How To Create Comic Action Lines and Halftone Patterns in Photoshop Using Comic Kit

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You can create comic action lines in Photoshop with the free Comic Kit add-on, which turns a two-point path into zoom or speed lines and draws halftone patterns.

Comic Kit is a script that runs from the Fill dialog. You draw a short path, choose the script, and Photoshop draws the lines for you.

It does a slow job for you. Drawing dozens of tapered lines by hand takes a long time, and here every line, gap and angle comes from a few sliders.

This tutorial is for illustrators, comic artists and designers who want dramatic motion effects behind a character or object.

By the end, you will be able to make zoom lines, speed lines and halftone dot patterns on their own layers, then recolor and mask them.

The video was recorded in Photoshop 2015.1 (version 16.1). The add-on was built for that era of Photoshop, so read the warning in Step 1 before you install it in the current version.

What You Will Learn

• How to draw a two-point path that controls where the action lines start and end.
• How to fill that path with zoom lines from the Speed Lines window.
• How each slider in the Speed Lines window changes the lines.
• How to recolor the lines with layer styles and hide some of them with a layer mask.
• How to create a halftone dot pattern with the Screen Pattern window.

Requirements

Keyboard Shortcuts

Step 1: Install the Comic Kit Add-on in Photoshop

Comic Kit is a free add-on created by Daichi Ito, who worked at Adobe as a user experience designer. You can read about it on Daichi’s Comic Kit page.

It lets you create highly customizable screen patterns, zoom lines and speed lines.

Daichi also built the Flame and Tree generators. You can watch the Flame Generator tutorial and the Tree Generator tutorial on YouTube.

The video downloads Comic Kit from the Adobe Add-ons site. That page no longer exists.

A backup copy is on the Comic Kit GitHub page. It installs by hand, so follow the steps for Windows or macOS on that page.

Step 2: Add a Layer for the Action Lines

Open the practice drawing. It has two layers: the white Background layer and a character layer.

Create a new blank layer and drag it between the character and the background. The lines then sit behind the character.

Name the new layer action lines.

Step 3: Draw a Two-Point Path With the Pen Tool

Select the Pen Tool. You will draw a path that tells the script where to create the action lines.

The path needs only two points. The first point sets the center of the action lines, and the second point sets the end.

1. Click where you want the center of the lines, such as the middle of the character.
2. Click a second time to set the end point.

Make sure the path is selected. If it is not, pick the Path Selection Tool and click the path.

Step 4: Fill the Path With Comic Action Lines in Photoshop

Go to Edit > Fill, or press ShiftBackspace (Windows) or ShiftDelete (macOS) to open the Fill dialog.

1. Set Contents to Pattern.
2. Check Script.
3. Choose Speed Lines from the drop-down menu.
4. Click OK.

Photoshop opens the Speed Lines window, which has a lot of options. First, choose the Default preset so your settings match the video.

Click OK, and Photoshop creates the speed lines.

Now you can see how the path works. The first point created the center of the lines, and the second point created the end.

The lines are very thin near the center and thick toward the outside.

Picture the end point revolving around the center point. That circle is the edge of the effect, which is why the corners have no lines yet.

Step 5: Extend the Path to Cover the Canvas

Undo the fill with CtrlZ (Windows) or CommandZ (macOS). You will extend the path so the lines cover the whole canvas.

Select the Direct Selection Tool. Click the end point, then drag it farther out from the center.

Press ShiftBackspace (Windows) or ShiftDelete (macOS) to open the Fill dialog again. Make sure Speed Lines is still selected under Script, then click OK in the Fill dialog and again in the Speed Lines window.

This time, the lines cover more of the canvas. If a corner is still empty, zoom out, undo, and drag the end point out even further.

Step 6: Customize the Comic Lines

Open the Fill dialog and run the script again to get back to the Speed Lines window. The first setting is the Line Type.

Zoom creates lines that burst out from the center. Speed creates the speed effect you will use in Step 9. Stay on Zoom for now.

Next, choose a line shape. A reverse shape makes the lines thick on the inside and thin on the outside. Waves sends waves out from the center, and Even keeps each line the same thickness from end to end.

Choose Even so the slider changes are easy to see. The other shapes are self-explanatory, so try them on your own.

