FLIGHT

I'm about ready to start another short story comic I want to produce. My first foray got kind of screwed up because I was so confused about what size to make the original. It seems like when I research it online, I get different answers. I printed one book using Ka-Blam's guidelines.

http://ka-blam.com/printing/index.php?page=Specs_comics

Is the 7 x 10.5 size standard? (Along with the other sizes they list for live area etc?)

More to the point, if that is the right size, but you wanted to work larger, what would be a good size? I read that Brandon Graham of King City works at 11 x 17" for his originals. His King City books though are oversized, they aren't standard sized floppies. Plus, that would make it real hard to scan.

Any input is appreciated!

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Marooned - A Space Opera in the Wrong Key!
http://www.maroonedcomic.com/

I work ina live area o f 7x10.5. 11x17 is the traditional comic book size so you can easily do reductions and get a higher quality in your linework. In the end I've found because you can scan things at ridiculous resolutions you can probably get away with anything. The general rule I would assume is just that you would be reducing the size of your work when printing it, not making it larger.

Don't know if that helps. I wen to a smaller size because I could carry it with me more and it sped my production time up a ton.

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That does help. My concern with the large size is the scanning, it's going to take like 4 passes. I went through a phase where I wanted to draw things bigger because I thought it was easier, but I'm kind of out of that.

I generally buy 11x14 bristol and chop it to size for Marooned. So I could certainly use those at 10.5 x 7. But I have to admit that does seem on the small side a bit. It seems like doing a small panel at that size can get a little hairy. I suppose I could work at 12 x 8 and just reduce the scan.

Thanks!

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Marooned - A Space Opera in the Wrong Key!
http://www.maroonedcomic.com/

I think it depends on what you want to print......I look at favourite books or comics and xerox a page up 150% just to see how the originals might have appeared ....and try working THAT size. The thing to focus on is consistency I think......you wouldn't want to do a detailed piece and reduce it 500%....only to put that panel alongside one that's original size.....you get inconsistent scale in line and sequence .

Pick a marker style and stick with it for a while.....you may find that if you want detail you'll have to "cut" to it in a new panel .......or have larger panels......or even alter your style to suit.

I work at 17" x 11" and reduce 67% (my current comic is landscape instead of portrait, really for no reason other than that I felt like doing it that way for a change of pace). That puts me at 10-1/2"" x 6-7/8" full bleed. Also, as regards scanning, I usually make reductions of my linework with a photocopier so that I can scan in a single piece. That also lets me boost the density of the blacks so that the scan comes out sharper.

To be totally honest, though, printers can cut your book pretty much any way you ask them to these days, and for not very much more cost. My advice would be to draw at a size appropriate to your art and story and then worry about printing later. I have no idea how to go about getting this thing of mine bound in landscape format but I'm confident I can find out. The more important thing is to make the story feel right, and to let the technical printing problems work around that, as opposed to the reverse. That's my feeling, anyway.

--M

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Not a bad way to think about it actually. I have yet to sketch anything out for this, so I have no idea yet. Maybe that should be the first step.

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Marooned - A Space Opera in the Wrong Key!
http://www.maroonedcomic.com/