Moho Forum

I'm looking for a package that I can use to create and print out cartoon drawings... like editorial cartoons.

I like splines as I can nudge them around to get the shapes I like.

Way back I played with Moho and think it used splines to draw...

(connect the dots then nudge around the dots to get your shape.)

My question: Can I create a single drawing in Moho and print it out and save it as a Tiff or Jpeg or PCX or whatever?

thanks for any help - Will

I'm pretty sure this is possible.

Draw everything on frame 0, then 'Render' and Save as a JPG, Targa, etc.

File > Render > Save as:

or Render the frames you want as an "animation" of separate image files.

typo wrote:I'm pretty sure this is possible.

Draw everything on frame 0, then 'Render' and Save as a JPG, Targa, etc.

It does not have to be in Frame 0 - one can do it for any frame in the timeline. Great for making your characters in different poses or trying different poses and choosing the one you want.

The thing to keep in mind is that Moho only exports or saves images at 72 ppi - if you need it for print you will need around 300 ppi (for color magazine) and so you have to create a much larger project size (width and heigth) to start with.

Thanks for all the comments folks.

Regarding 72 vs 300 dbi...

If I need higher resolution, what programs are out there for creating still images that use splines?

thanks again for the help - Will

Will_3 wrote:If I need higher resolution, what programs are out there for creating still images that use splines?

Adobe Illustrator, Corel Draw or the free Incscape seems more suited for the job than Moho, which is a great animation tool but not that great when it comes to creating artwork.

Will_3 wrote:If I need higher resolution, what programs are out there for creating still images that use splines?

(note: Moho will do a high enough resolution, you may just need to calculate the size needed for working in Moho then manually set the DPI in your printing program)

None of these compare to Moho's excellence when it comes to animating, but for just creating still images from scratch, check out http://www.bakhter.com/html/2d/draw_programs.html
Most of the programs on this page are vector (spline) based.

My particular favourites: Expression, Xara X, Real-DRAW Pro, Inkscape.
(Note: my hobbyist budget can't justify the professional prices of some of the professionally-targeted programs).

Expression is brilliant in the vector (spline) area. It was the first to work with vector "brushes" and is still outstanding in this field. Also provides a B-spline tool, which some people prefer, as well as the more common Bezier spline tool. Lends itself very nicely to "artistic" work, but will also do "design" work. Excellent for cartoons.
Currently 3.3 (labelled beta/preview, but doesn't expire and is not feature-limited in any way) is available free (60MB download) from the Microsoft site (requires registering for a free Microsoft .NET Passport account to download). The download includes the full detailed manual, including tutorials.
(3.3. has a few bugfixes from the 3.2 version sold commercially before Microsoft bought the rights. Note 3.3 has one greyed-out non-working button in the toolbar, but the button wasn't present in 3.2 so nobody knows what it does anyway.)
Check out the lessons at http://www.studioe3.com/
See some examples at http://www.microsoft.com/products/expre ... .asp?pg=gl

Xara X is fast, clean, and capable in the vector area, with an excellent set of monthly tutorials (dating back several years) in the Xaraxone.
It lends itself more to clean "design" work than "artistic" work. Excellent for cartoons. Not too expensive.
See some examples at http://www.xaraxone.com/FeaturedArt/nov04/html/13.htm and following pages, http://www.xaraxone.com/FeaturedArt/apr04/html/06.htm and following pages.

I like Real-DRAW Pro particularly for its capability of easy bitmap painting onto vector objects (for shading, etc). Very good for shaded cartoons/illustrations - see my quick intro here.
Shareware, relatively inexpensive.

Inkscape is under continuous development, mainly targeted at the Linux platform, but a Windows version is produced in parallel.
Open source, free, I haven't yet tried it for cartoons.

Regards, Myles.

Will_3 wrote:I'm looking for a package that I can use to create and print out cartoon drawings... like editorial cartoons.

I like splines as I can nudge them around to get the shapes I like.

thanks for any help - Will

Moho can be used to draw still images and you can render them out plenty high enough resolution for print. All an animation is, is a series of still images shown closely together, so no reason Moho couldn't be used instead of higher priced packages like Illustrator (great program BTW). All programs have strengths and weaknesses, just a matter of which one fits YOU best. Most programs nowadays have trial versions so you could check it out before you buy. If you are a student, a lot of them have educational pricing thats usually half the cost or less (like illustrator is usually $499 but its only $99 educational price).

Thanks for the links myles. I was looking for Expression.