We’ve already shown you how you can write a children’s story using Microsoft Word 2010. You can see the result here.
So here’s your next challenge: why not create a fully illustrated comic using Microsoft PowerPoint 2010? It’s not as difficult as it sounds. All you need is a story, a digital camera, some toys and an hour of computer time…
STEP 1: Think of a story…
If your kids are old enough, this is a project they can help you out on. First, sit down together and come up with a simple story. For the purposes of this example, I’m going to spin a mildly adventurous tale about a bear who gets lost in the garden and needs to find his way home. It’s your classic road trip story.
Spend some time fleshing out your story and dividing it into segments that you can illustrate with a photo and a caption. My story will start with an establishing shot of the heroic bear lost in the garden, show the distance to the house, the challenge of climbing through a cat-flap, and so on. You can add other characters too, who can either help (or hinder) your protagonist’s progress.
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STEP 2: Take photos to illustrate your story
When you have an idea of the story you want to tell and how you’re going to shoot it, grab a digital camera and take some appropriate shots. Frame your photos like you’re shooting a movie, but be sure to leave enough room for the speech bubble captions we’ll add later.
Get one or two photos for each segment of your story, so you have a choice later. You might also want to shoot an image that you can use for your title page.
Copy the photos you’ve taken onto your PC and open up Microsoft PowerPoint 2010. This software is typically used for giving business presentations, but it’s a lot more versatile than you might think. We’ve already used it here on ActiveDad to make a quiz and an animated digital photo album.
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STEP 3: Create your title page
Let’s get our title page out of the way first. On the Home menu, click New Slide and choose the ‘Picture with caption’ template. Import a suitable photo by clicking on the icon and enter a title for your creation below it, increasing the font size to fill the gap.
You can change the font here if you want to, or play around with some Word Art. To give it a cartoony feel, I’ve applied a ‘Cutout’ effect. Select the image, click Picture Tools and you’ll find this option in the Artistic Effects menu. There are several other good effects here, including Pencil Grayscale and Plastic Wrap.
When you’re done fiddling, move the title page to the front of the sequence of slides by dragging the preview of the slide located in the left-hand column.
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STEP 4: Design the panels of your comic
This is where things get interesting. Go to the Insert menu and click Picture to import the first photo in your story. Resize it and drag it over to the left-hand side of your slide (so there’s room for another photo next to it).
You could fit as few as two large images onto a page, or as many as six in two rows of three. It’s up to you.
Now we need to ‘cartoonify’ each image to match the image on the title page. Click on an image to select it and then choose Picture Tools. Locate the Artistic Effects option again and choose the Cutout effect. This rough, hand drawn look might not work for every image. If any of your images are washed out or difficult to see, use Artistic Effects options to adjust how the effect is applied.
Click to enlarge this image
STEP 5: Add a frame and speech bubbles
Next, put a black frame around each image. Again, you can find these frames in the Picture Tools menu. I’ve chosen a subtle, thin outline called ‘simple frame, black’.
Now we need to add some captions. Go to the Insert menu, choose Shapes and then scroll down to the call-out options at the bottom. These will let you add speech bubbles to your images so you can tell the story.
I’ve used the first speech bubble in this menu, designated ‘rectangular callout’. The default colour is blue, but I’ve changed it to white with a simple black outline. I’ve also replaced the font with Comic Sans MS, which is perfect for a comic like this.
STEP 6: Rinse and repeat
Repeat the steps above to add extra images to each slide and to build up your story. You can even add arrows to show the reader which panel they should be reading next. To do this, go to the Insert menu, choose Shapes and pick a suitable arrow.
That’s all there is to it. Any questions? Leave me a comment below and I’ll get back to you…
Find out more about Microsoft Office 2010 in the video below
Check out our Kids Matter Health video:
The Kids Matter – The economics of fatherhood – #1 Health video was made using Microsoft PowerPoint 2010