How to make a speech bubble
- Choose a style. Each preset sets the shape, colours, outline, tail and font. You can change any of them afterwards.
- Type your text. Lines wrap automatically at the Max width; press Enter for a manual line break.
- Adjust the font, size, tail direction, fill, text and outline colours, and outline thickness.
- Export a PNG at 1×, 2× or 3× resolution. The background is transparent unless you turn it on. On most browsers Copy image puts the bubble on your clipboard for pasting into Canva, Photoshop, Google Slides or a chat.
Bubble styles and what they mean
Comics have a visual grammar for speech, and readers understand it instantly. Using the right balloon tells the reader how a line is said, not just what is said.
| Style | Shape | Signals | Typical use |
|---|---|---|---|
| iMessage blue | Pill with curled tail, right | A message you sent (iMessage) | Chat mock-ups, social posts, tutorials |
| iMessage gray | Pill with curled tail, left | A message you received | Replies in the same mock-ups |
| SMS green | Pill with curled tail | A regular text message sent from an iPhone | Showing SMS vs iMessage |
| Comic speech | Rounded box, pointed tail | Normal speech | Webcomics, memes, storyboards |
| Manga oval | Oval with short tail | Normal speech in manga | Manga panels, fan art, anime edits |
| Thought | Cloud with trailing circles | Unspoken thoughts | Inner monologue, reaction images |
| Shout | Spiky burst | Yelling, alarm, sound effects | Emphasis, “BOOM” captions, sale callouts |
| Whisper | Dashed outline | Quiet or secret speech | Asides, gossip, hints |
Lettering tips for comic and manga bubbles
- Keep it short. Around 25 words per balloon is a common guideline. Split long speeches into two bubbles joined by the same speaker.
- Use capitals for Western comics. Traditional comic lettering is all caps, which is why the Comic and Shout styles turn on UPPERCASE. Manga translations often use mixed case in an oval balloon.
- Point the tail at the mouth. The tail should aim toward the speaker’s mouth, not their body. Thought bubbles use circles instead of a tail because nothing is spoken.
- Reading order matters. Readers follow bubbles left to right and top to bottom (right to left in Japanese manga). Place the first speaker’s bubble highest.
- Leave breathing room. Text crammed against the outline looks amateur. The generator adds padding in proportion to the font size, and ovals are drawn larger than the text so the words sit comfortably inside.
- Mind contrast. White text on the SMS green or iMessage blue is readable at normal sizes; for small text on busy images, turn on a background or add an outline.
Making iPhone-style text bubbles
The iMessage styles copy the proportions of iOS chat bubbles: rounded pill ends that grow with the text, a small curled tail at the bottom corner, and generous horizontal padding. Blue marks iMessage, green marks SMS or RCS, and gray marks received messages. Build a conversation by exporting several bubbles and stacking them in any editor, with sent messages aligned right and received messages aligned left. The export is only a picture of a bubble; it is meant for illustrations, tutorials, storyboards and design mock-ups. Please do not use it to fake real conversations.
Sizes, resolution and transparency
The preview canvas is drawn at the size you see. Export at 2× for crisp results on phones and high-DPI screens, or 3× for print and video overlays. Because the background is transparent, you can place the bubble on a photo in the meme generator, over a video in any editor, or on a slide. If an app shows the transparent area as black (some messaging apps do), tick Background and pick a colour before exporting.
Everything is drawn locally with the HTML canvas. Your text is not uploaded, and fonts come from your device. If you want stylised letters rather than a bubble, try the circle text generator or the fancy text generator.
Frequently asked questions
How do I make a text bubble?
Pick a style such as iMessage blue, Comic speech or Thought, type your text, and adjust the font, size, tail direction and colours. The preview updates as you type. Press Download PNG to save the bubble with a transparent background, or Copy image to paste it straight into a chat or design app.
Can I make an iPhone or iMessage style text bubble?
Yes. iMessage blue gives the sent-message look with white text and the tail on the right, and iMessage gray gives the received look with black text and the tail on the left. SMS green matches messages sent as text messages instead of iMessage. The font falls back to your system font, which is San Francisco on Apple devices.
How do I make a manga or comic speech bubble?
Choose Comic speech for a rounded box with a pointed tail, or Manga oval for the classic oval balloon. Comic lettering is traditionally all capitals, so UPPERCASE is switched on for comic styles. Use Thought for a cloud with trailing circles and Shout for a spiky burst.
Does the PNG have a transparent background?
Yes, unless you tick Background. Transparent PNGs can be placed over photos, memes, comic panels, videos and slides without a white box around the bubble.
Why does the font look different on another device?
The generator uses fonts already installed on your device, so the same setting can look slightly different on Windows, Mac, iPhone and Android. The exported PNG is an image, so once saved it looks the same everywhere.
Can I use emoji in a bubble?
Yes. Emoji are drawn with your device's emoji font, so an iPhone exports Apple emoji and Windows exports Microsoft emoji.
Is this the same as bubble letters?
No. This page draws speech bubbles around text. For bubble-style letters you can copy and paste, like circled letters, use the circle text generator.