Square Enix has reached a partnership with a Tokyo-based AI company called Mantra. The two parties developed a comic typesetting AI tool, which greatly simplifies one of the most tedious aspects of comic production.
Schematic diagram of comic editor using special scale for typesetting
Editors currently spend more than 3,000 hours a year just choosing the right font, size, and placement for every dialog box on every page. This work is not only time-consuming, but also tedious. In the past, it had to be done manually one by one.
The new tool analyzes raw, unprocessed pages, identifies text and dialog shapes, and quickly recommends the best fonts and layouts. The editor still needs to check everything and make changes if necessary. AI will not draw or modify any pictures, it only assists in completing technical steps.
According to reports, the tool has been tested on 1,516 pages of comic content. Feedback from the editorial team has been quite positive, with 73% of editors satisfied with the results, and all editors who participated in the test expressed a desire to continue using the tool.
One editor said that this tool allows them to devote more time to other more important tasks, rather than spending all day on trivial matters such as fonts and layout notes.
