# Intro to Comic Life

You can use Comic Life to create a variety of comic style projects, from a script to a full photo-based graphic novel.

To create any document, you always start with a template, then modify it however you like. The templates are designed for specific purposes - like scripts, comic stories, newsletters, certificates - to give you a great starting point for your work.

After you open a layout template, you can add your own images, text and rearrange things as you like. You can add other elements (captions, balloons, line, shapes and stamps).

To modify elements in your document, you use the formatting and layout controls in the sidebar on the right side of the Comic Life window (shown below). The sidebar shows only controls for the element you selected.

Other sidebars (on the right and left) have controls to browse your photos, format your document, view page thumbnails to navigate the document, and more.

You can quickly change the look of a selected element (image, balloon, caption, lettering or shape) by clicking one of the six styles near the top of the Format sidebar. Use the other controls in the sidebar to customize the object however you like. For more formatting options, click the tabs at the top of the sidebar.

This guide helps you get started using Comic Life on your Mac. (To see which version of Comic Life you have, choose Comic Life > About Comic Life from the Comic Life menu at the top of your screen.)

To explore the Comic Life User Guide, click one of the "See also" links below, click the Table of Contents button at the top of the page, or enter a word or phrase in the search field.

Comic Life 4 for Mac requires macOS 11.3 or later. Features are subject to change.

## See also

Create a document

Write a script

Intro to images, balloons, and other elements

Use sidebars