Panels

A CLI tool that allows exporting a comic book in PDF format from a configuration file (XML, JSON, or YAML) and a set of images.

Installation

Linux

Debian/Ubuntu

Replace VERSION with the release version (e.g. 2.0.0):

curl -sL -o Panels.VERSION-amd64.deb https://github.com/samdouble/panels/releases/download/vVERSION/Panels.VERSION-amd64.deb
sudo apt install "$(pwd)/Panels.VERSION-amd64.deb"
panels --help

On ARM64 Linux, use the following instead.

curl -sL -o Panels.VERSION-arm64.deb https://github.com/samdouble/panels/releases/download/vVERSION/Panels.VERSION-arm64.deb
sudo apt install "$(pwd)/Panels.VERSION-arm64.deb"
panels --help

Portable zip (x64)

curl -sL -o Panels.VERSION-linux-x64.zip https://github.com/samdouble/panels/releases/download/vVERSION/Panels.VERSION-linux-x64.zip
unzip Panels.VERSION-linux-x64.zip
./Panels --help

macOS

curl -sL -o Panels.VERSION-osx-x64.zip https://github.com/samdouble/panels/releases/download/vVERSION/Panels.VERSION-osx-x64.zip
unzip Panels.VERSION-osx-x64.zip
./Panels --help

Windows

curl -sL -o Panels.VERSION-win-x64.zip https://github.com/samdouble/panels/releases/download/vVERSION/Panels.VERSION-win-x64.zip
unzip Panels.VERSION-win-x64.zip
./Panels.exe --help

Usage

Command-line Commands & Arguments

• --version: Show version information.

generate

This command will use the raw images and the config file to generate the final PDF file.

• -c, --config (required): Path to the configuration file (.xml, .json or .yaml/.yml) describing the comic structure.
• -i, --images (required): Path to the directory containing the images used in the comic.
• -o, --output (optional): Path to the output PDF file. If not specified, the output will be named output.pdf in the current directory.
• -?, -h, --help: Show help information.

Example:

Panels -- generate -c path/to/config.xml -i path/to/images -o my_comic.pdf

validate

This command will validate the config file.

• -c, --config (required): Path to the configuration file (XML, JSON, or YAML) to validate.
• -?, -h, --help: Show help information.

Example:

Panels -- validate -c path/to/config.xml

Configuration

File Formats

Configuration is supported in three formats:

• JSON (.json) and YAML (.yaml, .yml): Same structure as JSON, with $type used for polymorphic nodes (e.g. $type: slot, $type: panel, $type: text, $type: description, $type: newpage). The root object is the comic; use a children array for slots and new pages.
• XML (.xml): Schema-validated; see XML Configuration Reference below.
• YAML (.yaml, .yml): Same structure as JSON, with $type used for polymorphic nodes (e.g. $type: slot, $type: panel, $type: text, $type: description, $type: newpage). The root object is the comic; use a children array for slots and new pages.

Schema Reference

The XML configuration file defines the structure and content of your comic. Here is a minimal example:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<comic
  version="1.0"
  marginTop="64"
  marginBottom="64"
  marginLeft="25"
  marginRight="25"
  horizontalPanelSpacing="10"
  verticalPanelSpacing="10"
  rowsPerPage="3"
>
  <slot>
    <panel image="0000.png">
      <text text="I love riding my bike!" />
      <description text="Character A is riding a bike." top="20" />
    </panel>
  </slot>
  <slot>
    <panel image="0010.png">
      <text text="Hi, how are you?" character="Alice" />
      <text text="I'm good. How about you?" character="Bob" top="20" />
    </panel>
  </slot>
</comic>

<comic>

The root element. Attributes:

