Tablet Drawing and Image Sizes

[Scyze]

Okay, so I just got a neato tablet and I want to use it for certain things in my comic (in fact, I'm about to wipe my comic and start new), and I'd probably want to do some completely ON the tablet. This means, I won't use paper and I won't scan it, automatically being in 300 DPI--which raises the question, if I eventually wanted to print it, how big of a file should I start messing with the tablet on? Took a little 8 1/2 x 11 scan and chopped it up, have about 2,500 x 3,300, so that's what I'm working with for now. What do you folks use?

(Also, anybody got any freebie neato tablet tips for me? )

Oh, also, that's the general format I'd use for my comic--kind of like an actual comic book, 8 1/2 x 11 or whatever.

[GeorgeComics]

Personally, I think a good rule of thumb is to develop your comic around four times larger than it will be on the web. Maybe some will agree or disagree--I've just found that it works for me. Or, if you're working for print exclusively, I'd recommend you develop it at 300dpi at the size at which it will be printed--thus, if the comic is going to be 8.5x11", the dimensions you're using now are pretty much spot-on.

[Warofwinds]

I never ever plan on printing my comic, but I do like quality. The larger you color/draw your image, the better it looks in the finished product, especially if that product is smaller. I usually color at 2x the size of the final page. Scanning at the 300dpi mark and coloring there is the rule of thumb, as GeorgeComics said.

[Scyze]

Ah, okay, thanks a lot! I'm not going to be working print exclusively, but I figure if there ever is the time that I DO want to print the comics as a book, I won't be stuck in a rut.

[Jen_Babcock]

If I'm printing a full comic, I make it so that it can fit on a standard letter size paper.

When you ink, make sure you zoom in- I zoom in at 200% usually (this allows for smooth lines).

[Siabur]

If you are going to print it yourself test it before you do to make sure quality is what you want. If someone else is going to print it, find out what dpi they prefer. Some printers don't care, others are more picky.

[Paul Escobar]

I see no link to your comic - are you working in black & white, grayscale or colour?

300 dpi is the standard for reproducing photos in book and magazine print. For print comics that are either black and white, or drawn in black lines and then toned or coloured, the standard is minimum 600 dpi for the line art. The line art and graytone/colouring are kept as separate files - line art 600+ dpi bitmap; tones 300 dpi grayscale; colours 300 dpi CMYK - which are then combined in a layout program, e.g. QuarkXPress or InDesign. This keeps the linework crisp and clear. The tones/colours go through a raster filter when printed, producing the countless little dots that make up printed grayscale or CMYK colour pics. If the line art is 300 dpi bitmap, it will look horribly jagged in print. This is right out. If the line art is grayscale or CMYK, it will get turned into raster dots. This will make any linework look slightly blurry.