How to Decide your Comic Size and Format

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This video is something I struggled with a lot when I first started making comics for print. So this is the video I wish I had has back then. I hope this helps all of you who are as confused about this as I was.
MEASSUREMENTS FOR ALL PAPER SIZES
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MANGA B4 RULED PAPER
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MANGA B4 TEMPLATE TO DOWNLOAD
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11X17 COMIC BOOK IN DETAIL
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11X17 BRISTOL BOARD
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RULED 11X17 PAPER
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MUSIC
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Zelda an Cill by Game chops
• Zelda & Chill

[@Armitox]

I know this is 2 years old but thank you. People dont talk about this type of stuff as often as needed.

[@TeresadelPilar]

It's never too late to say something kind :) I'm glad you found the video useful!

[@GaryHodgesDVSM]

This is a great vid - it IS a whole confusing task and yet you hardly ever see anyone talk about it.

[@TeresadelPilar]

I know, right? I sill get super confused about it all the time specially with the whole changing measurements to inches, cm or pixels. And don't get me started on trim lines and margins as well as making sure it is all right in digital.

[@TheVeyZ]

I %100 agree

[@desperado.1001]

This is the best, most well-delivered and articulated video I’ve ever seen on this topic. Thank you so much for making this video!! 😎🤙🏽

[@TeresadelPilar]

Thanks! It's a confusing part of making comics, I'm glad I made it easier.

[@dorkga1092]

Perfect! Thanks so much for talking about this aspect of comic-making. It's definitely something I've been struggling with because I wasn't sure what size to make my canvas in my art program. On top of that, it felt like I was getting inconsistent answers from 10 different websites, but none of them gave any real details. Thanks for taking the time to make this and explaining it so clearly.

[@TeresadelPilar]

Thank you! I kinda brushed over the math of doing it traditionally and I always triple check everything. If you're working digital and are unsure you can always click on the option to view the canvas at print size, and then over impose a real comic to make sure you're doing it right (that's what I do when I work on a new size and I don't trust myself)

[@dorkga1092]

@@TeresadelPilar That's a good point, thanks! I haven't tried that yet, so I'll have to do that. I've only used the softproofing feature to see how it looks in CMYK but now I can do both :)

[@TeresadelPilar]

You need to make sure that your monitor is at scale first, but it works a treat! Glad I could help!

[@nicholassmart4790]

This is such a useful video. It's great that you consider comics from around the world; most channels only talk about their own country.

[@TeresadelPilar]

Thank you! I need to make some follow up stuff on setting up digitla files for different formats, because that's a whole nother topic in tself.

[@theoptionist8887]

this was really helpful. i’m standing in my kitchen getting all emotional cause. like. i’m trying to put this thing together. and people like you are just so helpful. you really laid it out. and near the end when you mentioned a DIY template. my heart melted when you described the very basic but very effective method. just wanted you to know~ 3 years later and your advice on paper size still be havin profound effects. ✨ - johnny, the optionist *crying and pacing around my

[@TeresadelPilar]

@@theoptionist8887 oh wow, thanks! I hope you no longer need to cry.

[@BunstoppableForce]

Thanks for making this video, it's a very important subject for anyone starting out but I struggled to find clear info about it online. Most other videos/articles I found just talked about standard US printing sizes and nothing else, so I appreciate this one for sure.

[@SaintCityStudios]

Thank you this is very helpful, I'm writing my first single issue comic and this has been the most confusing part lol

[@TeresadelPilar]

Thank you! I feel I didn't explain proportionality and the math part of it at all, but I hope you found it useful!

[@pearlkisses_8520]

Oh this is the best video for the problem i was having thank you so much

[@nika8620]

This was very helpful. Thank you so much.

[@SideBurns]

Good trick with the American comic size, I never thought of that :)

[@TeresadelPilar]

Thnks! It's not the most accurate way of doing it, but it does the trick, specially when you are not good at math :p

[@GabrielTobing]

Man, I wish this stuff was as easy as pixel stuff. Like 1080p is good, but 4K is better kinda thing XD

[@Clown_yt-l4k]

Thanks for this knowledge

[@95tTony]

So if my canvas size is 11 x 17 My full bleed is 10 x 15 My safe area/picture text area is 9 x 13.5 I guess this would be standard size For a 6 x 9 or 7 x 10 graphic novel size ?

[@TeresadelPilar]

Graphic Novels come in all shapes and sizes, you should talk to your printer or editor. If you're not printing it really doesn't make a difference. Plus, I'm Spanish, I don't understand inches that well , sorry ;_;

[@95tTony]

@@TeresadelPilar I’ll call them How Amazon kdp does it is we fit them into templates but we still need to indent what will be cut off Thanks tho I been confused all week and I already have 120 pages done

[@TeresadelPilar]

@@95tTony I see, the template should have a trim line to indicate where it is cut. But yeah it is extremely confusing! Also, congrats on your 120 pages. That's quite the acomplishment !

[@egamer8116]

this is really helpful! thank you!

[@TeresadelPilar]

No problem 😁 I'm glad it was useful!

