How To Format Your Comic Art Boards! Making Comics 101- Bonus!

What size should you draw your comics at? What resolution should your digital comics be for printing? What paper should you draw on? These questions and more will be answered in this bonus issue!
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[@provokingthought9964]

Returning to this after a decade of stopping. I stopped because some pros at a comic convention (who were super positive) told me I had talent but was still perhaps a few years off from getting work. And my dumb self said, "I'm already 28, I can't afford to waste my life more." As if it was an either or situation. As if not working for Marvel or DC meant that I couldn't draw comics...an art form I love. Since, I've hardly looked at a comic or drawn because it hurt my heart. But lately I was driving, and thinking as I drove, how stupid. I gave up something I love and here I am ten years later just not doing this thing I was passionate about because of some dumb mind set.

[@ScottSerkland]

It’s never to late to get back into doing comics. And there are a lot of ways to get your work out there. It’s easier than ever to self publish. Not I mention opportunities to crowdfund your creations. Marvel and DC are not the only or even the best option in my opinion. Welcome back!

[@provokingthought9964]

@@ScottSerkland That's just my dream back then. Not so much now. I'm certainly looking forward to where it is going to take me!

[@veemon9280]

I know what you mean. Don't give up your dream

[@Christinekueblerartist]

This was so helpful! I am just starting in this journey and this gives me a great start. Thank you!

[@ScottSerkland]

I'm so glad to hear you have started on this awesome journey, keep at it and you will get better everyday !

[@Rometiklan]

Great information! Thanks for the tips and recommendations, Scott!

[@ScottSerkland]

Any time!

[@michealrivera8524]

Nice well said I needed that info thanks

[@ScottSerkland]

Any time!

[@jcon5242]

Thank you this is the best information ever.

[@ScottSerkland]

Glad it was helpful!

[@shizyninjarocks]

Answered all my questions. Thanks.

[@ScottSerkland]

Your welcome! Happy to help

[@shizyninjarocks]

@@ScottSerkland I was also going crazy about how to draw a straight line. Then I realized I could use a lined cutting mat. Afterwards, I came back to this video and saw you had one the whole time. Ha.

[@haroldbascom5866]

I am new to using these lined boards, and was hoping I'd have seen you do a rough page. It would have helped immensely.

[@ScottSerkland]

Sorry to disappoint, there are a number of videos in this series , but this one is specifically dedicated to page layout , sizes, dimensions etc.

[@EricHensonArt]

Great video!

[@ScottSerkland]

Thanks! Thanks Eric, Matt just showed me your pencils for the My Hero Academia art. It looks awesome! My son is a huge MHA fan, I'm sure he would buy a print of that.

[@user-hw8nr3mu8e]

Awesome tutorial! I do however find it hard to measure my own proportions, since I'm living in Europe and it's hard (or there isn't any XD) to find a metric template that translates the 11x17 art board. Does the template work the same on A3 paper?

[@ScottSerkland]

Honestly, I'm not 100 percent sure how the standard American size translates into metric or if European comics have adopted that American size at all, it's a very odd size and even in the US nothing other than comics are printed at that size so I doubt its the same as the A3 size.

[@evanteuteberg651]

What kind of scanner do you use for 11x17 art boards? Do you have your own scanner or do you go somewhere else to get it done?

[@ScottSerkland]

Hey Even, I have my own scanner. It's an older Brother Scanner/Printer/Fax combo, the printer no longer works and it's quite bulky, but I keep in in a cabinet out of sight and only use it to scan. 11 x 17 scanners aren't the easiest thing to find and used to be super expensive but I have seen them come down in price recently. They tend to hold up pretty well so you also my be able to find a used one.

[@sirlester3]

Office Depot. Staples. Office Max

[@aroxe4u]

Thanks for the tip 😁😚😃👄

[@ScottSerkland]

Any time!

[@hotelnapkin]

i was wondering if you would bring that up when you were talkinga bout page szes i was like ed piskorworks at 9/12

[@ScottSerkland]

Yeah. I love that channel. Those guys know there stuff.

[@haroldbascom5866]

Scott, my brother, I've been searching KZbin for a step by step video on how you scan your inked comic book pages, but I keep coming across videos that only cater to individuals who understand the basics of scanning. I need a video that shows the different steps before the drawing is imported into a graphic program like Photoshop. Then, once it's in the graphic program, I need to understand how a 17 by 12 scan gets down to 6.5 inches by 10 inches. I come across a ton of videos that fail in their promised bid to show step by step. Do you have a video that can guide me through the process of scanning ONE page, from laying it down to resizing it in a graphic program?

[@ScottSerkland]

Hey Harold, I don't currently have a video that goes that in depth into scanning, This one is more about formatting the artboards, however that's not a bad idea for a video, especially if there aren't any like that on KZbin.

[@Launchpad05]

When you start drawing panels for your page, is it better to use A 2mm blue lead, or A regular 2MM leas, and if I use A lead for A small mechanical pencil, what type of lead should I use? I tried using A 4H lead, but I noticed that the lead gouges the paper where I see the lines presses on the back of the paper.

