A storyboard is a sequence of images and drawings that basically depict a narrative or story, like a film storyboard, comic strips, etc. It is a great tool for an artist to present their ideas in a powerful and effective way. In this article, I am going to mention the best free storyboarding tools that you can use to visualize and present your stories. Let’s check them out.
Free Storyboard Creator software for PC
Here is one free software and two free online tools to create storyboards:
- Storyboarder
- Canva.com
- StoryJumper.com
1] Storyboarder
Storyboarder is a free and open source storyboard maker software for Windows 10. It is one of the best free tools that lets you demonstrate your stories by drawing frames on board. You can create a storyboard in various different resolution presets like ultrawide, HD, square, etc. It also lets you import your own screenplay from Fountain or Final Draft file to add a script to your storyboard.
You can use tools like pencil, pen, and brush to draw sketches on board. It also allows you to import images from locally saved files and add them to your story. Use Move and Resize feature to move images across the board and resize them. It provides a Dialogue feature to insert captions in a frame. A handy feature to add background music is also provided in it.
It lets you customize different settings of each shot that you have added to your storyboard. You can configure options like frame rate, action, add notes, etc. Also, it lets you specify duration of each shot in the storyboard. After creating a storyboard, you can preview it to have a look at final outcome.
Now, you can export your storyboard in a number of formats including Animated GIF, MP4 video, PNG images, and PDF. It also supports Adobe Photoshop, Final Cut Pro X, and Premiere project formats to save your storyboards.
It is a nice free storyboard software with a great set of features.
2] Canva.com
Canva.com is an online graphics designing website that also lets you create storyboards. It provides a variety of storyboard templates and themes that you can use to create your own storyboards. You can even draw a storyboard from scratch.
It lets you upload your own images and add them to a storyboard. You can also search various elements (characters, scenes, callout, shapes, etc.) from its online library and import them to your project. Insert text in a variety of fonts and formats and customize background of your storyboard. It also provides a feature to add video and music to storyboard from its online library. All these features enable you to create a fascinating storyboard.
It also enables you to collaborate with your colleagues to view and edit a storyboard. You can download the created storyboard in MP4 video, GIF, PNG, PDF, and JPG formats.
Canva.com is a good free online storyboarding tool. You can also design posters, banners, logos, and other graphics using it.
3] StoryJumper.com
StoryJumper.com is a dedicated online service that lets you create and share stories in form of a storyboard. It provides a few samples to get started with creating your story. Or, you can start with a blank storyboard and fill it with your own content.
It offers several Props (characters, animals, food, nature, etc.) and Scenes to create a required environment for your story. Besides that, it lets you insert text and custom photos to storyboard. And, you can also record your voice to narrate the story.
You can invite your co-authors to collaborate on a story. After creating a storyboard, you can share it online with the public or selected family and friends via a URL link.
Try any of these and start creating your own storyboards.
