http://www.stripcreator.com/view3.php?author=Kajun%20Firefly

People seemed to not care for the single pixel version, so I've done up a double pixel bordered version with bolded text. Let me know what you think.

Just my $0.02 worth...

I think the one-pixel border with the rounded corners and un-bold text would look super-spiffy. The old pointed-corner boxes look better with two-pixel border. Bold text should be optional.

I'd prefer bold text and rounded corners myself.

While I think the bold text looks better overall, I think the potential benefits of allowing bold and italic tags far outweighs the benefits of the all-bold look. And I'm still not sure whether I like the bold because it's better or because it's the way things have always been.

I love the rounded corners, especially the two-pixel one. How would the two-pixel border look on non-bolded text?

I definitely prefer the two-pixel border. The other one was looking just a bit too weedy. I second Dan's suggestion to try that, but with the non-bold text.

I think I like view3 better than view2.

I don't know that being able to tag text as bold is worth making it normal weight by default. Even if text is permanently bold, we can still italicize it, use all caps, or surround it with asterisks or underscores or some such. How many different ways to indicate emphasis do we really need?

Here's a 2-pixel border, unbolded text version:

http://www.stripcreator.com/view4.php?author=crabby

I changed the font from Arial to Verdana as well, because I think it's clearer at smaller sizes.

I like it!

As do I.

view4 is the best so far. The bold text in view3 doesn't look as good as I thought it would.

That prods buttock!

Yay! view4 is definitely the best.

I still say boo.

Or maybe it's because I'm reading crabby's comics. :-P

quote:

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http://www.stripcreator.com/view3.php?author=Kajun%20Firefly

version with bolded text. Let me know what you think.

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Veiw 4 is nice. View 3 just was really blurry and a bitch in the ass to read.

The Verdana font works really well. Tahoma is supposed to be good for small text, too.

I'm voting view3. View4's unbolded text lacks impact.

View 4 is the best I've seen so far. I really like the 2 pixel border on balloons, the rounding of the corners, and the bolded text.

Also, I hope I'm not out of line here, but I'd like to share some thoughts I have on this subject, since I happen to be a bit of a cartoonist myself, and thoroughly enjoy geeking-out on the subject. You can take or leave my comments as you see fit...

I believe that the mechanics of a comic strip should not overpower the actual content of the strip. In other words, if you want readers to focus their attention on the art and dialog, you certainly wouldn't want to distract them with overly ornate or complicated borders (unless the borders are somehow relevant to the content).

I've certainly noticed my own reaction when reading newspaper comic strips, and I find that I'm somehow turned-off by comics that have outrageously thick borders or balloons. This doesn't mean that I don't like these particular comics, it just means that I don't find them as aesthetically pleasing or as easy to read. Calvin and Hobbes, for example, uses thin panel borders and balloons, and that strip is certainly easy on the eyes. I'm not a big fan of Rose is Rose, but notice how Pat Brady draws really thin panels and balloons. Your eyes are automatically directed to the artwork and dialog.

Anyway, it is my humble opinion that on stripcreator comics the text becomes overpowered by the boldness of the panel borders, and the fact that there's no gutter between the panels. This is true in all the views I've seen so far.

I think the ideal option for stripcreator is to have thinner panel borders, and to have gutters between the panels. Having gutters puts some necessary breathing room between each panel, and gives your eyes a chance to digest what you just read before going to the next panel. I think a 2 pixel border would work nicely for the borders, which would then match the thickness of the balloons. Here's a Photoshopped version of how this could possibly look:

Here's the original comic:

95965

My suggestions may not be possible due to limitations of the comic viewer, but I thought I'd put in my two cents. Thanks for reading this.

one thing i would suggest is to make it a difference in how the comics are saved rather than how they are viewed as many comics rely on jokes based on the comic creation format that we know

What a great fucking comic, and the rest of the series is fantastic too, it doesn't matter what view you use, that Firefly bastard is awesome.

I vote for view 1, "If it ain't broke then don't go fixing anything!"

Shut up Bazilla.
We're looking to change things around here.
Either you're in or you're out. And if you're out, you're Sub_m7. :)