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: Packing Tape
Feb 23, 2006

Public Service Announcement: Please do not attempt to tape up penguins with packing tape. Use duct tape and you’ll find it works much better.

I really do hate packing tape. Probably the worst part is the dispensers. They seem like they are almost scientifically designed to annoy you, yet you are dependent on them because you don’t dare try to handle that packing tape on its own. And while on the dispenser the end will often slip off the teeth or the little tab or wheel that’s suppose to hold it and instantly seal back to the roll. It’s so thin and transparent that finding that end and peeling it back off the roll can prove quite a challenge. Or maybe Wally and I just share an impairment. We are packing tape challenged.

Art Software

Lately several people have asked me what software I use to create the comic, so I just thought I would share it here. I use an old version of CorelDRAW. I’ve used Corel since version 2, even often to the hatred of printers and Mac people in the graphic design industry. I had a PC with Windows 3 that had just come out, and it was available at an affordable price. I know most people in design and illustration use Adobe Illustrator for vector graphics, but I just got use to Corel. Also they always packaged it with lots of bonus stuff on top of being a lot more affordable. Version 13 is out now and I’ve been trying out the free demo of it this week with the comic and some other projects. I’m liking it a lot and am going to have to upgrade. It’s packaged with Corel Paint, which is not quite Adobe Photoshop, but still great image editing software, I need to play around more with the new version of that. If you use a Windows machine and are looking for professional quality vector and image editing software at an affordable price (bundled together about 2/3 the cost of Adobe Illustrator or Photoshop alone) then you should definitely give it a look. It’s free to try out the two week demo.

Some day here I’ll put together a step-by-step of my process for creating the comic.

18 Comments

  1. hterry says:

    Some people don’t give Corel products a chance because it’s not that popular but I use Corel as well 🙂

  2. Lee says:

    Duc’ tape will have to do until they invent penguin tape :-/

  3. mfritts says:

    Corel Draw is the finest page layout/vector graphics program on the market, but just because Illustrator was first on the scene no one pays any credit to Corel Draw except those that use it. I have version 12, and I will never use anything else for my page layout and vector graphics.

  4. Phill says:

    😆 Wally’s face in the second panel…

  5. Tyler Martin says:

    Hey guys, nice to see some other Corel users out there. Woohoo!

  6. michael (A.K.A. antarticus) says:

    wallt is just mean 🙁 either that or obliviously stupid 😉

  7. michael (A.K.A. antarticus) says:

    wally, not wallt

  8. Dad says:

    Wally’s a lovable, huggable,funloving bear, who just happens to be a moron. heh

  9. Spooky300310 says:

    Penguin tape! 🙂 😛 LOL

  10. Julie says:

    I used to use CorelDraw at a different job. It was so easy to use and I could create awesome graphics. The best part is that I can’t even draw a straightline, but CorelDraw made it look like I could!

  11. Ashley says:

    how come there is no comic for today? 🙁

  12. Tyler Martin says:

    I just got a bit behind. It will still be up, a bit later today. 😉

  13. Ashley says:

    okay, thanks 🙂

  14. If Corel still made Mac products more graphics guys would use it.

  15. Dad says:

    I’m sorry I called Wally a moron. Even though I was just kidding . You really got to me Wally…… I love you man ….I

    • Edi says:

      Thanks for this video. I have a question rerndgiag the audio you recorded while taking notes. Was this done with the built-in mic? How far were you away? from the professor?

  16. bobo says:

    wally is dumb but not in a bad way.

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