Comic Genesis Forums

So after a half year wasted on silly things like school, I've been building up to continuing my comic; working on the scripts, practicing anatomy and figures, reviewing tutorials, etc.

Upon reading one of these helpful guides to non-suckage, I see that it suggests that comic pages are drawn in 11x14. Another hints guide says I go even bigger than that! So far, I've drawn pages in 8 1/2 by 11, which I suppose would be -part- of why my inking isn't up to snuff, but I know that if I go for bigger paper, I'll likely have to get a big, expensive scanner.

So, among those who haven't embraced the ways of the tablet (another help topic unto itself), what size of paper do you generally use for your comic?

What kind of comic are you talking about? Something that you intend to print later on is going to suffer from the fact that it needs to be able to fit into standard sizes. Something destined entirely for the web, on the other hand, has the benefit of the unlimited canvas and isn't bound by any form of page size.

But if you're dealing with the latter, where you're at is important as well. Paper sizes vary, and consequently, so do the dimensions of print media, such as books or pamphlets.

Well, IMHO, you have two things to keep in mind:

-Unless you have mad skillz, consider drawing things bigger than they will appear on screen/in print. That is because little mistakes (squiggly lines and such) tend to disappear when you shrink an image.

-How much touch-up are you ready to do in photoshop, gimp or any other program? If you are ready to move things around as needed, then paper size does not matter much. If you wish to do as little touch-ups as possible, then you must base your choice of paper size on the first criteria I mentionned above.

It all depends on practicality. Bigger is better in almost all respects, but I have to work on A4 because it needs to fit in my ruck-sack, so what I do is draw panels at a time so that the total page would be about 8" by 15" if you stitched them togethor.

I draw small (each page is about 9x12"), on account of working with tiny pen-nibs and having a small scanner. Although if I have a particularly challenging panel, I may draw it on a separate sheet, then shrink it down and tack it on after scanning. Someday, when I'm not a broke student, I may get myself some lovely inking brushes and a huge bloody scanner. But in the meantime, I draw small then photoshop the living hell out of my line work. >>

A little late for this, but large format scanners aren't nearly as expensive as they used to be. If you want to try drawing on larger paper, you can get an 11x17 inch flatbed scanner for about $200 through an eBay store. Compared to what most large format scanners cost (ahemtwothousanddollarscough) that's nothing. And I've found that drawing larger does have it's perks. You can get in much, much more detail, and little mistakes are easier to hide.

I use 8.5X11" myself. Mostly because it fits my scanner and it's portable. A simple cheat you can do is to just turn your sketch pad on its side and span your comic over two pages allowing you to create a comic at 11X19 instead. I've done this a few times, but I find it creates a break in my canvas, and isn't exactly standard size. I tend to build my comics with print in mind (even though as of now there is no print version of the comic) to keep a good habit of using the format.

The downside of that little cheat is that you create a break midway in your comic, so if you like non square panels you can never have a panel longer than half page, and mid page you'll have to end your panels, or be forced to try and perfectly re align the two images later.

I use 8.5x14 legal paper. I am aiming for 4x the size of newspaper strips, but I could do that on 8.5x11 easily. My scanner is only 8.5x11 anyway, so my art still fits. Having the extra margin and space is helpful for handling the paper while drawing though. 8.5x14 has a more "linear" fell.

Right now I use 9x12 Bristol. It saves scan time, and still holds a good line. What feels confortable? After years of 9x12 the full size bristol feels way to big for me. Ultimately it's what you feel comfy with.

It depends on a lot of things, mostly your comic's format. You can do detail on 8.5x11, but it'd be easier to do more on bigger paper.

I use 11x14 and scan in two parts. Turn the paper sideways, scan the top half, then turn it and scan the bottom half. There'll be enough overlap that you can tweak it in photoshop to get the pieces to meld together.

Mercury Hat wrote:It depends on a lot of things, mostly your comic's format. You can do detail on 8.5x11, but it'd be easier to do more on bigger paper.

I use 11x14 and scan in two parts. Turn the paper sideways, scan the top half, then turn it and scan the bottom half. There'll be enough overlap that you can tweak it in photoshop to get the pieces to meld together.

Agreed, right now thehardest part for me on the small paper I use is backrounds. I can do them, but it seems liek Im always trying to squeeze in more people. Therefore unless i go fully digital after I cut through my slush i will most likely go big to 11x17, even throwing a punch on 8.5x11 is a pain panel sized.

Some of you guys are prob'ly sick of hearing me say this but
I break standard size comix pages (6x9'- I work doublesize so actual assembled raw art would measure an awesome antiquated 12x18" page) into 3/4 sections and draw & ink 'em separately on 9x12 bristolboard.
That way I can scan them and assemble them digitally.