Manga templates- for artists who wish to go into print

[endless_uprising]

Hi everyone

Please please help i've been searching every thread, post, blog, user guide, manual and tutorial out there and i still need help on this. Does anyone use manga studio (EX) to produce comics in print- i really need measurements for templates anyone uses who is published in the format i need (a bit of a longshot here, but magical person who can help me if your out there... this is it)

I am writing in the traditional japanese format- with a view to publishing in books the size of (example) the shounen jump graphic novels/tokyopop graphic novels? Does anyone have any idea which template i should be using for this? Also do i need to offset my basic frame to the left of right depending on which side of the book the page will fall on so that my art doesnt get caught in the throat of my book?

If anyone can help with this i will be eternally grateful! Many thanks.

[Acacia]

I'm not familiar with Manga Studio, but from my limited knowledge of printing, there are three things you want to keep in mind when you're printing:

Bleed line: goes past what's cut ("trim line"). Nice if you want to have a cropped effect.
Trim line: where the paper is actually cut.
Live area: Most of the images are here. You also want to put lettering here.

This person know's his stuff:

http://forum.webcomicscommunity.com/...pic,770.0.html


When printing, you also need to remember what type of binding you plan on doing. Are you going to staple in together like a zine? Or are you going to glue the ends together (perfect binding). If you're doing the later, then you need to allot more "open space" for the binded areas. I *think* it's somewhere around 1/2" inside the live area?

Do you plan on making these yourself? Are you printing via a company? A printing company might already have guidelines listed, so check them out!

Good luck!

[endless_uprising]

Hi, thanks for responding so quickly

I have a good understanding of the bleed area/ live area etc but just needed to see an example-- ( i kind've work best once i've been shown something) but your message and the article on the attached link had this great piece of advice
to ask the people you intend to publish with what dimensions they need you to work with!
I actually have a couple groups in mind so i guess i'll make my choices a little ealier and get properly set up. Thanks a million- Thats the best and most accurate way to know and I am so grateful to you for opening my eyes to the bigger picture there! Really good advice!

[Acacia]

Hey, no problem! Glad I could help ya out!

Here's also a quick example of bleed and margins:

http://smb.me.uk/blog/?p=103

Basically, you should have bleed when you want the image to be at the very edge of the final trimmed paper. Bleeds are also important because, when printing, there's always the chance that the paper might be misaligned, and print a little bit skewed. So people cut away excess paper (trim) so that everything's straight and neat ((errr, did that make sense?).

If you work best hands-on, try printing out a quick demo! Get a normal A4/8.5x11 paper, print something with images and text, and then trim out an inch of it on all sides. You'd be surprised at how much of a difference the bleed/trim area makes, as well as how well you can read the text. (When I first started, I'd put text too close to the trim line, 'cause it looks odd so inwards in the computer...learned my mistake though haha)

Good luck, and let me know if you need any other help! If you got dimmensions, I could make a quick mock up of something too!

[endless_uprising]

Once again thanks for your time in responding.

Great idea about the demo- sounds fun!
Also thought I'd write back and let you know I followed your advice from before and I actually found the dimensions for the page sizes etc on the site for the publishers I'll use and used the dimesions with bleed to make a template on manga studio that I can use. I set it up and I used the dimesions they gave- but i wonder--- I'm offsetting my live area on each page (still keeping within the trim) to equal distances on either the left right to create margins so that my work wont get caught in the spine of the book, but so far on all tutorials online I havent seen anyone do this?
Is it possible that they are either A) working on something for the web (so wouldnt need to take that into consideration) or are just setting up basic pages for the sake of these tutorials or am I just being crazy thinking I need them lol. Was 100% sure that I do if i'm going into print and so did my reasearch on it and got it set up- but the lack of people showing this online is making me doubt myself! Do you think its just becuase its possible margins aren't shown on thier work because they arent printing those projects?

Thanks again!

[F0NG00L]

What I did was scan in a piece of pre-ruled comic art board and adjusted the settings in Manga Studio to match its guidelines. Then I saved it as a template. I actually like having that pre-ruled board on a locked layer so I feel more "legitimate" LOL.

I've heard some people mention the fact that you can't set the page size to 11 x 17, but I don't understand why you'd ever need to since you can set it to actual print size and then work at 1200 dpi, which is higher rez than you should really ever need...

[Aabh]

Hi there!

Tankoban Dimensions:

12.8 × 18.2 cm or 5.04" × 7.17" (Japanese B6 size)

That was based on measuring a Tankoban while I was in Japan. the Tokyopop manga is scaled differently, but normal manga is based on that dimension in one way or another.

Mind that in Japan, even the Tankoban sizes vary slightly.

They have Bunkoban (Which is novel sized, so you can carry it in your pocket) and that is 105 × 148 mm

Tokyopop's size is slightly larger, something like 5.25" × 7.5"

I made a template while I was over there... I can't remember what scale this was in, but the safe lines were based off of a Ranma 1/2 comic that I bought at a used book store and cut the spine off of... (It cost me 100yen, a little less than a dollar).



Hope that helps,

---Aabh

[endless_uprising]

Thank you guys--

A little update- i have been contacting various different printers and getting information on what sizes they'd offer, the DPI they print at what the templates they need are etc and have been approaching it from that angle. that way i know i'll be working at the correct size before i start inking and toning so that i dont dont have to resize and mess my work around depending on what format i end up with.
I would like to thank everyone for their imput, Support is so needed for many comic artists in the uk and its so good to find so many people who are willing to offer their help and advice. Thank you all.

[F0NG00L]

Yeah, that's a good approach, especially if you plan on using the built-in zip-a-tone patterns. Get the dot size and frequency wrong and you could end up with mud!