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Jul 2016

I try to keep mine low as possible for better management (if that makes sense lol.)
So usually on a page it'd be like.
*Sketch (usually the thumbnail unless I have to resketch parts of it for better coherency)
*Panel borders
*Speech bubbles + SFX/effect lines
*Flats + shading
*optional additional layer if I need a certain effect
*Background

so about 5-6 give or take lol.

Between the tones and linework, my pages usually average 5-10 layers. They're usually black and white, so....

I use a lot of layers (usually around 30)
•I have the sketch on one layer
•Lineart (in a raster layer)
•BG lineart (in a vector layer)
•1~2 perspective ruler layers
•about 5 layers of flats
•3 layers of skin shades
•1 multiply layer for hair and clothes
•2~3 layers of BG flats
•2 multiply layers for shading that background.
•1 frame layer for each panel.
•1 layer for each text bubble + text
•2 add glow layers for lighting effects.
•1 soft glow layer for lighting effects.

In conflusion : my files are huge.

I don't think I use that many layers..? Let's see:

Dialogue/text (I usually put them in a layer folder)
Panels
Sketches
Lineart, characters
Colors, characters
Shadows, characters
Highlights, characters
Lineart, backgrounds
Colors, backgrounds
1-4 extra layers for special effects

so 10-13 layers perhaps..? :B

always in the same order

text (word bubbles)
Frame
Ink
Glass (optional)
hair
face ( eye and lips)
clothes
skin
bg pics (this is a folder containing all the imported poser pics i use for back grounds)

maybe one or two more if a put extra details on.

It always varies from page to page, but I've settled into this general pattern of 10-15 layers:

-(all the dialogue text layers)
-word bubbles and sound effects
-panel borders
-lineart
-background lineart
-skin color
-hair color
-clothing color
-(adjustment layers for the background colors)
-at least 2 layers for background colors
-(below everything is the sketch/thumbnail layers)

Then I usually mess with the curves and saturation after I flatten everything for resizing and uploading!

sometimes it varies depending on the page (especially if it's animated because then fml all hell breaks loose there are no rules), but for grayscale pages it's usually 7-8 layers:
-text and speech bubbles
-panel boxes (i outline panels in grayscale comics, but avoid them in color comics)
-character lineart
-background lineart
-misc effects (e.g. overlay, multiply, gradient)
-flats shading
-flats

the layer count varies a lot more when i work in color, but it's usually 8-10 layers:
-text and speech bubbles
-gradient overlay
-overall shading
-character lineart
-background lineart
-character shading
-character flats
-background shading
-background details
-background flats

as you can imagine, my grayscale files are laughably small compared to my RGB ones LOL
there's also a sketch layer that prefaces everything, but it usually gets deleted once the text and lineart are done

There are usually quite a few layers in each page, minimum 15 layers per page. Here's a general idea of what my average page looks like:

  • text
  • speech bubbles
  • magic effect (1-4 layers usually for gradients, light effect layers, overlays, blends etc.)
  • environmental effects (sunlight, moonlight, day/night etc.)
  • panel boxes
  • background layer (main line art)
  • general character color effects
  • eye colors, facial coloring layers
  • hair color layer
  • skin color layer
  • clothing layer
  • 4 to 6 environment/background color layers

I usually have about 30 to 50 layers, but I group them up.

This one took about 10 layers or so.

While this one took more or less 40-50 layers.

I usually sketch the pages on a sketchbook and then lineart them on PS. The thing is, I didn't know that the actual sketch picture is about 50mb. which lagged the software, so bad. I didn't notice this until I drew the first picture I sent, which is page 19. by that time, I've already linearted and colored most pages.

Other than that, I've had no problem with my comic layers layout smiley

Speech Bubbles (1 layer per bubble, so about 3-7, I guess. Usually closer to 3 than 7.)
Lineart Layers (7-9 layers)
Lighting/Shading (foreground) (5-8 layers)
Flat Colors (foreground): (4-7 layers)
Shading/Lighting (background) (6-10 layers)
Flat Colors (background) (6-9 layers)
Sketch Layers (Between 2-10, usually I have somewhere around 6-7.)

So that comes out to about 40-50 layers per page on average… XD

And I don't even want to COUNT my lineless stuff… I'd say I use at least double the layers for that.

as i'm lineless i use about three million unnamed layers
the main types i use are:

  • the sketch, which is an incredibly messy & smudged pencil drawing i've imported onto photoshop
  • the flat colour layers, which i do under the sketch layer and are almost as messy
  • detail layers, which are numerous and are the only thing that really tidies the whole thing up
  • light layers
  • shadow layers
  • bubble & dialogue layers
  • panel borders
  • additional effects layers (ie sound effects)

but by the end of it these tend to get messed up and interchanged as i draw on the wrong layer etc, so it's just one big disgusting layer tangle, not counting all the background layers, which just go on forever

I can't shade with a multiply layer for the entire picture... it's just weird to me. So for each body's part, hair, skin, clothing, accessories, they all have their respective layer where I flat color and shade after I'm done.

I divided the layer into groups so I can keep track of them easier:

{GROUP) BUBBLE SPEECH (1-2 layers)

(Group) LINEART
- Lineart (Main character lineart)
- Background (Background lineart)
- Panel boxes

(Group) COLOR
- Hair
- (GROUP - Clothes) (Contain 4-5 extra layers, from outer layer clothes, to inner, accessories, pants + shoes)
- (GROUP - Eyes) (3 layers, including 2 for eye coloring and 1 for luminosity)
- Skin

{GROUP) BG COLOR (Varies depend on background's details, usually range from 5-10 layers)

Then I add 1 extra multiply layer for some dark shading, and 1 luminosity layer for some lighting. All of these can add up to 50 layers or so. Not counting text/lettering which I do in Photoshop.

Over 20 I use pre-compositing which is a trick from animation. So each panel is assembled on a page, while being a whole composition in itself. I have about 10 panels for the assemble page where I split fonts, frames, initial sketches, bubbles, drawings and more.

Within each panel on the drawing layer, there are layers for the second sets of sketches. I sketch the backgrounds separately from characters, props, and cars. Characters often have their own individual layers.

It is is a very methodical approach to comics that was inspired from my background in animation where everything is on a separate layer or sheet.

The drawing below is the initial sketch. The title logo is on its own layer. The frames are on their own layers. The sketch is also on a separate layer. The image below doesn't even include the clean drawings.

The image below is the detailed sketch or pencil of the top panel. As you can see, the characters are on separate layers. The trees in the foreground are on their own layers. The water has its own layer. The trees inn the background have their own layers. The boat and the deck are also on their own layers. These are just sketches.

Finally, there are the clean layers. Here the characters have their layers, the sky and the water are on a layer, but the starts and water reflections are on a separate layer. The trees in the background have a layer, those in the foreground do too. The deck and the waterfront are on separate decks. Finally the boat is floating apart!

The captions are added after too!

Oof, that's how Johnny Bullet comes to life every week.

Literally hundreds. No exaggeration. What the hell is wrong with me.

  • Word Bubbles / Sound Effects
  • Panel Borders
  • Primary Lines
  • Secondary Lines
  • Patterns (usually on clothing, sometimes there are a lot of these layers if i'm doing complex patterns like plaids)
  • Foreground Coloring (characters)
  • Background coloring