Comic Creator Studio review

A basic program, perfect for kids, Comic Creator Studio is well worth a look if you don't want to get too advanced.

Comic Creator Studio review
(Image: © Summitsoft)

Top Ten Reviews Verdict

Comic Creator Studio is good for beginners since it's super easy to use and provides a large graphics library with playful characters and settings. Its lack of illustrator tools will frustrate advanced users, though.

Pros

  • +

    Great for kids

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    Inexpensive

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    Loads of pre-made assets

Cons

  • -

    Limited drawing tools

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    Not many characters

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Comic Creator Studio by Summitsoft is fun, basic and inexpensive. This makes it perfect for kids, or any adults with limited artistic ability who want to dabble in comic making. It has some basic illustration tools, though the effects are more in line with classic comics than the cool 3D anime and manga images that are popular today. It's one of the best comic creator software packages for beginners and younger users, but is unlikely to satisfy more advanced creatives.

Comic Creator Studio has loads of pre-made templates, including page layouts and characters. There are 36 different comic panel layouts, along with 50 characters that each come with at least five different poses. This really isn’t enough character variation to create an elaborate story, but it is enough to play around with and learn the basics of comic creation. Unlike Manga Maker ComiPo!, this program doesn’t let you customize your characters’ poses or change their coloring, which is a shame.

Additionally, the illustration tools are pretty basic and will feel limiting if you want to draw your own characters. There is a pen tool and the ability to place squares and circles on your pages, but that’s about it. You can import TIFF and PNG files with your own character designs, but if you've created them already in something like Clip Studio Paint Pro... why would you use Comic Creator Studio? Perhaps you could draw characters and assets for younger users, who are using CCS as a learning tool. One sweet feature is that you can add photos, encouraging you to insert yourself or your family into comics.

You can create just about any setting using Comic Creator Studio. There are over 600 pre-made props, backgrounds and background elements (like trees or city skylines) that you can use to embellish your scenes. The drag-and-drop function makes it easy to select and place backgrounds, characters and objects onto your comic book pages without much effort, but the playful characters and colorful scenes make using this program especially fun. You can also use the Animate section of the program to add basic movement to your comics. Again, it's very limited, but this is a nice touch.

Comic Creator Studio review

(Image credit: Summitsoft)

Comic Creator Studio has word balloons that you can position wherever you like. One neat feature is that you can drag and manipulate thought and speech bubbles to bend however you like, and point to specific characters. This function is easy to use and helps each scene look more professional. CCS gives you access to fonts already on your computer and lets you choose the color and size of your text. As with most other comic makers, however, there's no spellchecker, so you need to proofread or run text through word processors first if you want accuracy.

Even though this comic software is for beginners, it isn't completely limited in its features. It includes layers so you can select and edit specific parts of your comics without ruining other layers. Since this program doesn’t offer a lot of illustration tools, it isn’t a good match for a graphics tablet and pen. When you are done creating, you can embed images into an email and send it directly from the program. You can also upload your images to Facebook from Comic Creator Studio.

You can save your work as a PDF, JPEG, BMP, PNG or TIFF file, which covers the most common formats. Since this program also gives you animation options, you can also save your movies specifically for YouTube, HDTV or web optimization.

Comic Creator Studio review

(Image credit: Summitsoft)

Summitsoft has some good customer support options. There is also a FAQs section included on the company's website. A help section is available within the Comic Creator program itself that can answer most user questions and basic troubleshooting tips. If you come across a problem that needs one-on-one attention, both telephone and email support are also available.

Comic Creator Studio is only compatible with Windows operating systems so it’s not an option for Apple users. It doesn't require a lot of RAM to either install or operate, so will work with low-end computers, and you don't need an internet connection to use it once you've downloaded the 600MB file.

Should you buy Comic Creator Studio?

Comic Creator Studio is a decent choice for budding comic creators taking their first step into making their own stories, or anyone who just wants a fun program to play in. It has all the functions you need to make your own comic quickly and easily, including a wide library of page and character templates and editable layers. Since this program is compatible with the most common file types, you also shouldn’t have any problem saving it in a sharable format, or importing assets from elsewhere, if you need to. It is, however, very basic and doesn't have many tools for anyone looking to craft their own art or create more advanced comics.

Rebecca Spear

Rebecca is a writer who has covered everything from photo books to graphic design and small kitchen appliances for Top Ten Reviews. Now a gaming writer for Future Labs, she's also contributed to big publications like TechRadar, Windows Central, Android Central, Reuters Legal Solutions Blog, iMore, and more. She no longer works for TTR.