FAQ

Please email us if you have a question that is not on this list of frequently asked questions.

Why do items look slightly pixelated on the editing screen?

To save device memory and make editing as smooth as possible, Strip Designer renders different items in different resolutions while editing. The editing resolution and the resolution of the final strip are independent.

How do I get the best possible/highest resolution output?

Generally, use the PDF export options. PDF files will include speech balloons and other page items in vector format. Photos are embedded in a compressed form, but included in a higher resolution than if you use the bitmap export options (PNG and JPEG).

When viewed or printed, images from PDF files are generated in an output resolution matching the target device. Vector elements are drawn and embedded photos are resampled at the view and print time, rather than at the file generation time, which should give better results.

To maximize the photo quality in PDF files, set the "High-Res Photos" option to "On" under the Strip Design settings in the Settings app on your home-screen. Please note that this uses additionally memory which can cause the application to close when you tap "Share".

Why does Strip Designer close suddenly when I tap "Share"?

Occasionally, our users have experienced that the app closes when they try to share comics with high-resolution photos. This happens because Strip Designer needs more random access memory (not flash storage memory) than available.

Strip Designer generally down-samples photos to a manageable size, but this feature may have been turned off. If you experience this type of behavior (close on share), try to turn "High-res Photos" off in the Strip Design settings found in the Settings app on your home-screen.

Can I reuse layouts? Can I create my own templates?

At this time you cannot create your own templates. However, you can save the comic and duplicate it in the My Comics list it to reuse the layout. Double tap on the photos to replace them.

Can I select a new template in order to change the layout of a comic with items on it?

Yes (mostly). Strip Designer contains logic that tries to reposition items on the new layout. However, sometimes Strip Designer cannot determine where a balloon or sticker should end up in the new layout.

How can I insert text without a balloon or text-box (i.e. just text)?

Insert a text-box balloon. Set its background color opacity to 0 and its border color opacity to 0. This way only the text will show.

Alternatively add the text as "Effect Text" (tap "Add" and "Effect Text").

What sort of font options are there for balloons?

You can select any of the fonts on the iPhone as well as normal, bold, or italics. You can also select the size of the font for the balloons, or simply ask Strip Designer to fit the text to the balloon size.

How do I install additional fonts?

Please read the section on Installing Fonts in the Advanced Topics.

What format must installable fonts be in?

The font-files must be contained in a zip-compressed file. The individual fonts files must be in TrueType format (TTF). Preferable with an accompanying .txt file with license description. Most of the fonts on the online font-sites directly accessible from within Strip Designer are stored in this format.

How do I add additional pages?

On iPhone, tap "Page" on the bottom of the screen to reveal the page flap. On iPad this is always revealed. Tap on the page flap (on the left side of the screen). Tap the "+" on the bottom of the page list to add additional pages.

Can I change the size of pages?

Yes. Tap on "Page" and "Size" to change page size to one of the built-in sizes. If you change the page-size in a multipage-comic all pages are resized.

Why are all page sizes in a comic identical?

To export a PDF book of a multipage comic, all pages must have identical size.

How do I ensure that the size of balloons and text match?

Please read about balloon properties in the Advanced Topics section for further information.

How many cells can I have per page?

Due to memory constraints, especially on older devices, Strip Designer is currently limited to 16 total cells (photos and text combined) on one page. To keep memory usage low, Strip designer also renders photos on the screen in lower resolution, once you add more than 4 photos.

Where can I get photos from?

You can import photos from either your, photo album, Dropbox, the clipboard, or as a map. You can also draw your own sketches from scratch.

How do I select a background color for a drawing?

You cannot select a color for the canvas, but you can easily paint the entire canvas in a few brush strokes. Zoom out as far as possible. Select a color and select a brush with maximal opacity and hardness, and make sure that the brush size is set to "Relative". Paint the entire canvas in a few strokes.

Can I make cells or portions of photos transparent?

Yes! Follow the following three steps

  • The background (under the photo) of a cells is default black opaque. You have to change this first. Go to the "Frame" setting of an image-cell and set the "Background" color opacity to zero (using the slider), the cell will now be transparent in areas not covered by the photo.
  • To remove the outlines of a cell, select "Frame" and, then pick the first frame style with a width of zero.
  • To make portions of the photo transparent, use the "Draw On" tool and select the mask tool and choose "-" of the "Add/Remove" settings. Then mask out the portions of the photo that you wish to make completely transparent. These areas will only appear transparent on the comic, when you have made the background color of the cell transparent.

If you unlock cells, move them, and change their "order" you can stack multiple cells on top of each other.

Can I create my own stickers?

Yes. Tap "Add", then "Sticker", then "Custom stickers", then tap "+" to create a sticker from a photo or a completely blank drawing. You can mask out portions of photos from your photo album and use them as stickers or draw your own using the drawing editor.

Why do stickers and cutouts sometimes look blurred while designing, but great in the final rendering? Which resolution are they saved in?

While editing Strip Designer uses a low-resolution variant of the stickers (256x256 pixels) to preserve memory. For most stickers a higher resolution (1024x1024 or 512x512 pixel) version is used for the final output. Custom stickers are stored in 1024x1024 pixels, and also stored in this resolution in PDF output.

How do I insert a person from one photo into another photo?

Create a comic with the background photo in one of the photo-cells. Now, create a sticker (tap "Add", "Sticker", "Custom stickers", "+"), and select the second photo from your photo album. Mask the background out of the photo and save the sticker. Position the resulting sticker on top of the first photo in the strip.

Can I use Strip Designer with Apple's Shared iPad feature

Yes, Strip Designer is made with Shared iPad in mind. You can either enable "Store everything in iCloud" in Settings to ensure all data is saved to individual iCloud accounts, or if you configure your devices using an MDM (Mobile Device Management) server, you can install a configuration file along with Strip Designer that enables Strip Designer's Shared iPad mode. Please click on the following link for more information:

Strip Designer and Shared iPad

If Strip Designer has been correctly set up for Shared iPad using configuration files, you'll see the following message in Strip Designer's Settings menu:

Strip Designer is set up for "Shared iPad" and will attempt to store all data in your iCloud account.

Is Strip Designer available on my Mac, PC, or Android?

Strip Designer is available on Mac. When you buy Strip Designer, you buy the all-in-one universal version which works on iPhone, iPad, and Mac. If you have bought it on one platform, you can download it for free on App Store on the other platforms.

While we are also looking at other platforms, we have no decisive plans. Let's us know if you would like it to be ported.

What should I do if I have a question that isn't on this list?

Please email us. We usually reply within a few hours and often faster. Don't hesitate; We are always happy to answer any question.

strips@vividapps.com