> ## Knowledge Base Index
> Fetch the complete knowledge base index at: https://help.comicink.ai/sitemap.xml
> Use this file to discover available pages before exploring further.
> Pure-Markdown content can be obtained by appending a '.md' suffix to the content URLs listed in the sitemap (without the trailing slash).

# Comic strips

A **comic strip** is a single page of 3 or 4 panels that tells one gag or moment: a setup, then a punchline in the last panel. Start one from the [comic strip maker](https://www.comicink.ai/comic-strip-maker): type a one-line idea, pick an art style, and press **Create Comic**.

## How a strip is different from a comic

- **One page.** The AI writes a single page of 3 or 4 panels. Even if your idea describes a long story, it picks the one moment that works best as a strip.
- **No cover or back cover.** The strip itself is the picture you see in your library and when you share it.
- **No character portraits first.** The whole strip is drawn as one image, so your characters already look the same in every panel. You go straight from the script to drawing the page.
- **No printing.** Printed books need at least 4 pages, so Order Print isn't offered for a strip. You can still download it as a PDF or as JPG/PNG images, or publish it to a shareable link.

## What it costs

Writing the strip is free. Drawing the page costs the same as any comic page (50 credits), and your first two renders are free. Because a strip needs no character portraits, a new account's free credits cover a whole strip.

## Turning a strip into a full comic

A strip always stays one page. To tell the same idea as a longer story, **start a new comic** from the dashboard (**New comic**) and paste the same idea. A full comic of 4 to 36 pages gets its own cast with reference portraits, a cover and a back cover, which is what keeps the characters consistent from page to page. Sidekick will suggest this too if you ask it to make your strip longer.

## Content rules

Strips follow the same [content rules](https://help.comicink.ai/en/article/content-policy-and-what-we-cant-generate-1qennwp/) as every comic: the idea, the script and the page are all checked the same way.