How to get Best Image Quality for Comics?

[dinosaurguy22]

Hello,

I am planning on creating a 4-panel comic series using the software Krita. I was messing around with the ppi and canvas size when I realized I have no idea what I'm doing. I am trying to get the best image quality I can get using the Tapas requirements of 940 x 4000px which seems quite small. I created a template of 4 panels going down vertically with the canvas size at 819 x 3276, however I have read before it is better to create at a size 2x bigger than the requirement then resizing it down later. What would be a good canvas size and ppi for a 4-panel comic going down vertically to get the best image quality?

Help would be greatly appreciated.

[IndigoShirtProd]

When it comes to color comics, a good dpi to have is 350 and above. Saving the image at a .png also does well to preserve the quality regardless of final image size.

[dinosaurguy22]

I created a a couple of canvases, one at a dpi of 600 and one at 1200. I read somewhere that 600 and above was better for line art (which I have). Is this true?

[IndigoShirtProd]

Generally speaking, the higher the dpi, the high quality the final image. I think I've also heard somewhere that higher dpi should be used for just lineart. At least 350, 600 is the recommended.

[VibrantFox]

Seconding indigo on at least 350dpi for color comics, 600 dpi is usually recommended for black and white comics since it's supposed to preserve line quality. Something to remember though is the higher the dpi (especially with a large canvas) means a much larger file size so keep that in mind as your making your decision since Tapas' limit is 2mb

Personally I start with a 940 x 1080px canvas at 350dpi, and saving the files as .png, and the result is relatively decent quality without any pixelization or artifacts

[CloudyMagpie]

so dpi and ppi (dots per inch for print, pixels per inch for digital) ultimately only affect the dimensions for your final piece in terms of its physical copy.

If you create a canvas that is 940 pixels wide, whether its final resolution is 600 or 72 ppi, it will still display as a 940 pixel wide image on a screen.
The difference only becomes relevant once you try to print.

If you try to print that 940 px image at 600 ppi, all those pixels will be compacted into that space literally 600 per square inch of paper, giving you a final physical size of about an inch and a half. If you print that same image with 72 ppi, it will spread its pixels over a greater area and give you a final size of about 13 inches. a bigger size, but ultimately less crisp because the pixels (dots of ink) are spread so thin.

if you have no plans on printing, don't worry about ppi or dpi.