Does Size Matter?

The Chill Clan · Post by **The Chill Clan** » Thu Apr 29, 2004 2:23 am

Ok I was thinking (despite my best efforts), everyone talks about resolution and file size but how big/small does everyone draw their individual strips (these types of things plague my mind at three in the morning). I'm currently drawing at 28cm x 33cm for comicbook sized comic. How about everyone else?

Jim North · Post by **Jim North** » Thu Apr 29, 2004 2:35 am

9 inch by 3 inch (22.8 cm by 7.6 cm) for a three panel horizontal format gag-a-day comic. 9 inch by 6 inch (22.8 cm by 15.2 cm) when I'm doing a six panel. If you were viewing my comic at 1024 x 768 resolution, you'd be looking at it at pretty much the exact same size as I drew it.

. . . actually, I can't believe I've never actually tried holding the original art to the screen to see how well it matched. I think I'm gonna try that tomorrow, just because I'm an insane person.

Joel Fagin · Post by **Joel Fagin** » Thu Apr 29, 2004 2:40 am

150% final size.

- Joel Fagin

Mr.Bob · Post by **Mr.Bob** » Thu Apr 29, 2004 3:33 am

A4 baby, A4.

Actually, what you see on screen is in fact LARGER than what I drew.
Don't ask me "why".

War · Post by **War** » Thu Apr 29, 2004 3:36 am

I typically draw on standard A4 (21cmx29.7cm). I fit about two frames per sheet.

The Chill Clan · Post by **The Chill Clan** » Thu Apr 29, 2004 4:30 am

Ooooh pics! A4 huh, does that take ink well (I think I made a pun)?

Rkolter · Post by **Rkolter** » Thu Apr 29, 2004 4:33 am

Uhm... 800 pixels x 250 pixels.

The couple things I've actually drawn now, those were on 8.5" x 11"

LAGtheNoggin · Post by **LAGtheNoggin** » Thu Apr 29, 2004 4:41 am

800 by 1032 pixels (roughly same dimensions as A4 with a bit cut off the top), shrinks down to 500 by 645 for the site - I feel it's a little small (and crap to comic with) but it's coded now and can't be arsed to change it. Lazyness rules all! e___e

Warren · Post by **Warren** » Thu Apr 29, 2004 5:14 am

I think it's 3.5x10.5, but since I photocopy my template now I'm not too sure.... maybe 3x10.

That seems right.

War · Post by **War** » Thu Apr 29, 2004 6:40 am

I've never had a problem with the paper I use. It's not really smooth enough for my fountain pens, and too much ink on a brush does nasty stuff to it. But seeing as I use pigment ink markers 364 days of the year, I never have a problem.

Brockway · Post by **Brockway** » Thu Apr 29, 2004 6:56 am

8.5 x 11 card stock. Holds ink well, you can erase and it doesn't eat up the surface, and it makes this neat noise when you flop it around. Comics, I go for 700-720 by however tall it ends up.

Sippan · Post by **Sippan** » Thu Apr 29, 2004 7:17 am

What I draw is what the comic will look like (i.e. I don't resize anything) - the only thing I think about is to not make it too wide, because if there's anything that sucks, it's having to scroll sideways on webpages. I hope everyone has the same browser window size I have =)

JexKerome · Post by **JexKerome** » Thu Apr 29, 2004 7:22 am

I use A4, which is 8.5"x11", and a tad too small for the work I do. Then I scan it at 100%, and size it at about 980 pixels wide when done, since my site's set up for 1024x768. Never actually checked to see how it compares to the hardcopy...

Warren · Post by **Warren** » Thu Apr 29, 2004 9:19 am

JexKerome wrote:I use A4, which is 8.5"x11", and a tad too small for the work I do. Then I scan it at 100%, and size it at about 980 pixels wide when done, since my site's set up for 1024x768. Never actually checked to see how it compares to the hardcopy...

980 pixels? Wow. I stick with 750, since not everyone has a 19" monitor yet.

Okie · Post by **Okie** » Thu Apr 29, 2004 9:32 am

I take an 11"x14" Bristol sheet and cut out two 5"x12" cards.

Then I draw the strip 3"x9.75" 75mm x 250mm roughly.

Scan it huge, 720 DPI, clean it up, scale it down to 700 pixels wide and it usually ends up around 225 pixels high.

Terotrous · Post by **Terotrous** » Thu Apr 29, 2004 9:40 am

My basic size has always been 912x350, which is a fairly stupid size, but I've always stuck with it for some reason.

SamSim · Post by **SamSim** » Thu Apr 29, 2004 10:54 am

My comics almost invariably consist of three 1.5"-square panels arranged horizontally. I can fit eight such comics on a given sheet of paper. When viewed onscreen they usually appear much larger than they are in reality.

The reason I do this is because stickmen are such minimalist objects that there is no point to drawing them any bigger - they have no detail as such, and this would make the thickness of their limbs proportionally too thin (I'm sure you know what I'm talking about) and also I wouldn't be able to draw them accurately - supposedly straight legs would be slightly wibbly.

As for pixels: my comics are around 700x250 pixels in all cases. To cater for the 800x600 reader, no comic should be wider than about 700 pixels (gotta allow room for side bars and borders) and while they can be as tall as you like, individual frames within the comic probably shouldn't be taller than about 500 pixels.

SuperSnob · Post by **SuperSnob** » Thu Apr 29, 2004 1:13 pm

I draw our comic on 8 1/2 by 11" paper because there's no such thing as an affordable scanner larger than 8 1/2 by 14" and I'm too lazy to learn how to scan things in pieces. I drew the first 20 pages on crappy typing paper. Everything after that will be done on Bristol-like 102 lb. paper (which is actually 9 by 12 and I've been cutting it down to 8 1/2 by 11 just so that I don't have to scan it in more than one piece! :O ).

We decided the best size to reduce these to would be 600 pixels wide, just so that the files don't end up being ridiculously huge. In a lot of cases I feel that it destroys the artwork in spots (since I scan everything at 300 dpi in two-tone or black & white mode, then convert it to grayscale and reduce it) but most people are only going to see each panel for about two seconds anyway, so it doesn't matter a whole lot. :p

Ghastly · Post by **Ghastly** » Thu Apr 29, 2004 1:29 pm

I draw on 8.5"x11" card stock, landscape configuration, after first using a template to mark out an area that is 8.5"x6.5". This is the dimensions of one panel of my strip, each panel is drawn on it's own seperate piece of cardstock.

I then scan them and adjust the image into a 975x570 frame and colour it. Once I've coloured the image I shrink it to 500x292 and fit it into my final comic template.

War · Post by **War** » Thu Apr 29, 2004 1:48 pm

Oh yeah, comic dimensions are whatever I feel like. I have three widths I use: 400, 450 and 500. I typically use 450. I don't think I have two matching lengths

.
Currently scanning at 300dpi. I think I might switch to 600dpi, the lineart comes out much nicer.