Having a canvas at graphic novel size

marygold 2017-01-21 06:08:20 UTC #1

I am well aware that we should always draw larger than the tapastic max width. I've kept all my pages at standard US paper size (8.5x11 inches), but if I one day plan to make my pages into a book approximately only 6x10 inches, should I be drawing smaller? There doesn't seem to be a way to downsize an original without reducing quality.

Also, if I plan to do a drawing meant to be printed as a standard wall poster, should I be setting my canvas at a general poster size? Is there any way to increase the size of a finished drawing without reducing quality?

Mocha 2017-01-21 06:15:03 UTC #2

NOOO NO NOOOO!!! Never never ever draw in the same size as the final printed product!!! If you draw bigger than the needed size the drawing will be at a much better quality/resolution, small mistakes with inking and such will be much harder to notice, and not to mention it's easier to draw more detail on a larger sized paper.
But anyways the biggest concern here is the image quality for printing.

phen 2017-01-21 06:16:28 UTC #3

I print fairly regularly and downsizing doesn't reduce quality as much as upscaling -- it's usually best to work large and then shrink it down if need be. In my experience, keeping all of your files at print-quality dpi is key. Personally, I have everything at around 400 and up (typically 600dpi but that may be excessive). I'm by no means a professional printer (nor do I work with one) but I have my own rig here at home and sizing down a few inches in Photoshop leaves no significant reduction in quality.

Try not to work AT the size you need printed. From my graphics design classes, I learned to keep the dpi up high and the size of the image a proportionately larger than planned print size (up by 10-15%).

heterodont 2017-01-21 06:41:06 UTC #4

this website is pretty good at upscaling images without having too much quality distortion - but it only goes up to twice the size of the original file. i used it once to upscale a 4x6 in image to 8.5x11 in and it was pretty clear.

what do you mean by losing quality? usually downsizing a canvas shouldn't cause much, if any, quality loss at all - if anything it usually hides mistakes and such that'd be obvious at a higher resolution.

AnnaLandin 2017-01-21 07:09:33 UTC #5

Always work larger than your final print-size. Always. Even if you draw on a canvas that fits the 8.5x11 inches proportions, at 100% zoom it should be wider and taller than an actual piece of 8.5x11-inch paper.

What matters more than inches is the dpi - that is, how many pixels you fit into each inch. I draw at 400 dpi, which has turned out looking just fine in print. Sizing down but keeping the same dpi-count should not result in a loss of quality.

No, not really. You're essentially stretching the image to cover more physical space; it's going to result in a loss of quality.

marygold 2017-01-21 07:15:19 UTC #6

@phenylketonurics @heterodont thanks for the insight! That really helped a lot!
@Mocha your post cracked me up :'D thank you for the heads up!
@AnnaLandin thanks for the advice! I'm at little confused about the 100% zoom part though, what does that mean? If I'm setting my canvas to 8.5x11does it fit your 100% zoom criteria?

AnnaLandin 2017-01-21 07:36:15 UTC #7

When I say "100% zoom", I mean how much of the screen does your canvas fill when you zoom in until the little counter (usually at the top alongside the file-name) is at 100%. Here's a quick screenshot of what I mean.

Here's another screenshot of what the canvas looks like when I'm zoomed in that far. (what you're looking at is the center of one panel; the page itself is about six times that wide) As you can see, that close up, the image actually extends beyond the bounds of my screen, and is decidedly larger than a physical piece of 8.5x11 inch paper would be. You can see that there's a few gaps between the lines here and there, and some colour that doesn't quite line up with the lines, etc. - when you print it, all of those little mistakes will be invisible, because it will be sized to fit the paper.

So, at 400 dpi, my canvas is 3307x4677 pixels - and it's the standard A4 (equivalent to your 8.5x11 inches). How many pixels is your canvas set to?

marygold 2017-01-21 15:17:14 UTC #8

@AnnaLandin After looking at my WIP I got what you mean. When I zoomed in on my canvas, the amount of space that the red square took up on the entire page was in more or less in the same proportions as yours. I'm working on a (about) 7x9.5 inch iPad and that square took up the entire screen. My dpi is 350, I heard that it was the print standard.

Just to be clear, when artists set their canvas to 8.5x11 inches, their work will print with the 8.5x11 inch size, but on screen their work is much larger? Or have I completely missed the point? Sorry, I'm terrible at this stuff.

I can't even count the number of times you have offered such awesome advice on the forums. Thank you so much!

AnnaLandin 2017-01-21 15:33:39 UTC #9

Yeah, at 350 dpi, at 100%, the on-screen size of your page will be larger than a physical paper sized at 8.5x11 inches. The long and probably far too involved explanation of what dpi - dots per inch - actually means is available here. The short version i that it is used in digital mediums when describing the resolution of an image, and in printing when describing the size of the halftone-dots used per inch of paper; basically, the amount of image information is packed into each inch of the image.

It's possible to create a canvas that is 8.5x11 inches and IS the same size as a physical paper when you zoom in to 100%, but that means setting the dpi to 90, which is far too low to turn out a clear, un-blurred print.

So yes, when you send your printer a file for printing, your 350 dpi file will come out as an 8.5x11-inch page, even if at 100% zoom on your screen it looks a lot larger.

Don't worry - printing processes and how it all works can be tricky to wrap your head around, and it's not like all this art software comes with a how-to manual on it! I've had to figure this out step by step myself, so I'm happy to pass it on to others. <3

inkorporate 2017-01-21 21:01:25 UTC #10

As others pointed out. DPI are the most important thing. I work at 600dpi myself. My canvas size is 8x11, but I have 1/2" all around as a security zone that I can use to bleed as required. Many magazines have different print sizes and having some playing room was useful to me when my comic was accepted in a magazine at a different size that I worked in. I was able to adjust without too much effort.

The main issue at working at such high dpi comes down to your computer specs and the number of layers/effects you might be using. Although If your art is simple, it shouldn't be much of an issue. Also working in color requires much more computing power at that size.