[@YamisRandom]

4 years late but thank you for this! 🫶🙏🏾

[@rogueninja185]

3:11 "...and if you re going to print on an A4, work on an A5...". I think you meant, work on an A3. One question; would the choice of drawing on B4 (full B4, 353x 250; not that deleter version,364x257; with the guidelines which takes too much space with the ruler) translate well when reducing it into A4 size for print (proportionally I mean). It is not double the size but with level of color and detail I have it would be too much time consuming to use A3. Besides even if I used an A3 it would still need the extra space for the bleed so that means having to cut that A3 a few millimeters. How to solve this? By the way, do you have any detailed videos explaining how a gutter works in double spread pages. I always get confused because there s no bleed where the two pages connect and there are too many contradictory tutorials on this online. Thank you for the video.

[@TeresadelPilar]

I think it's best to talk to your printer/publisher if you going to do anything unorthodox. They are always happy to do a test page in my experience. Splash pages are a nightmare to print and plan right. I have nothing on that. I just use pre-made templates provided by my clients and then the book designer sorts it out.

[@rogueninja185]

@@TeresadelPilar Yes, Ive talked to them and strangely they dont have any templates. told me to build one as long as it is proportional of course. I was just wondering if you ever tried that combination of B4 to A4. I cant afford a book designer, have to learn and do all this by myself at least for now. Thank you, your video was very helpful. hope you make more of these.

[@TeresadelPilar]

I have not tried that, no. B4 is wider so I would be careful doing anything important outside the safe area sideways. Other than that I think you should be ok. I'm glad you found the video useful, good luck with your comic!!

[@Impr0mptu]

Best video on the subject

[@TeresadelPilar]

Glad it was helpful!

[@veggsbacon1891]

The zelda lofi is pretty good. 👏🏽

[@TeresadelPilar]

Yup, it's a from youtube channel that makes videogame lofi. The link is in the description, they do awesome stuff.

[@Omar-ii7ec]

Very good and helpful video ,My questions have been answered

[@firehawkyt291]

Can I use an A5 sheet for my manga?

[@tacticstories7159]

Thank you very much. It really helped me

[@TeresadelPilar]

Glad I could help 😁

[@aymanemach]

My objective is to draw on the paper then have my local printer Scan it and make copies of it. I'm planning to draw on A4 (21x29,7 cm). I just wanna know, how big should be the Margins on the sides, top and bottom, in order to scan it whole and leave a little margin in the scan archive

[@TeresadelPilar]

It depends on the binding, but the standad bleed is 3 mm. You should talk to your local printer. Every printer has different equipment and work methods, so it is best to liase with them directly.

[@khiclark31]

Thank you for this.

[@TeresadelPilar]

Thank you for the comment! It helps to keep this video relevant for those of us who at any point have struggled with this :)

[@burped1890]

so for manga, should you draw in b4 or b5?

[@TeresadelPilar]

It depends on what size ypu want to print. But generally, it is always best to work bigger than you print. That allows you to add more detail and your mistakes become less visible. So, if you have to choose, go for b4 cos it's bigger.

[@burped1890]

@@TeresadelPilar thank you!

[@nerueru5756]

You lost me at do a little bit of math 😂 Will watch twice 👌

[@TeresadelPilar]

Lol I totally understand where you're coming from. Maybe I should have demonstrated that a bit, but I'm not confident enough to demonstrate math.

[@Paramore_your_Decode]

Hi! So from my understanding, if I wanted to print comic in a5 I should work on a4 size not a5?

[@TeresadelPilar]

yes, that way you can get in all the fine details without straining your eyes and muscles, and also make small mistakes that will be unpercievable when reduced in size. Hope that makes sense!

[@Paramore_your_Decode]

@@TeresadelPilar Thanks for answering, but I do have one more question if you don't mind? So from the video, when we want to print in a5 the printer should detect it? I've seen people edit in InDesign so I'm not really sure.

[@TeresadelPilar]

@@Paramore_your_Decode Unfortunatelly that's to do with printing, which is a big topic for a whole different video. Before printing a comic you need to design the book. That's where inDesign and other design progrms comes in. This video doesn't touch on that because I'm the artist, not the publisher. I deliver the pages as the publisher requires, but I do not design the books or print them myself. However, if this is a personal project that will not go into retail stories you shouldn't worry too much about it and just download a template.

[@hatsukotaro]

is that lofi Gerudo valley in the background

[@TeresadelPilar]

yup, it's the zelda lofi mix by GameChops, the link is in the description. I'ts a pretty cool lofi producer that mixes a lot of video game franchise's OSTs.

[@pooruanimations]

I have a question. If my comic book is 8.5 x 11 letter size, how should I set my page to print?

[@TeresadelPilar]

You should get in touch with your local print shop. They are (in my experience) always happy to help you figure out the technical side of printing. That's what I have done whenever I have printed anything.

[@daveperry2292]

Just because a person thinks they can speak English does not mean you can speak it clear enough for people to understand the words. Disappointed in video.

[@TeresadelPilar]

Understanding accents when you're not familiar with them can be hard, I understand. Just put on the subtitles, luckly the AI generated subtitles understand my european accent perfectly.

[@aymanemach]

My objective is to draw on the paper then have my local printer Scan it and make copies of it. I'm planning to draw on A4 (21x29,7 cm). I just wanna know, how big should be the Margins on the sides, top and bottom, in order to scan it whole and leave a little margin in the scan archive