I think the Divide Text Frame would be useful when working with sound effects or shouted dialogue.

With this script you can divide multi-line text fields into separate text frame objects, making it easy to separate lists, navigation items, and more.

Speeding up the chopping up of a block of text could come in handy.

Another on that might cut down on some fiddling and CMD-Zs is the Metaball script.

This script will create connecting arcs from shapes you have drawn. Very useful when connecting basic shapes to create more complex shapes for logos, icons and illustrations.

I can see using this to create a more organically shaped balloon, much like the final balloon this week’s The Winchcombe strip.

But I like these scripts. Seeing stuff like this always makes me wish that I had learned how to do this myself when I had more free time.

By the way, I think I got this link from a post on Art Geek Zoo a while back. Check it out.

Links

10 Free and Extremely Useful Illustrator Scripts(vectips.com)

Art Geek Zoo

In this tutorial we’re going to explore the graphics created for the Olympic Winter Games recently held in Vancouver, British Columbia. Throughout the winter games, they had a continuing graphic theme of very stylized vector art. Here, we’ll achieve a similar effect using only Adobe Illustrator and a PSD file of a snowboarder. Follow along below to learn more about vector graphics.

It’s sometimes strange to realize that, despite the fact that I live in Illustrator for making my comics, I really only use a small portion of the application.

Links

Vector Effects in Adobe Illustrator

For my money, Adobe Illustrator is the best all around tool for making digital comics.

A few months back Adobe released Illustrator CS5, and I picked it up.

I’ve definitely noticed some improvements in the new version. Mostly in terms of stability and speed, but there are a few new features that I’m looking forward to trying out.

Layers Magazine has a review of this new version and some videos that highlight a handful of the new features.

Links

Illustrator CS5 – Layers Magazine

What i am proposing is not that you throw out the Chapter system at all. Rather I want you to think of your story as a collection of scenes, as if you were playing out the movie of your story in your head. Each scene can then be completely mapped out. You know who are in the scene, and the goal is for each character in that scene. You get all the pre-think done, and then do the writing. I find that my characters are better behaved.

This scene technique has worked wonders with my own writing. When I have a complicated plot, this technique helps with keeping the plots straight.

Another benefit to this scene based system is that I can see where I am lacking in the book. A character may suddenly appear and I need a scene to introduce that character.

This approach is very similar to how I write my comics.

Links

Using the Scene writing method with Scrivener

What we often don’t realize when signing up for all these accounts, though, is how difficult it can be to permanently delete our accounts when we’ve had enough. Some require complicated, multi-step processes that can stretch over the course of days (or weeks). Others take less time, but still require multiple steps by the user.

Below we’ll take a look at the account deletion processes of popular websites and services, and how easy or difficult they make it. Then we’ll discuss why sites make things so complicated, and some things to consider when designing your own deletion policies.

They give the straight poop on how to wipe your account on sites like Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Google, and many others.

Nice little thing to clip and keep handy in case one of these service providers pisses you off.

Links

How To Permanently Delete Your Account on Popular Websites

I love Instapaper.

And InstaReader makes both of them even more awesome and convenient.

What’s InstaReader?

InstaReader is a free service that sends anything you star in Google Reader to Instapaper.

You don’t even have to give InstaReader your Google sign-in if you make your GReader Starred Items public.

Terrific.

Links

InstaReader

Instapaper

Google Reader

Here’s an interesting tutorial from your friends at Layers Magazine that combines the magic of the gradient mesh with the wonder of Ilustrator’s 3D capabilities to make a simple little road sign graphic.

Links

Using the Mesh Tool and 3D Effects in Illustrator

Macworld magazine did a little write up on the announcement of Wacom’s new Cintiq 21UX. It’ll be released in early April. You know, like 2 months after I buy what is now the old version.

Typical. Not that I’m bitter or anything.

But you can help lessen the blow.

Pre-order the Cintiq from Amazon by clicking this link, and I’ll get a sweet kickback. You KNOW you want one. They really are quite awesome.

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Links

Wacom announces new Cintiq 21UX pen display

Wacom CINTIQ 21UX (DTK2100) 21-Inch Pen Display – Graphics Monitor with Digital Pen (Amazon)

From the Typekit website:

“Just add a line of JavaScript to your markup, tell us what fonts you want to use, and then craft your pages the way you always have. Except now you’ll be able to use real fonts. This really is going to change web design.”

Sounds pretty cool. Simple, flexible, and cool.

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Links

Typekit

Until last week.

I’m putting together a new comic strip called The Winchcombe, and I’ve just saved myself a ton of time and headaches by finally figuring out just what the clipping mask can do for me.

Long and short: I’ve drawn several “set pieces”, background images of locations that will be used frequently in the strip, places like an office, an exterior shot of the restaurant, and the break room.

I can slap the full-sized backdrop down on a layer, scale it to fit the specific shot I’m composing, and then use a clipping mask to trim it to fit the panel, quick and clean. It’s much better than erasing or slopping big blobs of white ink down to cover the unwanted portion.

Thanks to Jay Hilgert of bittbox for making it so embarrassingly clear how easy clipping masks are to use.

Links

How to Make a Clipping Mask in Illustrator | BittBox
The Winchcombe