Adobe Flash is a great program to use if you want to create manga characters. Since the software is vector, you can scale your images up or down without any loss of quality at all. This is essential for those who wish to print out their drawings at a later date. On this How to Draw Manga in Flash page, you will learn how to make a manga figure in Flash from start to finish.

To be able to perform this tutorial, you need to have prior knowledge of Flash's basic drawing tools such as the paint bucket, gradient, pen and brush tool. Also, you should know your way around the stage and timeline without much effort. Although some of the manga standards are explained, you will need to have a general understanding of drawing a figure to get the most out of it. It should take 30 minutes to an hour to finish this how to depending on your skill level.

First, you have to hand sketch or find a reference photograph of your subject. Once you establish your pose, you will make a line drawing in Flash so that you can easily work from your guide lines while building up your shapes and graphic clips. During the process, you will find out how to make the head, hair, body and outfit in manga style with a simple and forgiving method that is unique to Flash.

There are several avenues available to you when you want to find a foundation image to use. One option is to piece together several different photographs to make one that contains all the elements that you need. For example, you may find the pose that you like in one picture and the pose in a different one.

Another option is to use a 3D program such as Daz Studio or Poser to make a virtual mannequin that you can put in any position that appeals to you. Then, you can save the image from any camera angle. The advantage to a digital mannequin is that you have the image already on your computer to use as a base, and you can add outfits and hairstyles right in the program.

• Importing an image:

1. Type Ctrl + R to import your image to the stage. (Say no if it asks to import a sequence, since you aren't making a movie.)
2. With the picture selected, click F8 to turn it into a move clip.
3. In the property window, pick Alpha from the Color drop down menu. Change it to 50 %.
4. Rename the layer ref. To change the name, just double click the text and type your new wording.
5. Lock this layer by clicking the dot that corresponds with the lock icon on the interface. This insures that the image won't be moved by mistake.

Head shapes in manga are not all that different from traditional drawing. Although, the oval shape is preferred for females while the square jaw shape is used predominately when sketching males. The eyes are drawn much larger than usual and contain distinctive highlight glints that give the appearance of glossiness. Conversely, the nose and mouth are drawn smaller than usual. At times, the nose is left out completely.

When creating hair for your characters, the style should be unique to each one. You should be able to distinguish them from afar just by the hairstyle. The hair should appear vibrant and full. Try to keep the highlighting consistent.

• Head Ratios:
• Leave enough space between the eyes to fit another eye width.
• The nose width fits within the span between the inner eye corners in traditional art. It can be much narrower in manga.
• The corners of the lips usually line up with the width between the pupils. However, the mouth width is often only a tad wider than the nose in manga.

• Drawing Method:

1. Add a new layer above ref. (Pick the small paper icon in the bottom left corner of the timeline interface.) Name the layer face.
2. To activate the circle tool, use the shortcut O.
3. Draw a black circle over the reference face.
4. Now, you'll want to turn the layer into outlines so that you can see your graphic underneath. Click the hollow rectangle on the face layer.
5. With the selection tool active (Hit shortcut V), hover your mouse near the edge of the shape. You should see an arc icon above your cursor. This lets you know that you can alter the curve. Simply click and drag the curve to move it to match your guide picture.
6. Hold Ctrl while clicking the line to get a new point and move it along the edge of the face.
7. If you need even more direct control over a point, you can use the subselection tool. Hit shortcut A. With this tool, you can directly manipulate the Bezier curve handles.
8. Once you have your shape, copy it with Crtl + C. Create a new temporary layer and paste in place with shortcut Ctrl + Shift + V.
9. With it still active, change the color to a flesh tone by clicking the color next to the bucket on the side toolbar.
10. Then, scale it 90% with Ctrl + Alt + S . Move it around until you get an angled black line around it.
11. Cut the shape with Ctrl + X. Paste it in place on the face layer. The black and flesh colored shapes are now merged. If you were to delete the middle color, it would leave a cut out in the black.
12. Use your line tool to draw a line straight down the middle of the face. Snap the line end points to the curves. Then, select one of the new shapes created and make it a darker skin tone for shading.
13. Delete the line. After that you can add points to the new shape and drag it into the shadow shape.
14. Turn off outlines then select both circles and make them a move clip with F8. Name it faceMC.
15. All the elements of the figure are created in the same way.

Once you are done with the head, you can use it to keep your figure in proportion. The ideal manga male is eight or nine heads tall, while his female counterpart is seven or eight heads tall. If you're creating a chibi (super deformed miniature figure), you should aim for two or three heads tall. These ratios are really only useful when the limbs are not foreshortened in perspective.

Although the outfits are what stand out to most viewers, you can't disregard the importance of building a solid body beneath the clothes first. If you try to just draw the fabric and stick feet and hands at the proper spots, you will undoubtedly make errors in the contours. More importantly, it is much easier to form the clothing and figure out where wrinkles and folds go once you use the body as a guide.

Take your time when designing costumes. Along with hair, it will be your character's signature in the comic. Before you can decide what style of clothing they will wear, you need to know his background and motivation. Is he the hero? Is he from a different place and time? What is his profession? Is he quiet and reserved or charming and outgoing? Once you know all about the subject, you can create an outfit that conveys many of the main characteristics to the reader.

• Head/Body Ratios:
• From the bottom of the neck to the top of the rib cage is one head tall.
• The chest is two heads wide.
• Hips are slightly narrower that the chest.
• From the top of the rib cage to the top of the hip bones is one head tall.
• The arms are around two heads long and fall at the top of the thighs.
• The thighs are around 1 3/4 heads long.
• Calves are 2 1/4 heads long.

Manga Resources

Dunn, Ben. How to Draw Manga. New York, New York: Mud Puddle Books, Inc., 2004.

Ozawa, Tadashi. How to Draw Anime and Game Characters: Vol. 3 Bringing Daily Actions to Life. Tokyo, Japan: Graphic-sha Publishing Co., Ltd., 1999.

The Society for the Study of Manga Techniques. How to Draw Manga: Vol. 5 Developing Shoujo Manga Techniques. Tokyo, Japan: Graphic-sha Publishing Co., Ltd., 1997.