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Cons:It's ironic that while I've said the program has great inking and toning tools, I don't actually use either of them in my work. I ink on paper and tone in greyscale (Corel PhotoPaint), so perhaps my biggest gripes about the program applies only to people like me. The fact that Comicworks has NO greyscaling capabilities beyond the 150 dpi pencilling function irks me to no end. Needless to say, I never scan using the program either - it simply is inadequate when it comes to scanning, especially compared to the likes of Photoshop.The thing about Comicworks is that its flaws are only apparent after a longer period of use (but not so much you're a seasoned pro). They're not major flaws, but enough to be irritating and make you wonder why more thought wasn't put into something when it was being developed. It is this aspect of the program that made me feel, further down the track using it, that it is incomplete; experimental even. This is not a program you'll be able to use from the beginning to the end without pulling up Photoshop for SOME part of the work. First of all, the program doesn't save your settings for certain functions. Most of the major ones do, but the moment you shut the program off, everything goes back to default unless it specifically has a "save" function (like the pen nibs). The "center" function for lettering is a good example - every time I type in a new block of text, I have to hit "center" for it to be centered, which can be incredibly annoying if you have multiple word balloons (as I often do). Secondly, while the program has lots of tones, it has no good way to categorise them, nor is there any way to keep track of what tones you used about 8 layers back. Was it 70p 40l you used on the curtains, or was it SE-886...? Unless you kept track of it yourself, you probably won't remember. Sifting through the tones for the one you want can also be a bother. Unless you're utterly familiar with the 200 or so tones available and where they can be found, much of it can be mix and match until you get the one you want. The teeny-weeny picture of the tone beside names like "SE-1040" isn't much of a help, though the program has a "tone used recently" function (inconveniently located at the bottom of the pull-down menu). However, my biggest problem will be with the lettering. Letterers, don't bother getting this program - it has the lettering function of Notepad, and no ballooning function to speak of (not that Photoshop has either). First of all, the lettering function forces a textbox to appear on screen, instead of typing directly onto the page. It also has no apparent way of bolding or italicising a word in the middle of a sentence - either you bold/italicise an entire block of text, or it is normal. This seems to be a leftover of the Japanese program; English manga often has the bolding of words in the middle of a block of text, whereas in Japanese manga it rarely ever happens. Naturally, the lousy text function is a product of cultural differences. Verdict: No greyscale function, and inadequate lettering tool. A few minor quibbles about the inconvenience of certain aspects of the program |
13 August 2008 6 August 2008 5 August 2008 29 July 2008 22 July 2008
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