Production

thematic image of FOO

Overview

While your work is traditional ink-on-paper, print media is exclusively produced with digital tools. Photoshop has been the industry-standard tool to this end for more than 20 years.

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Production template

Photoshop production template of a mainstream American standard comic book, accounting for bleed, trim, and live area. Essential for formatting final art.

Scanning parameters

To get each page done in one pass, you'll need a tabloid flatbed scanner. Resolution parameters:

  • 400 ppi
  • 100%
  • Grayscale

Save each scan as a TIF with the naming convention of STORYNAME-PAGENUMBER.tif (example "sliceoflife-01.tif")

Budget approximately five minutes to scan each page. For instance, scanning 20 pages could take 90 minutes.

Post production

Fix issues missed on the original art (typos, redraws, etc.), convert grayscale art to appear as line art, templatize the art:

  • Create an original size story template by copying/renaming our Photoshop production template (example: sliceoflife-src.psd)
  • Paste scans into the story template, each page in its own layer
  • Trim and rotate scans as needed
  • Copy/paste from any corrections and post-production changes in separate layers
  • Make grayscale art appear "black and white" with "Image/Adjustments/Levels"

Print production

Preparing for print reproduction:

  • Copy/rename your source template for print (example: sliceoflife-print.psd)
  • Scale retouched page down to 60% (classic) or 66.25% (modern) at 400 ppi
  • Export each page as a TIF as YOURNAME-STORYNAME-PAGENUMBER.tif (example "davidmarshall-sliceoflife-01.tif")