Letter the story

Letter the story — guided practice

Place short readable messages without blocking the action.

Open small-surprise-02.kra. Text: title A Small Surprise; panel 1 START; panel 4 YOU DID IT!; panel 5 YOUR TURN. No other lettering is required.

1. 1. Prepare a lettering layer

   Use the arrow beside the Layers plus button to add a Vector Layer named Lettering above Ink. Choose Text Tool. In Krita 5.3 click where the title belongs to create placeholder text; select and replace it. Older versions open a text editor after dragging a box: replace its placeholder, then Save and Close.

   You should see: The title is a separate editable text object.

   Vector lettering can stay editable without repainting the drawings.

2. 2. Set a clear style

   Select the title text and use Text Properties in 5.3, or the older text editor controls, to choose a plain installed sans-serif font at about 28 points. Use a dark color. Click outside to finish. Use the text bounding box or Shape Selection Tool to position it above the grid.

   You should see: The title fits above the first row without touching the borders.

   A simple installed font avoids a paid font dependency.

3. 3. Add the three messages

   Create separate text objects for START, YOU DID IT!, YOUR TURN in their planned blank areas. Start near 18 points and resize as needed. Keep text off outlines and leave padding around every message. If the device cannot use the text workflow, hand-letter the same short words on a separate paint layer.

   You should see: All six in-story words are visible in the intended panels.

   Short messages leave room for the action and support a mouse-based fallback.

4. 4. Read at intended size

   View at 50% and read all messages without zooming in. If a message is too small, enlarge its clear area and text or remove unnecessary drawing detail. Save As small-surprise-03.kra.

   You should see: The story can be read at approximately 700 pixels wide.

   Working at high zoom can conceal a lettering-size problem.