With the prevalence of Webtoons and other digital media websites skyrocketing, electronic comics are all the rage right now. Planning your panel layout is the first step in creating a comic.

Unlike Photoshop, PaintTool SAI lacks a native guide tool. Using the Two-Point Perspective Grid, Layer > Outline, and Straight Line Drawing Mode in PaintTool SAI makes it simple to create comic panels.

We will go into more detail about these steps, so keep reading. 

How to Create Comics in Paint Tool SAI

You can create comics in Paint Tool SAI using the methods discussed in this section.

For more information on how to create comics using Paint Tool SAI, watch this video:

Method 1: Create Comic Panels Using the Two-Point Perspective Grid

It is difficult to create comic panels with uniform boundary widths in PaintTool SAI because it needs the capability to specify guides or bleed lines like Photoshop or Illustrator. Nevertheless, by utilizing the Two-Point Perspective Grid, we may replicate guides.

To generate comic panels using the Two-Point Perspective Grid, follow the instructions listed below.

• Launch PaintTool SAI and load your document.
• In the layer panel, choose the perspective ruler icon.
• Pick New 2 VP Perspective Grid. Your perspective grid should now be visible on your canvas.
• While holding down Ctrl, click and drag the grid’s corners to align them with the edges of your canvas.
• In the layer selection, right-click the Perspective Grid Ruler and choose Property.
• Enter a figure between 1 and 100 in the slots marked Division for G Axis and Division for B Axis.
• Press the OK button or Enter key on your keyboard.

You can now see that the divisions you entered have been added to your perspective grid. These grid divisions will be used to organize our panel designs.

• From the dropdown menu, select Snap, and then choose Line.
• Then, when you create lines, they will automatically snap to the G and B axis lines.
• Set black on the color wheel, pick the pencil tool, and then select a brush size.
• Draw! Now you may arrange your panels as you like. Simply set Snap back to None if you want to generate panels that aren’t square.
• To conceal your grid, select the checkbox in the layer panel.

Method 2: Use Layer > Outline in PaintTool SAI to create comic panels.

Imagine that you currently have some comic book panels created and are looking for a quick way to outline them. Using Layer > Outline, you can do this with a few clicks. This is how:

• Launch PaintTool SAI and load your document.
• In the layer menu, choose your layer or layers with your comic panel. We’ll be adding outlines to the top three panels of the document for this tutorial.
• Select Outline under Layer in the top menu. The outline dialog will pop up as a result.

You have a few options to change the outline’s stroke under the Outline Menu.

You may simply change the width of your outline stroke using the Width slider.

You may choose the area to which your outline will extend using the Position settings. Applying your outline to the inside, center, or outside of the pixels you’ve chosen is another option.

• To add a stroke to the canvas edge, choose the “Apply to Canvas Edges Too” checkbox. Check the Update Preview While Changing Slider box for a real-time preview of your outlines.
• To add your outline stroke around the edges of the comic panel, select the Outside position option.
• Use the width slider to change your outline’s width as needed. If the “Preview” option is ticked, you can watch a live preview of your adjustments.
• Click OK once your outline is the desired width.
• Continue until you have outlined every panel of your comic.

Method 3: Make Comic Panels Using Straight Line Mode

In PaintTool SAI, the Straight Line Mode allows you to create iconic panels freehand. Here;s how:

• Launch PaintTool SAI.
• Select the symbol for Straight Line Mode.
• Draw your lines by clicking and dragging. Hold down Shift while drawing your lines to create straight vertical and horizontal lines.

Continue as necessary.

Conclusion

The ideal tool for generating comics on a simulated grid is the Two-point Perspective Grid, and Layer > Outline makes it simple to outline already created artwork. Straight Line Drawing Mode is the ideal choice to produce freehand comic panels if you want a more relaxed style.