Comic Life: Zero Learning Curve On The Mac?

When I first saw Comic Life last year, I was surprised. Not at the nearly ‘zero learning curve’ in Comic Life.

I was surprised that no one had done this before because it’s just so, so, well, logical.

Comic Life integrates with your photos in iPhoto and lets you create your own personal comic strip, comic book, all via drag and drop.

Never before has there been a Mac application that was more intutitive for a non-creative artistic wannabe like me.

I love comics and comic strips and I’ve always wanted to take my creative writing skills and apply them to a comic strip but never had that extra artistic talent for the comic part.

Comic Life lets you make comics.

Open it up, select a page design (many to choose from; portrait, strip, multi-frame, simple, complex). Then, drag and drop photos from iPhoto into the comic frame you want.

That’s easy. Of course, digital photos don’t look much like the drawings in comic strips or comic books, right? Right. So, Comic Life includes a gazillion filters which, with a click or two, change the photograph into a work of art-- art that looks like it was drawn for a comic strip or book, but it’s really just your photograph with filters.

There are 16 different filters which can be mixed and matched; your photos look hand-drawn, painted, just like real comics.

I’m not teasing about the ‘zero learning curve.’ I have yet to check the Help screen. I’ve never had a more intutive Mac application.

Comics are not comics without balloon text, right? Drag and drop. Type in the text you want, drag until it fits within the frame, and you’re done.

Text can be changed to look exactly like the “explodo-pop” text of any comic book you’ve ever seen. Drag and drop, point and click.

The toughest thing you’ll run into will be the copy for the balloon text.

So, open up Comic Life, select a strip or page, drag and drop photos to each frame, fill in the balloon text, add some graphic text (BOOM!) and captions, and you’re done.

Not quite. What do you do with your comic once you’re almost done? Each comic you create can be printed out in full color, high quality. Comic Life will save as QuickTime and JPEG and PDF.

The included .Mac support includes RSS feed capability so people can ‘subscribe’ to your RSS and get the latest comic update as soon as you’re finished with it.

Want a personal touch with live video that captures your facial expressions? Comic Life lets you capture from iSight or a Firewire DV camera. Aim, freeze, drag, drop.

Remember what I said about ‘zero learning curve?’ If you download the demo of Comic Life, try it, and it’s not cool and not easy, let me know. My recommendation will be cheerfully refunded.

Click Here to take a look at the specs, do a download, and try it out. The only thing I can’t figure out is why the Mac has been around for over 20 years an no one made an application like Comic Life.

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