[@ScottSerkland]

It comes down to personal preference. For me the standard mechanical pencil is too thin and I end up breaking the lead so I prefer the drafting lead holders. But I know a lot of artists who swear be mechanical pencils.

[@thumbsaloft]

Please check out EON's comic art boards, I think you will really like them!

[@ScottSerkland]

I'm not familiar but sounds like it's worth looking into.

[@ireallyneedtherapy1126]

I tend to work with bigger Bristol boards, do you know any scanners that can handle 18x24?

[@ScottSerkland]

I don’t. At least not any that are a available to the average consumer. There are probably services out there that offer large scale scanners. My Friend Josh works at that size and he has to scan his pages in two sections and splice them together. I believe Photoshop introduced some new features that makes splicing art supper easy and more accurate.

[@rogueninja185]

Very, very useful video. I was struggling with this for a while, thanks. I have a couple of questions though. When you get your measurements for that original size you ll be working on you have to add bleed afterwards; so lets say you end up with a page, for ex, 330mm x 240mm. I f you wanted to add bleed to it, of 5mm, you d end up with 340mm x 250mm size template, yes? Another question that is not related to the video exactly is regarding the blue, non repro guidelines. There are a ton of videos that show how to remove them but everyone does it on inked only pages. It seems almost no one is coloring traditionally nowadays. So, if one wants to color traditionally would it be impossible to remove blue lines, since you have to mess around with RGB? So how would you go about it, work with no guidelines; create guidelines with a pencil and the erase them before/after coloring? Im lost here, if you have a video about this it would be very helpful.

[@ScottSerkland]

You are correct the bleed is in addition to the actual size of your printed page, but you want to plan it out ahead of time and make sure your art extends to the bleed , nothing super important close to the edges because it will likely be cut off. The whole reason for the not photo blue is so you don't have to remove them, typically when you scan your art in as black and white line art the blue will not scan, I have seen people scan in color and remove the blue channel, but I just scan in black and white line art.

[@rogueninja185]

@@ScottSerkland Thank you very much for the feedback. Yeah, I know the blue line question seems a little dumb since they are non reproducible but I ve seen so much videos explaining how to delete them after scanning that I wondered if they would really not show. Apparently many people claim they still show. I finally tried scanning some deleter paper sheets a few days ago and they didnt show . I was very happy, lol.

[@Sammy_47]

I don't have a scanner big enough for 11x17; I know it's possible to do this on an 8x11 paper, but would that cause issues when using POD? When I add the measurements, I feel the drawing area maybe too small

[@ScottSerkland]

It’s still possible to scan each side of an 8.5 x 11” paper and stitch it together digitally. If you have Photoshop I believe they have a new feature that helps do this seamlessly.

[@Sammy_47]

@@ScottSerkland thanks, I'll look into it 😊

[@daneubanks7657]

Great video! I've been taking my work on the strathmore pre-lined paper to a print shop and having it shrunk to 8.5x11 so it can fit my scanner bed at home. Looking for an 11x17 scanner. Until I find it should I continue shrinking it, or have them scan it and then save it to a flash drive?

[@ScottSerkland]

The only other way would be scan your page in two pieces and splice them together, Those 11" x17" scanners can be hard to come by without paying an arm and a leg.

[@daneubanks7657]

@@ScottSerkland appreciate it!

[@n1ghtmar3w0lf3]

if i had found an affordable scanner for larger paper i would have gone as big as i can, like those large sheets of bristol , but i am okay with 11 by 17

[@ScottSerkland]

I think Photoshop has a new feature that stitches scans pieces together seamlessly almost automatically.

[@n1ghtmar3w0lf3]

@@ScottSerkland intersting

[@colin72]

Couldn't there be an issue with crosshatching or other line work looking horrible if you do your work large and then reduce it? Line work that looks good and has enough white space at one size won't necessarily look good if reduced in size. ... Not a comic book artist. I'm a painter and incorporate comic book elements in my work and enjoy your videos.

[@ScottSerkland]

You would think so, but unless you are working super big there shouldn't be an issue. As a painter don't you work larger than you would print at?

[@vikasupadhyay1398]

What's the purpose of that black board under your paper. with graph imprints ? What is it called

[@ScottSerkland]

It's a cutting board. It is self healing so you can cut on it without it leaving a bunch of skratches. It's not 100% nesessary but comes in handy if your working on project that need to be cut with an x-acto knife.

[@vikasupadhyay1398]

@@ScottSerkland thanks ! Are the graph/ grid lines on it serve some purpose ?

[@mattlinkous4356]

Is it possible to use 11x14 paper instead of 11x17 and if so what would the measurements be?

[@ScottSerkland]

Sorry for the late response. You can use 11x 14 or any size. I’m not sure what size that is off hand. The important thing is that it’s proportional to the printed comic size.

[@mattlinkous4356]

@Serkworks Art Labs So as long as it shrinks down to 7x10.5 (size before trim) and is in 2:3 aspect ratio I'd be good to go?

[@hotelnapkin]

yes cartoonist kay fabe