Types of speech bubbles
The shape of a balloon tells readers how something is said, before they read a word.
Speech balloon
An oval with a pointed tail aimed at the speaker's mouth. The standard for normal dialogue.
Thought balloon
A cloud shape with a trail of small circles instead of a tail. It shows thinking, not speaking. Many modern comics use captions for inner thoughts instead.
Whisper balloon
A dashed outline shows a quiet voice. Some letterers also shrink the text or use gray lettering.
Shout balloon
A jagged, spiky outline with bold, larger letters. Use it for yelling, screaming and big emotional outbursts.
Radio or electronic balloon
A zig-zag "lightning" tail, sometimes with a wavy outline, shows a voice coming through a phone, radio, TV or robot.
Caption box
A rectangle for narration, time and place ("Meanwhile…", "Paris, 1923"), or a character's inner voice. Captions have no tail.
Placement and reading order
- Top-left first. The first speaker's balloon sits highest and furthest left in the panel.
- Stagger, don't stack. Each next balloon is lower and further right, so the eye flows in a gentle diagonal.
- Plan who speaks first. Position characters so the first speaker is on the left. This is easier to fix in thumbnails than in lettering.
- Tails point, don't touch. Aim tails at the speaker's mouth and stop short of it. Keep tails short and avoid crossing them.
- Protect the art. Never cover faces, hands or key action. Overlap backgrounds or empty sky instead.
- Off-panel speakers. Point the tail to the panel border in the speaker's direction.
How many words fit in a speech bubble?
A common guideline is no more than about 25 words per balloon and around 200 words per page at the most. If a balloon looks crowded, split it in two and connect them, or cut words. Comics are a visual medium: let the art carry what the words don't need to say.
Hand lettering
- Rule light pencil guidelines with a ruler (or a lettering guide tool) so every line of text is the same height.
- Letter in clear capitals with a fine pen, leaving equal space between lines.
- Draw the balloon around the text, leaving a comfortable margin on all sides.
- Add the tail last, then erase the guidelines once the ink is dry.
Tip: letter before you finish inking the art, so you know exactly how much space the words need.
Digital lettering
- Use a font made for comic lettering, with a bold-italic version for emphasis.
- Keep one consistent font size for dialogue across the whole book.
- Center text in balloons and shape lines into a diamond or oval so the balloon looks round.
- Letter on a separate layer, so you can edit text or translate the comic later.
Sound effects
Sound effects (often written SFX) are drawn lettering that's part of the art. Make the letters match the sound: tall and sharp for a KRAK, round and bubbly for a BLOOP, stretched and tilted for a WHOOOSH. Place the effect close to its source, and use perspective and overlap so it feels like it's inside the scene.
Practice on a real page
Print a blank template and letter a short scene.