to create custom text subtools for your comic projects, check out this article! https://tips.clip-studio.com/en-us/articles/4789 

After adding text to your comic, you can easily add speech balloons in several ways. For standard circular or oval speech balloons I like the Balloon subtool. Simply set your outline width and draw around your text to link a speech balloon to that text block. 

Speech balloons are vectors, so they can be resized and repositioned after creation without losing sharpness. They also link to the text that they are drawn around, so moving the balloon will also move the text with it.

Since speech balloons are made of vector points they can be edited using the Control Point tool or the Object tool to create custom shapes. 

For more specialty shapes of speech balloons, check out the Materials Library! Under the Manga Material - Balloon subfolder you will find several preset balloons of different types that are great if you don’t want to spend time creating custom ones. I love these spiky shouting balloons!

Click and drag the Balloon Material on to the text block to link it, then you can resize, rotate, and edit the balloon as needed. 

For a more detailed look at creating speech balloons, check out my previous article on the subject! https://tips.clip-studio.com/en-us/articles/4892 

Conclusion

Though versatile enough for any type of art, Clip Studio Paint has specific tools that are made for comic artists and that most other programs just don’t do as well! 

For more information on CLIP Studio Paint, please visit https://www.clipstudio.net/en or https://graphixly.com