Welcome to BlankComic! If you've never made a digital comic before, this tutorial is for you. We'll go from a blank screen to a finished, exported comic page — step by step — in about five minutes. No drawing skills required.
Before You Begin
BlankComic runs entirely in your browser. There's nothing to install, no account to create, and it's completely free. Just open blankcomic.com and you're ready to go.
BlankComic works best on a desktop or laptop browser. Mobile is supported, but a larger screen gives you more room to work with panels.
Step 1: Set Up Your Canvas
Choose your page size
When you open the editor, you'll see a blank white canvas. Click the Page menu in the top toolbar to pick a page size — A4, Letter, or a square web format. For a first project, stick with A4 Portrait.
Set background color
By default the page is white — perfect for most comics. If you want a colored background, click the Background swatch in the toolbar and pick a color.
Step 2: Create Your Panel Layout
Panels are the building blocks of every comic page. BlankComic lets you draw panels anywhere on the canvas by clicking and dragging.
Draw your first panel
Select the Panel tool from the left sidebar (rectangle icon). Click and drag on the canvas to draw a rectangular panel. Aim for roughly the top half of the page — we'll add more panels below.
Add two more panels side by side
Draw two panels in the bottom half of the page, side by side. This gives you a classic three-panel layout: one establishing shot on top, two action panels below.
Resize and align panels
Click any panel to select it. Drag the corner handles to resize it. Hold Shift while dragging to constrain proportions. Use the Align toolbar to snap panels to the same edge or distribute them evenly.
The gap between panels is called the gutter. A consistent 8–12px gutter looks clean and professional. You can set exact gutter sizes using the panel spacing controls in the toolbar.
Step 3: Add Color to Panels
Fill a panel with a background color
Select a panel, then click the Fill color swatch in the right panel inspector. For a sky scene try a blue gradient; for interior scenes a warm off-white or grey works well.
Step 4: Add a Speech Bubble
Select the Speech Bubble tool
Click the Bubble tool in the left sidebar (speech bubble icon). Click anywhere inside your first panel to place a round speech bubble. You'll see it appear with placeholder text inside.
Type your dialogue
Double-click the bubble to enter edit mode. Type your dialogue. When you're done, press Escape or click outside the bubble. Drag the tail — the pointed indicator — to point at your character.
Change the bubble style
With the bubble selected, look at the right-side inspector. You can switch between four styles: Round (normal speech), Jagged (shouting), Cloud (thought), and Whisper (small, dashed border).
Step 5: Add a Caption Box
Caption boxes are rectangular text areas used for narration, inner thoughts, or scene-setting text. Select the Caption tool and draw a box anywhere on the canvas — typically at the top or bottom of a panel. Click it to type your narration text.
Step 6: Preview & Export
Preview your page
Click the Eye icon in the top toolbar to enter Preview Mode. This hides all selection handles and shows your page exactly as it will look when exported.
Export as PNG
Click File → Export → PNG. Choose your resolution — 2× or 3× is recommended for print. BlankComic will generate and download a high-resolution PNG file of your page.
BlankComic autosaves to your browser's IndexedDB, but it's a good habit to also save a .blank project file. Go to File → Save Project to download a file you can reopen anytime.
What You've Learned
- How to open BlankComic and set up a canvas
- How to draw and resize panels
- How to add speech bubbles and set their style
- How to add caption boxes for narration
- How to preview and export your finished page as PNG
That's it — you've made your first comic page! The whole workflow takes about five minutes once you're familiar with the tools. From here, you can explore more advanced features like multi-page projects, character color libraries, and keyboard shortcuts to speed up your workflow.
📖 Take it off-screen: Once you have your layout planned, grab a physical blank comic book by M M Milton and draw your panels by hand — available on Amazon from $4.73.