The Advanced tab has more options. You can change the line Color, but leave it at black, because a black line on a transparent layer is easy to recolor later.

Transparency gives the lines different levels of opacity, so some look gray. Vibration Randomness roughens the lines into something like a pencil sketch.

Step 7: Try the Comic Zoom Line Presets

Go back to the Basic tab and open the Presets menu. It holds ready-made speed line and zoom line styles.

• Speed Line Wind
• Zoom Line Even 1
• Zoom Line Explode, a classic comic book look
• Zoom Line Radiation
• Zoom Line Standard Bold 2, the preset used in this tutorial

Choose Zoom Line Standard Bold 2 and click OK.

In the video, the top of the image ends up with no zoom lines. To fix that, undo the fill and click the path point with the Direct Selection Tool.

Move that point toward the center of the character’s body. Then press ShiftBackspace (Windows) or ShiftDelete (macOS) to run the script again.

1. Increase the Line Width a little.
2. Decrease the Center Space slightly.
3. Increase the Randomness of the center space.

Click OK. The zoom lines now surround the character.

Step 8: Color the Action Lines

The action lines sit on a layer with transparency. Only the black lines are solid pixels.

That means you can double-click the layer and add a Color Overlay. Choose red or any other color you like.

You can also add a Gradient Overlay for a more noticeable effect.

The video keeps the lines black, so click Cancel if you want the same result.

Step 9: Add Speed Lines in Photoshop and Mask Them

Comic Kit can also draw speed lines that show a character moving across the frame. Hide the action lines layer by clicking its eye icon, then create a new layer for the speed lines.

Delete the old path. Select it and press the Backspace (Windows) or Delete (macOS) key.

Use the Pen Tool to draw a new two-point path that goes across the entire image.

Press ShiftBackspace (Windows) or ShiftDelete (macOS), then click OK. In the Speed Lines window, choose the Speed Lines Even 1 preset and click OK.

Now the character looks like he is moving. Next, add a layer mask to the speed lines layer. You will use the mask to hide the lines that cover him.

1. Select the Lasso Tool and draw a selection around the lines you want to hide.
2. If you select too much, hold Alt (Windows) or Option (macOS) and drag to subtract from the selection.
3. With the layer mask active and black as the background color, press CtrlBackspace (Windows) or CommandDelete (macOS) to fill the selection with black.
4. Repeat for the other lines you want to hide. You can also make these selections with the Rectangular Marquee Tool.

The speed lines now show the character moving through space to the right. You can delete the path when you are done.

The video deletes this speed lines layer and turns the action lines layer back on, because the zoom lines suit this drawing better.

Step 10: Clean Up a Thick Line

Look over the zoom lines for any shape you do not like. In the video, one line comes out too thick.

Select the action lines layer and pick the Polygonal Lasso Tool. Draw a triangle that matches the shape of the other lines.

With black as the foreground color, press AltBackspace (Windows) or OptionDelete (macOS) to fill the triangle with black.

Press CtrlD (Windows) or CommandD (macOS) to deselect.

Step 11: Create a Halftone Pattern in Photoshop

Create a new layer for the halftone dots. Then go to Edit > Fill.

Keep Contents set to Pattern with Script checked. Choose Screen Pattern from the drop-down menu and click OK.

Photoshop opens the Screen Pattern window. Choose the Default preset so your settings match the video.

On the Advanced tab, Pattern Type changes the shape of each dot. The choices include Circle, Squares (which look more like diamonds), Stars, Leaves and Hearts.

Set it to Circle, then go back to the Basic tab. The Presets menu has many more halftone styles to try.

Stay on the Default preset for now and click OK. Photoshop fills the layer with the halftone pattern.

Only the black dots are opaque, and the white you see is the background layer. Double-click the layer and add a Color Overlay to color the halftones red or any color you like.

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

You learned how to create comic action lines in Photoshop with Comic Kit. A two-point path, the Fill dialog and a few sliders replace hours of hand-drawn lines.

The same add-on makes speed lines and halftone patterns. Each one lands on its own layer, so you can recolor or mask it whenever you like.

Watch the video to see every slider in action, and comment on the video if you have a question.

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