How do you thumbnail a long scrolly comic?

[NanettesClouds]

I've never really done it before and im curious about how other people handle it. Also, if you have animated elements how do you account for those?

[keii4ii]

This thumbnail became this episode.

I do the thumbnails in low res because they don't need to be detailed. To make the actual art for the comic, I divide the long thumbnail into shorter pieces, make them bigger and work with layers and high res and all that. This is to avoid overwhelming my computer with huge layered files.

Once I've completed all the panels that belong in the same episode, I flatten and combine them.

[NanettesClouds]

dude your work is great, I dont know why I didn't check out your work sooner. I'll def be giving your comic a read this weekend. How short of a segment do you usually cut the thumbnail up into when you start on the final artwork?

[keii4ii]

Thanks! I always divide them into rows. One high-res layered file may contain a single row of a tall panel/ two tall panels (that are in the same row), or two rows of shorter panels. There's also the occasional three-row file. This particular example was divided into five pieces.