Comic Page Size Dimensions Help

[Uronoro]

I know it's really the decision of the artist, but I've always wondered that if I was going to finally start making comics, at what dimensions should I make the pages?

It only worries me because I think I heard somewhere that if you publish a book/comic there are the standards sizes and there's are custom sizes that cost more. Those issues arn't to horrible for literary writers when all they're dealing with is a collection of words that can adjust themselves to a page's size, but drawings are not as malleable, what about for comic artists?

So does anyone here know a good page size for me to start off on that won't cause too much headache should the unlikely chance be that I wish to publish it in the future? *looking waayy ahead*

[Seijaku_Ishida]

Are you self-publishing or pitching to a company?

[Uronoro]

Seijaku_Ishida

Are you self-publishing or pitching to a company?

At the moment? I have no earthly idea, I can't see that far ahead into the future. So... I don't know sad . What is best?

[Seijaku_Ishida]

Well, I personally am self-publishing as in todays comic world you can do so without as much risk to yourself, such as publishing through print-on-demand services such as Lulu or CreateSpace. Pretty much the main leverage publishing companies have is getting books in stores and advertising.

But usually with self-publishing, you have leeway on the sizes you want. Most publishers, it's best to check their Submission guidelines to see what they want--and even then, they might reject you. The usual average of the submission and rejection process for someone that wants to get published is 2 years.

[Uronoro]

Seijaku_Ishida

Well, I personally am self-publishing as in todays comic world you can do so without as much risk to yourself, such as publishing through print-on-demand services such as Lulu or CreateSpace. Pretty much the main leverage publishing companies have is getting books in stores and advertising.

But usually with self-publishing, you have leeway on the sizes you want. Most publishers, it's best to check their Submission guidelines to see what they want--and even then, they might reject you. The usual average of the submission and rejection process for someone that wants to get published is 2 years.

Ah, alright, thanks ^^.

Do you know of any page templates that may exist out there?

[Seijaku_Ishida]

CreateSpace actually has a custom template. Some comic paper occasionally has the cut off and bleed sections printed on them in non-photo blue, but it tends to be pricier.

I actually made my own template by measuring and printing it out once I decided on a size. >>;

[Vicemage]

I don't know about CreateSpace, but I'd strongly advise against Lulu for self-publishing unless you plan to only put together a few books... it's not a matter of quality (their quality is outstanding, actually), but of price--they charge far too much for the final product as a result of absorbing setup fees into the per-book cost. (A friend of mine previously used Lulu for all her books, and just couldn't move them because the cost was much too high; her reprints through ComiXpress are much more affordable.)

I personally use ComiXpress for my printing; I've also seen some nice-quality books through Ka-Blam, which I haven't really used for anything but some flyers. I do know for a fact that ComiXpress will work with custom sizes, so you don't need to worry about size/dimensions with them, only that all your pages are the same size. (and if you use ComiXpress in the future you can put me down as a referrer to get a 10% discount on either your setup or first quantity order--I suggest the latter, since it usually costs more.)

If you want standard sizes, what I've got for pre-reduction sizes on my paper supply is:
Western comic: 9 x 13.75 safe zone (11 x 17 full page size; can't find a ruler for this board to measure the bleed zone)
Manga: 9.5" x 13" bleed area (full page size 10" x 14.25" wink

Naturally, both get reduced when printed; Western to 6.625x10.25”, not sure on Manga but it should be on the same formula.

(Measurements are lifted from Canson "Fanboy" paper for the manga size, and Blue Line Pro boards for the western size.)

[Uronoro]

Vicemage

I don't know about CreateSpace, but I'd strongly advise against Lulu for self-publishing unless you plan to only put together a few books... it's not a matter of quality (their quality is outstanding, actually), but of price--they charge far too much for the final product as a result of absorbing setup fees into the per-book cost. (A friend of mine previously used Lulu for all her books, and just couldn't move them because the cost was much too high; her reprints through ComiXpress are much more affordable.)

