The Forest of Shadows

Make Your Own Stick Figure Theater!

First of all, it is perfectly acceptable to do SSFT art and guest episodes in any format you like! However, if you'd like to do it the way I do it, you can use the information on this page.

I start with a blank frame:

SFT Blank

You can use this frame if you like. Right now, it's a GIF without many colors, so in order to draw on it you'll have to save it to your hard drive, then open your drawing program (I use MS Paint to get that rugged, low-tech look) and save it as the highest quality bitmap possible.

Next, I add stick figures and other "art" to the comic, dividing it into as many panels as I need for that episode. The lines that divide panels are generally two pixels wide.

cast

I don't draw the characters every time I use them...instead, I copy them and paste them into new episodes. You can do the same thing. (And you can even copy straight from GIFs.) This picture has the main characters, and all you have to do to get anything else is copy it out of a previous episode.

When I'm done drawing, the strip looks something like this:

SFT in progress

When I'm finished adding pictures (or have at least one panel), I save the bitmap and open it in Picture It! to add the text. (I use this program because text looks much nicer in it than in Paint, and I can easily resize and edit it until I get exactly what I want.) Then, I save the comic as a bitmap again and go back to do anymore editing in Paint. Sometimes I go back and forth several times for one episode. Finally, I turn the finished product into a GIF, and then it's ready to go up on the forums or the website! Voila:

Now, of course, we get to the only part of these directions that is really useful... the characters' (etc.) fonts, more or less in order of appearance. If you want to identify a font not listed here, just ask.

Narrator Salli: Black Comix
Sarah: Red Papyrus
Amy: Dark Green Courier New
Kat: Light Blue Comic Sans MS
Stick Figure Salli: Blue Tahoma
Notes and Sound Effects: Black Franklin Gothic Book (alt: Arial)
Bunni: Dark Red Lucida Calligraphy
The Cow: Black Snap ITC
The Beach Monster: Brown Matisse ITC
Senator Bob: Black Century Gothic
RBA Announcer: Black Jokerman
Sebastian: Grey Eurostyle
Daxila: Light Green Andy
Alorian: Goldenrod Matura MT Script Capitals
Susie Stick: Pink Monotype Corsiva
Susie the Hyper Amoeba: Green ???
Stick Figure Fire Dept.: Black ???
Miraeda: Dark Blue Gill Sans MT
Raynewyn: Brown Comic Sans MS
Whisper: Light Green Andy
Joker: Yellow-orange Garamond
Ellie: Lavender Bradley Hand ITC

I have no idea how many of these fonts you are likely to have. I've downloaded way too many fonts to keep track of which ones came with the computer! If you don't have one and can't find something similar to replace it with, just make sure you get the colors right and distinguish between the speech of characters who have similar colors. I sometimes draw lines indicating who said what, but (usually) only when I think it might be confusing otherwise.

This page is by no means a comprehensive guide. If you have any questions, stop by the forums and ask!

If you've made something that you want to share, and you'd like to mail it to me, please let me know in advance (in the forums or via another email) so I know to expect an attachment and don't accidentally delete it! Thanks!

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