In anticipation of my upcoming debut graphic novel series Monkey King and The World of Myths: The Monster and The Maze, I want to share with you all the things I have learned and am still learning on making comics. “Monkey King and the World of Myths” will come out on April 2, 2024! Buy Monkey King And the World Of Myths-Let’s begin by looking into a question I get asked a lot: What computer programs do professional comic artists use?
To the best of my knowledge, it varies. I am not trying to be ambiguous. The truth is, what we use largely depends on our preexisting knowledge and familiarities to the programs, how available we are to spend time and money on learning new softwares, and what effects we want for each book. Every project differs, from style to execution methods, so it is only natural that there is no standard.
Popular programs and who uses them
With that said, here are some popular programs comic artists use: Adobe Photoshop, Adobe InDesign, Procreate, Clip Studio Paints EX, and MediBang. With the exception of MediBang, I have used all four other programs at one point or another. They each have their strengths and weaknesses, and I will share with you my thoughts on them.
First and foremost, the industry leading giant Adobe Photoshop. “Monkey King and the World of Myths” is mostly illustrated in Photoshop. This powerhouse is, first and foremost, a photo-editing program. But because of its multi-functional abilities, it has taken over as the dominating program for illustrators. (Corel Painter was the other leading and competing software. I know friends in the concept art industry who switched between Corel Painter and Photoshop, but that was years ago, so I am not sure if it’s still popular. I’ll discuss a few plug-ins I use regularly at another post.)
Alas, nothing in this world is perfect, and this includes Photoshop. As powerful as it is, there are some drawbacks. The program is not designed for comic creations. If you have a 100-page comic book, you will have to create 100 files, and you better have a good filing/naming system to keep track of each page. For this reason, the combined use of Photoshop and InDesign works better for comics.
Adobe subscription is expensive. You are paying for a premium software. Photoshop alone is US$37.99 a month (as of Feb 2024). If you want InDesign as well, you will have to get the whole Adobe bundle (in addition to Photoshop and InDesign, you also get 20 other powerful softwares, like After Effects, Lightroom, Dreamweaver… etc.) That will cost you US$89.99 a month. If you want to work on the road, your only option is a laptop and an additional pen tablet. That’s because the Photoshop app for iPad is practically useless for illustrators. Again, this is because Photoshop is a photo-editing program, not an illustration program. Adobe has a different app built for iPad illustrators: Adobe Fresco. (I haven’t used Fresco because I have no time to learn yet another program. Maybe it will work seamlessly Photoshop. Who knows? If you work between Photoshop and Fresco, let me know if you like it.)
Next comes Adobe InDesign, the industry standard for book publishing. “Monkey King and The World of Myths” is written, layout designed, and organized in Adobe InDesign. Not all comic creators use this software. Many will submit their hundreds of Photoshop files to the publisher, where the designer or art director then take over to import the files into InDesign. (Each publisher works differently, so it is important to communicate with them on how to set up the files for each project.) I use it because I have a background in graphic design, which means I am already knowledgeable with the program. In fact, for Monkey King, I wrote the entire book in InDesign. There was no Microsoft Word or Scrivener. This is one of those “exception” cases, where I suspect most people don’t do it this way. If you don’t know InDesign, I would recommend skipping this program altogether and use Clip Studio Paint instead. It is a lot less expensive.
Using a combination of Photoshop and InDesign means I am drawing in one program (Photoshop) and writing in another (InDesign). This works well for me because I can see at-a-glance the entire book, but it also means I have to constantly switch back and forth between two programs. InDesign has the benefit in keeping all my fonts in vector format, which is crucial for printing books. Downside to InDesign? In addition to the cost, this software is not compatible on an iPad. That’s right! You CANNOT use InDesign on your iPad. No subscription. No annual-fee. Nada.
If you have an iPad and an apple pencil, you only need to purchase this app once. That’s an insane bargain! And it is quite powerful! A lot of fantastic professional illustrators use Procreate for their entire book projects. For example, Lunar New Year Love Story by Gene Luen Yang and Leuyen Pham was created entirely in Procreate. Me fangirling at Pham’s and Yang’s book event in early February 2024 at Vroman’s Bookstore, Pasadena, California. Do I use it? Not much. This has nothing to do with the program. It’s a preference on my end. I don’t like the UI. Some illustrators love the “clean” UI workspace, but for me, I want the tools I use regularly to be located at hand. I don’t like to click and open each tab every time I want to switch a tool. That’s like me putting my brushes neatly in a drawer, opening and closing them each time I switch a brush.
One more thing: Procreate does not support CMYK. It has a fake CMYK channel, not a real one. Anytime you work with prints, your colors need to be set in CMYK, not RGB. You will have to convert the file to CMYK once you import it back in Photoshop and make changes there.