• version (required): Version of the schema (e.g. "1.0").
• bordersColor (optional): Color for panel borders as a hex value (e.g. #000000 for black). Defaults to black if neither comic nor panel specifies it. Can be overridden per panel with the panel's bordersColor.
• bordersWidth (optional): Stroke width in points for panel borders. Defaults to 2 if neither comic nor panel specifies it. Can be overridden per panel with the panel's bordersWidth.
• fontSize (optional, default: 12): Font size for text.
• font (optional, default: Comic Neue Bold): Font for text. Built-in options: Comic Neue, Comic Neue Bold, Bangers, Comicsam-Bold, Comicsam-Regular, or a path to a .ttf file. Can be overridden at slot, panel, or text level.
• horizontalPanelSpacing (optional): Horizontal spacing between panels in pixels.
• marginTop (optional): Margins in pixels.
• marginBottom (optional): Margins in pixels.
• marginLeft (optional): Margins in pixels.
• marginRight (optional): Margins in pixels.
• rowsPerPage (optional, default: 3): Number of rows per page.
• showPageNumbers (optional, default: true): When true, shows page numbers at the bottom center of each page. Set to false to hide them.
• skipFirstRow (optional, default: false): When true, leaves the first row empty on the first page so content starts on the second row.
• verticalPanelSpacing (optional): Vertical spacing between panels in pixels.

A <comic> can contain multiple <slot> and <newpage /> elements.

<slot>

Defines a column of panels. Attributes:

• fontSize (optional): Font size for the text in the slot.
• font (optional): Font for the text in the slot. Inherits from the comic when not set.
• maxPaddingLeft (optional, default: 0%): Maximum left padding that can be applied when cropping panels in this slot. The value is a percentage of the panel image width, not pixels — for example, 15% on a 600px-wide image means up to 90px of left padding.
• maxPaddingRight (optional, default: 0%): Maximum right padding that can be applied when cropping panels in this slot. Same unit as maxPaddingLeft: a percentage of the panel image width (e.g. 15% of 600px = 90px).

A <slot> can contain up to 2 <panel> elements.

<panel>

Represents a single panel in a slot. Attributes:

• image (required): Filename of the image for this panel.
• borders (optional): Set to "none" to hide the panel border. By default, panels have a black border.
• bordersColor (optional): Color for this panel's border as a hex value (e.g. #FF0000 for red). Overrides the comic's bordersColor when both are set.
• bordersWidth (optional): Stroke width in points for this panel's border. Overrides the comic's bordersWidth when both are set.
• fontSize (optional): Font size for the text in the panel.
• font (optional): Font for the text in the panel. Inherits from the slot or comic when not set.
• paddingBottom (optional, default: 0%): Padding cropped from the bottom of the panel's image. The value is a percentage of the image height, not pixels — for example, 15% on an 800px-tall image means 120px of bottom padding.
• paddingTop (optional, default: 0%): Padding cropped from the top of the panel's image. Same unit as paddingBottom: a percentage of the image height (e.g. 10% of 800px = 80px).

A <panel> can contain multiple <text> and <description> elements.

<text>

Adds a text bubble or caption to a panel. Attributes:

• text (required): The text content.
• character (optional): Name of the character speaking.
• font (optional): Font for this text element. Inherits from the panel, slot, or comic when not set.
• fontSize (optional): Font size for the text in the panel.
• left (optional, default: 0): Positioning of the text within the panel.
• top (optional, default: 0): Positioning of the text within the panel.
• width (optional, default: auto): Width of the text bubble in pixels.

<description>

Adds a description or narration to a panel. Attributes:

• text (required): The description content.
• font (optional): Font for this description element. Inherits from the panel, slot, or comic when not set.
• fontSize (optional): Font size for the text in the panel.
• left (optional, default: 0): Positioning of the description.
• top (optional, default: 0): Positioning of the description.
• visible (optional, default: True): Controls visibility (e.g. "True" or "False").
• width (optional, default: auto): Width of the description bubble in pixels.

<newpage />

Forces a page break. Can be placed between slots.

Migrating from 1.x to 2.x

• maxPaddingLeft, maxPaddingRight, paddingBottom and paddingTop now require to explicitly set the units as %. Simply add a % at the end of the value for these attributes.
• The default font is now Comic Neue Bold. To use the previous default font, set the font attribute to Comicsam-Bold in the <comic> element.
• The first row of the first page is not skipped by default anymore. To keep the previous behavior, set the skipFirstRow attribute to true in the <comic> element.

Development

Running Locally

dotnet run --project Panels -- generate -c ~/Desktop/github_perso/bd/BD00/bd.xml -i ~/Desktop/github_perso/bd/BD00/images

or:

dotnet build && ./Panels/bin/Debug/net10.0/Panels generate -c ~/Desktop/github_perso/bd/BD00/bd.xml -i ~/Desktop/github_perso/bd/BD00/images

Running the tests

dotnet test