HELP! comic book setup question

[mehzmerize]

I am very new to comic making

Whats the best technique for the box up things (I dont know comic terms). I cant ever make them straight enough and even if they look even when I scan them they look crooked and then I can edit them with straight ones in photoshops which usually forces me to crop off some of the art I made and ruins the whole thing

I am extremely frustrated

[KWill]

Panels? Have you tried using a ruler?

[Phalanx]

No reason why panel walls HAVE to be straight.

But if you want em straight, draw them out before you draw the art. it helps.

[Ohemgee]

I draw my sides in with photoshop, using the guide thingies. Then I just use the brush tool and the shift button. Yay straight lines!

[Warofwinds]

I draw mine in Photoshop with the line tool or marquee tool.

[Metruis]

In Photoshop... I used to use the brush tool and hold shift. NOW, though, I do all my sketching and then select my panels, control-shift-c, control-v, and panel border. This means I can shape my panels how I want, and since each panel is its own layer, I can organize them how I want. I then paint the panels overtop with clipping layers.

Sometimes you have to crop art to get your panels right, it's part of life. If you need them bone-straight, do the sketch, then do the panel borders and make sure your art fits into the borders. Never do the panels first! Art sketch, panels with a ruler (if you're doing it by hand) and then fix the art inside so that it fits in without "ruining" it by cropping. I do my pages in Photoshop and there's plenty of cropping going on but it works.

[Koad]

If you're trying to do this on paper, get a set of triangle rulers, those things are very helpful for keeping all your lines at the same desired angle.
But even with those the panels are still likely to be a little off after you scan them, unless you want to spend a lot of time making sure your paper is aligned perfectly with the scanner bed. What I usually do is make my drawings go slightly over the panel borders, that way after I scan, there is some leeway for cropping.

[Lianweijun086]

If you use photoshop, I learned a quick and easy method from Lar Desouza, artist of http://leasticoulddo.com/index.php and http://lfgcomic.com/page/latest, from his youtube tutorials. Create a new layer and go to blending options, stroke, I use 3px, black, and select "inside" (this makes the corners nice and sharp and square) Then, you use the marque tool and select a square, fill it with black. Yep, black. Then, just select "screening" for layer mode. This is a very effective method for me because I draw a strip. Basically, I have a template.psd file with a solid block. And the way I make panels is delete a 10px column wherever I need a separation. Hope that helps!

[W M]

If you're drawing the panels traditionally (aka not digitally, but by hand), then you need a ruler and a tool called a T-square:

All a T-square is is a ruler with a perpendicular edge attached to one side, which you can use to line up the paper perfectly to draw your panels.
You can find T-squares pretty easily; just go to a hobbies or arts and crafts store, or office depot (or any place that sells art supplies).