Last but not least, Clip Studio Paint EX, the program that is built specifically for comic creators. I have been experimenting with CSP for Book 2 of “Monkey King”. Let me be honest: I wanted to learn CSP for about 2 years, and I have finally found some gap between projects to learn the software in the past 2 days. I can see why it is popular: it is designed for making comics. It’s essentially combining Photoshop (for drawing with a wide array of brushes) and organize all the pages like InDesign (to see the whole book at-a-glance). You can work seamlessly from the desktop/laptop to your iPad. The software supports both platforms, and you can save the workspace and import it directly from one platform to another. You can save things on the CSP cloud, and you can set it in auto. This means you can work on your desktop in your studio, bring your iPad to lunch and continue to work on the same file on your iPad. It’s much more cost efficient. Currently, my subscription plan is US$12.49 per month for access to two platforms (desktop and iPad), and it includes 100GB cloud storage. If you don’t need multiple platforms, you can purchase the app for a one-time fee instead of going with subscriptions. There are some handy features, such as the perspective tool. Importing and exporting PSD files between Photoshop and CSP is a breeze.
There are some major drawbacks to CSP as well. Much like Procreate, there is no real CMYK setting in CSP. It does have a CMYK preview function, but it means either me or the publisher will have to convert the files back into CMYK at some point. A seasoned colorist will know approximately what colors to avoid when working in RGB, but that’s not ideal. Colors are already a little off from monitor to print no matter what, and now I have to imagine how far off the colors will be, and I have to constantly toggle between the CMYK preview setting to check? I am not a fan. I am a newbie on CSP, but it seems like the text in my layers cannot retain as vector when I export the file? This will be problematic when I hand off the files to publishers. Can someone more knowledgeable than I am let me know if there is a solve to this?
That’s my take on these four popular programs. They each have their pros and cons. For now, my favorite continues to be Photoshop, but CSP comes in a close second for how easy it is to use and how much more budget-friendly it is. What about you? What’s your favorite software to use? What do you like or dislike about them? I would love to hear and learn from you!
PS: Affinity offers a cheaper alternative to the once monopolizing Adobe. I haven’t tried its programs yet (Affinity Photo as an alternative to Photoshop, and Publisher as an alternative to InDesign). This guide presents five popular drawing apps for creating comics, manga, and webtoons. When creating a comic or webtoon composed of tens or even hundreds of pages, drawing apps make it easier to manage and edit your story. You can save page templates, modify already drawn lines, colors, and shapes, and even integrate 3D tools or image resources to help you bring your story onto the page.
Other tools and considerations
Layers are essential for managing your comic projects, including panel lines, characters, backgrounds, and dialog. Although not necessary, templates, guides, and rulers can be a huge help when drawing things like panels and effect lines. Text is essential to most comics and webtoons, so check for font support and formatting tools in the drawing app. Clip Studio Paint is widely used by professional manga, comic, and webtoon artists. With tools for comic panels, speech bubbles, detailed stamp brushes, and 3D models, you can create comics, manga, and webtoons of any genre and any level of complexity. For beginners, the tablet and smartphone versions offer a minimal Simple Mode with the essentials for drawing, as well as a Studio Mode where you can access more of the comic features.
Procreate is the staple of iPad drawing apps. Although it lacks dedicated functions for comic creation, this app is easy to use and includes standard drawing tools such as versatile brushes and layer options. Krita is a free, open-source software for Windows, macOS, and Android that includes basic features for creating digital artwork. The app includes templates for comic layouts, but lacks a paneling tool. This free art app has basic features for drawing comics, such as panel assets and screentones. It includes some templates for comic projects and the paid version offers additional cloud space for larger projects. MediBang Paint also includes some features for multiple page projects.
In practice, many artists mix workflows: sketching with traditional media, then digitizing, cleaning up, coloring, and lettering using a combination of Photoshop, InDesign, and CSP or Clip Studio Paint depending on the book’s needs and printing requirements. The choice often comes down to how you’ll handle printing (CMYK vs RGB), how you manage pages and panels, and how you collaborate with colorists and letterers.
Workflow snapshot: from thumbnail to print
My process usually begins with rough thumbnails to plan panel layouts and dialogue. I then transfer layouts to Bristol board for inking, after which I scan line art at high resolution. Digital cleanup and color work are typically done in Photoshop, with color finishing and typography handled in Illustrator or InDesign. The publisher’s designer integrates everything into the final book layout, prepares color proofs, and oversees printing. This pipeline highlights why many creators rely on a combination of tools rather than a single program.
