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Everyone loves cartoons. Funny thing about them—they can be designed purely for fun, but they're also a perfect way to get across an important message. Cartoons draw interest, for their visuals say what words cannot. That's why you should consider inserting cartoons into your reports, papers, presentation and projects. To be sure, they'll liven up dull subjects and page after page of black print. They fit into slideshow presentations, on posters, Web sites, and in newsletters. No matter what topic your teacher assigns—especially in subject such as social studies, science, and English—there's probably a cartoon that will give the assignment a bit of pizzazz.

Before you take off envisioning drawing cartoons and comics instead of writing the 15-page paper just assigned, talk to your teacher about your ideas. Perhaps the assignment can be completed through cartoons in a unique slideshow, perhaps adding one or more cartoons to your paper will be acceptable, or perhaps you'll find that this teacher prefers a traditional typed paper containing only text. The key is to find out what is acceptable and fulfill the teacher's expectations. You'll probably be surprised that many times, if you explain what you have in mind, your teacher will think it's a neat idea.

So let's say that you have the teacher's okay to get going with your cartoon inspiration. Just how do you get started? How do you create the cartoons you have in mind? Here are some suggestions, but we're sure you'll come up with lots of others.

If you are an artist who likes to draw on paper, draw your cartoon and then use a scanner to get it into the computer. Size it as you wish in a photo-editing program such as PhotoShop Elements, and save it as a jpeg. If you are an artist who likes to draw on the computer, use your draw or paint program to create what you want and save it as a jpeg image.

You might prefer to use a photograph or clip art for your cartoon, and this can be done using a photo-editing program such as PhotoShop Elements, in a word processing program such as Microsoft Word, in a paint program such as Kid Pix, or in a comic or cartoon-making program such as Comic Life.

Here's how:

• Using PhotoShop Elements, open the photograph or clip art you want to use for your cartoon. Next, select the Custom Shape Tool. You'll see what is called a "Speech Bubble" among the options. Size the bubble and then add the words you want. You can use a traditional white bubble for your words, or you may want to experiment with other colors. To change the color of the bubble, click on the Menu icon "Color". Don't forget to change the color when you are ready to put in your words. Just click on the "Color" icon again and select the color you want. When you are finished with your cartoon, save it as a jpeg in the size you want.

• With Microsoft Word , under the Insert Menu, click on "Picture" and then "From File".  Find the photograph drawing you want to use and select it. Next, look for the icon "Autoshapes" in the Drawing Toolbar. (If you don't have the Drawing Toolbar on your desktop, go to View, Toolbars, and then Drawing. The "Autoshapes" icon will look like a triangle, a square and a circle.) Click on this icon and you'll see a selection of speech bubbles you can use in your cartoon. Add text by typing it in or by making it fancier with "Word Art". "Word Art" is great for adding comments such as "Wow!" or "Unbelievable!". Although cartoons can be just fine without a border, you may want to add a border. To do this, select the "Rectangle" tool. Hint: If you try putting a border around your cartoon and the cartoon disappears, click inside the border and a box called "Format Autoshape" will appear. Select "Layout" and pick "Behind Text." Your cartoon will reappear. In the "Format Autoshape" section, you can also change the size and appearance of your border.

• Using a paint program like Kid Pix or Painter, create your picture and add the text you want. You can also insert photos into many paint programs and add your drawing and text on the photo. Size your cartoon and save as a jpeg.

• With the software program Comic Life, you can create one cartoon or even an entire comic book. Thirty-day downloads of this software are available for free by going to the Plasq site. At this time the software only works on Macintosh computers, but a PC version should be out soon. In Comic Life, you decide what your pages should look like by selecting from an assortment of templates. Then you drag your photos into place on the template selected. You might have four photos on a page or one or six or... depending upon your design. Add speech bubbles and captions by dragging the ones you like onto selected photographs. Add words or messages in the bubbles or captions. Save the cartoon or comic as a jpeg or html image. It's all very easy and the results are amazing.

• Sometimes you'll want to use captions rather than, or in addition to, speech bubbles. Captions can always be inserted below (or above or on the side) of your cartoons and can be included either inside or outside any borders. You might also consider putting your captions into a rectangular shape below your cartoon.

Once you've created your cartoons or comics, it's time to insert them into your report, paper, presentation, or project. Here are some ideas:

• If you're handing in a poster or comic book, size your cartoons for 8.5" X 11" paper and print.
• If you've used Microsoft Word for your cartoon, your cartoon is already in a Word document ready to be handed in with the text of your report or paper.
• If you've created jpegs of your cartoons, these can be placed in word processing documents, Web sites, desktop publishing documents, presentations, slide shows, etc.  For example, in Microsoft PowerPoint or Word, from the Insert Menu, select "Picture", then "From File" to find the jpeg on your computer. The cartoon will be inserted into your document.

Check through the Additional Resources listed below to find ideas about creating cartoons and examples of published cartoons. Sometimes just looking through a group of published cartoons will give you the inspiration and know-how you need to create your own. Examine the techniques of your favorite cartoonists and try some of these in your work.

At times you may decide that you'd like to use a published cartoon for your assignment. If you do, keep in mind that you will need to give credit to the cartoonist by including the cartoonist's name, where the cartoon was published, and the date it was published.  If the cartoon is on a Web site, you'll also need to include the Web address and the date you visited the site. Be warned that some cartoons cannot be used without permission, and some may require a fee to use them.

Whether you use your own cartoons or those drawn by a professional cartoonist, you'll find that cartoons add that something special to your work. —And if you create your own by getting those creative juices going, don't be surprised if you start designing cartoons just for fun.  It's easy and it's addictive. Your teacher and your friends will be impressed—and you won't have any sources to cite.

Additional Resources