Feature 03of 08 · Live-text balloons

Text stays text

Live-text balloons: one drawing, every language

When lettering is baked into the artwork, every new language means erasing and re-lettering pixels — page after page. In PanelWave the balloon is drawn by a lettering engine and filled with real text. A translation is a new string; the balloon re-fits itself, and readers switch language mid-story.

Try it as a Founding Creator Publisher? Request a pilot

Pencil sketch of one comic panel with a speech balloon, fanned out into several copies whose balloons hold scribbled text of different lengths.

Fig. 3How it works

Fig. 3 — Live-text balloonsBalloons are drawn by the lettering engine and filled with real text — one drawing, every language.

balloon types: 10
1.2 · CSV · JSON: XLIFF
drawing for every language: 1

Parts listLive-text balloons

In detail

What you get

Ten balloon types

Speech, rectangle, narrator caption, three cut-top styles, thought, shout, whisper and connector — with tails, presets and a style cascade from work to character to single balloon.

Re-fits per language

Balloons auto-size to their text and re-measure for every language, so a longer German line still fits. The editor warns you when text overflows.

A real translation workshop

Every string in story order, completion per language, DeepL drafts you approve, translation memory, a glossary for your series terms, and stale flags when the source changes.

Works with your translators

Hand out XLIFF 1.2, CSV or JSON files, import them back — your translators keep working in their own tools.

Readers switch mid-story

The language button appears as soon as a work has more than one language. Switching is instant, without a reload — and falls back sensibly when a line isn't translated yet.

Readable by everyone

Screen readers read balloons, search engines can index them, and a typo is fixed in seconds — not in an image editor.

Localized art where you need it

A hand-lettered title card or a sign in the background? Add a per-language version of the image.

A speech balloon in three languages (panelwave.json)

{
  "id": "sb-07",
  "characterId": "mira",
  "text": {
    "en-US": "Something's not right here.",
    "de-DE": "Hier stimmt etwas nicht.",
    "ja-JP": "何かがおかしい。"
  },
  "shape": { "x": 0.58, "y": 0.06, "w": 0.32, "h": 0.16 },
  "balloonConfig": { "balloonType": "whisper" }
}

Who gainsCreators · publishers · readers

What it means for you

For creators

Reach readers beyond your home market without redrawing a single page.

Apply as a Founding Creator

For publishers

Every language edition from one master — with translation memory and glossary keeping a series consistent.

Request a publisher pilot

For readers

Read in your language — even titles that were never published in your country.

See an example

NotesQuestions & documentation

Questions

Read the docs

Every great story starts as a sketch.

Open the drawing board and start with your script, the smoothest way in, or with the art you already have: panel images, video clips or pages without lettering. Add balloons, shape the story, and see your first chapter running on a screen.

Apply as a Founding Creator Request a publisher pilot