SuperFlyer — Tutorials

Everything SuperFlyer can do, one step at a time. Want to see the results first? Read the example flip-books.

1 Getting started

What you'll learn: what you see when SuperFlyer opens, and starting a comic.

When SuperFlyer opens, the Welcome window offers three ways to start:

New Comic: a front cover, three inside pages and a back cover.
New Classroom Comic: the same, with all AI tools switched off for that comic.
Use as Template under an example: an untitled copy of Captain Clay, Waggly Tails Daycare or The Water Cycle, with all its pictures, ready to change.

To see the Welcome window again, choose File ▸ Examples… (⇧⌘N). Turn off Show this window when SuperFlyer opens if you'd rather start with a blank comic.

The window

Pages (left): every page of the book. Click one to edit it.
Effects palette: balloons, words, sound effects and comic looks to drag onto the page. The Effects button in the toolbar hides or shows it.
Canvas (middle): the page you're working on.
Inspector (right): settings for whatever is selected. The line at the top (for example Page 1 › Panel › Balloon) shows where you are; click a step to go back up.
Library (below the canvas): your Cast of characters, the book's Media, and AI Jobs.

2 Pages and layouts

What you'll learn: adding, arranging and deleting pages, and changing a page's panels.

Add a page with the Add Page button in the toolbar or the Page menu. Its arrow lists every layout, including Full Page Panel and Full Page, Edge to Edge.
Change a page's layout with the Layout button (grid icon, top left) or Page ▸ Layout. Panels keep their pictures and words.
Reorder pages by dragging them in the page list.
Duplicate a page with Duplicate Page (⇧⌘D); delete it with Delete Page in the toolbar or Page menu (⇧⌘⌫), or press Delete in the page list. Covers can't be deleted.

Tip Jar page: Add Tip Jar Page adds a page with buttons that link to your tip page (Ko-fi, Buy Me a Coffee, PayPal…). Type the web address in the page settings.

3 Panels

What you'll learn: moving, resizing and styling panels, and putting a picture behind them.

Click a panel to select it. Drag the round handle above it to move it, or the square handles to resize. Panels snap to the page edges and to each other, and pink guides show when they line up. Add Panel puts a new one anywhere.

Panel Style

Fill: the panel's background colour.
Shape: square, rounded, oval or angled. For angled, drag the yellow diamond corners to tilt the panel.
See-through: no fill, so the page's background picture shows inside.
Outline: the line around the panel, with thickness and colour.

Background picture

Select the page (click it in the page list, or the page name in the inspector's path). Under Background Picture, choose File…, Photos, Media or Playground. It fills the page edge to edge behind every panel. Position it with Zoom, Across and Up/Down, or drag the round picture handle in the middle of the page. Add Title puts big words straight over it.

4 Pictures

What you'll learn: adding pictures and clips, drawing with Image Playground, and keeping characters consistent.

Picture or Clip and Photos add pictures or short videos to the selected panel. You can also drag files from Finder onto a panel. Videos loop silently.
Draw with Image Playground… draws a picture on your Mac. Describe it, pick a style, and click Done.
Draw a Character… appears once a character in your Cast has a picture. It starts Image Playground from that picture, so the character looks the same in every panel. Describe only the scene ("eating ice cream on a park bench").
Cut Out Subject removes a picture's background, keeping the person, pet or object.
Fit, Zoom, Across and Up/Down crop a picture inside its panel.

Comic looks

Turn a photo into comic art: Comic Ink, Halftone Dots, Pop Art, Pencil Sketch or Noir. Choose one under Comic Look for the selected picture, or drag one from the palette onto a picture. Original brings back the untouched picture.

5 Words, balloons and sound effects

What you'll learn: balloons and their tails, captions, titles, fonts and lettering.

Balloons: speech, thought, shout or whisper. Type the words in the inspector. Drag the yellow handle on the page to point the tail at the speaker.
Captions: boxed narration ("Meanwhile…"). Turn off Caption Box for plain words.
Sound effects: POW!, BOOM!, SPLASH! and more, as a starburst or as big outlined lettering. Retype the word to make your own.

Lettering

The Font button lists every font on your Mac, comic favourites first. Use Language to show only fonts for a writing system (Arabic, Hebrew, Japanese, Hindi, Thai…). Arabic and Hebrew text right-aligns automatically. Outline and Shadow keep words readable over busy pictures.

6 The effects palette

What you'll learn: dragging items onto the page.

The palette is grouped into drop-downs: Balloons, Words, Sound Effects, Lettering and Comic Looks. Click a heading to open or close it.

Drag a tile onto any panel. It lands where you drop it.
Or select a panel first and click a tile to add it there.
Drop a comic look onto a picture to change that picture.

7 Editing, copying and undo

What you'll learn: copy, paste, duplicate and undo.

Undo and Redo are at the top right of the toolbar, and ⌘Z / ⇧⌘Z. Hover over Undo to see what it will undo. Every change can be undone, as far back as you like.
Copy, Cut and Paste (⌘C, ⌘X, ⌘V) work on balloons, pictures, captions and whole panels, even between comics.
Duplicate (⌘D) copies the selected item, or the page when nothing is selected.

8 Motion and Preview

What you'll learn: making things move, and reading your book.

Select a layer and choose When the page opens: Pop In, Pulse, Slow Zoom or Slide In, with a delay and length. Each page has a Page Turn effect too.

Preview (toolbar, or ⇧⌘P) reads the book as your readers will see it: motions play and clips loop. Use the arrow keys to turn pages.

9 Sharing: flip-books, PDF and images

What you'll learn: exporting, and putting a flip-book online.

Choose File ▸ Export or the Export button in the toolbar:

Flip-Book Website: a folder that works as a small website, plus a .zip for uploading. Pages turn, motions play, clips loop and Tip Jar buttons work, on any phone, tablet or computer.
PDF: print-size pages.
Page Images: one PNG per page, for social media or printing.

Putting a flip-book online

Phones can't open a folder from email or Messages, so the flip-book needs a web address. After exporting, click Put It Online… for the steps. The easiest free way is Netlify Drop: sign in and drag the flip-book folder onto the page. You can also upload the .zip to Cloudflare Pages, or the folder to your own website. Then share the link.

10 Translate Book

What you'll learn: making an edition in another language.

Choose File ▸ Translate Book…, or Translate Book… in the Book settings.
Pick a language and click Translate. The first time, macOS may ask to download that language.
A new untitled comic opens with every balloon, caption, title and Tip Jar text translated. Sound effects stay as they are. Your original isn't changed.

Read it through: machine translation can miss jokes and comic terms. Every word stays editable.

11 Optional: more AI with OpenRouter

What you'll learn: drawing with other image models and animating panels.

Everything above works without an account. If you'd like more image models, add your own OpenRouter key in SuperFlyer ▸ Settings ▸ AI. Then:

Draw with OpenRouter… draws a panel with the model you choose, using your characters' reference pictures. The cost estimate is shown before you start.
Animate with AI… turns a panel's picture into a short looping clip. Jobs run in the background; follow them in the AI Jobs tab.
Make with AI in a character's card draws a reference sheet from its description.

OpenRouter charges your OpenRouter account for these. SuperFlyer marks AI-made pictures under How this was made.