I personally use ComiXpress for my printing; I've also seen some nice-quality books through Ka-Blam, which I haven't really used for anything but some flyers. I do know for a fact that ComiXpress will work with custom sizes, so you don't need to worry about size/dimensions with them, only that all your pages are the same size. (and if you use ComiXpress in the future you can put me down as a referrer to get a 10% discount on either your setup or first quantity order--I suggest the latter, since it usually costs more.)

If you want standard sizes, what I've got for pre-reduction sizes on my paper supply is:
Western comic: 9 x 13.75 safe zone (11 x 17 full page size; can't find a ruler for this board to measure the bleed zone)
Manga: 9.5" x 13" bleed area (full page size 10" x 14.25" wink

Naturally, both get reduced when printed; Western to 6.625x10.25”, not sure on Manga but it should be on the same formula.

(Measurements are lifted from Canson "Fanboy" paper for the manga size, and Blue Line Pro boards for the western size.)

Wow, geez, thanks ^^ that helped alot.

Edit:
How about printing resolution? I usually draw at 300dpi. One time someone told me I should be doing it at 600dpi but it practically killed my computer to do so since I use a lot of layers.

CMYK, of course.

[Vicemage]

ComiXpress requests images at 300 dpi in CMYK, so you're fine there. smile I've been working largely in the same resolution (with a few exceptions). For them, it's also required to be assembled into a PDF for printing (at least, last time I checked); the ones generated by Photoshop's "Automate" menu are just fine, too.

[zammap]

Normally with web comics or just stuff you wanna poke 600x900 pixels (any res) is good.

If you wish to print the (american) comic book size is 17 x 26 cm (in inches it's a very odd number to measure so just use cm) at about 300 res.

If you wish to have a custom size it is best to choose around standard printing sizes:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_216
(I recall using a c2 for one comic company once)

HOWEVER

If you wish to do the comic by hand the size of the pyhiscal paper should be 11 x 17 INCHES (again math is mean, this time is easy to measure in inches but it comes at 100% perfect proportion.)

As for companies

sweatdrop
I'm very lazy when it comes to indy stuff. I like firms that do all the ad work for me.
One great company is slave labor (the same company that does JTHM)
http://www.slgcomic.com/
http://www.slgcomic.com/Submissions-Guidelines_ep_40-1.html

As long as the comic looks presentable and you are willing to work the series deadlines there's a nice chance they take you. I know some other smaller companies but I only do grunt work for them (inking, coloring) I would never want to give them work that's 100% mine though.

I'm currently working on a simple comic for SLG.

And as Vice said, work in CMYK mode or else you are going to be very upset at how all the colors change in print.

[tehrin]

Vicemage

If you want standard sizes, what I've got for pre-reduction sizes on my paper supply is:
Western comic: 9 x 13.75 safe zone (11 x 17 full page size; can't find a ruler for this board to measure the bleed zone)
Manga: 9.5" x 13" bleed area (full page size 10" x 14.25" wink

Naturally, both get reduced when printed; Western to 6.625x10.25”, not sure on Manga but it should be on the same formula.

Ack. Seriously?

I've been using the measurements for the mini comic on Comixpress' site:

Trim: 5x8”
Live Area: 4.375x7.375”
Margins: Top: .3125”, Bottom: .3125”, Sides: .3125”
Bleed: 5.25x8.25"

I assumed that I'd be getting 5x8 sized pages. So they're resized down further? D: I'm going to have TEENSY books if that's the case. Everything I read on the site made it appear to be that size when printed though. gonk

[Captain Dragon Flower]

Most cartoonists (myself included) generally use large sketch pads and square off a 10x15 area on each sheet for a comic page. My current pad is 14x17, but as long as you can get that 10x15 space, you're good. You'll definitely need to scan your comic in portions, though.

[sushylee]

Draw big, you can always make it smaller. :3