Inking Questions

[throwaway]

I just got Manga Studio 5/Clip Studio Pro a couple days ago and I have some questions about inking.

What brush do you guys use to ink your comics and how do you get your inking to be so smooth?

[chiharu_j]

Hi there

For inking I primarily use the g-pen and then the mapping pen for fine lines, of course you need o experiment and see what's best for you and how you can spice up a page by using a particular style. As for getting it relatively smooth, having a graphic tablet really helps and working with vector layers when you're inking is a huge advantage in the long run

Of course nothing beats a lot of practice, it takes some getting used to but eventually you find a style that works for you whether it's long bold strokes or shorter fine strokes, you'll eventually figure out what gets in your zone. Good luck

[lukas3]

Manga Studio 5 or Illustrator Cs6? I use Illustrator but which on is better?

[chiharu_j]

@lukas3 Well I've never really used illustrator for inking comics specifically, quite honestly I just like using Clip Studio because everything is already there and I don't have to switch around to different programs except when I have to use photoshop at the end. But I don't know each to their own

[AnnaLandin]

What brush do you guys use to ink your comics and how do you get your inking to be so smooth?

I mostly use the G-Pen tool for inking, and set the Stabilization-setting to 3, to cut down on unnecessary jitter. =) That only goes so far, though; a lot of the smoothness in inking comes from practise and confidence.

[punkarsenic]

for smoothness, ive been recommended to draw with the whole arm, not just the hand; lift your arm from the desk. also, pull curves and push straight lines. idk abt your program, but on SAI theres a stabilizer which automatically makes lines smoother as you draw

[Shanny8]

I use Frenden's Manga Studio 4 Flexible Nib, A regular Flexible Nib, and Frenden's MS 4 brush. It took a lot of practicing & playing around with various nibs/brushes before I settled on these. I use these with the stabilizer on 5; it allows me my lines to be straight or stiff when I need then to, and fluid enough to get the curves I need.

[SpavVy]

When I used to work full digital I mostly used the G-pen and the Turnip pen, Stabilization can play a big role in that too.
Also, I'd suggest having your project set to 600dpi.

[lukas3]

Ok I'll check it out. Does Manga Studio save your pistures as jpegs or pngs?

[carloswebcomic]

Ok I'll check it out. Does Manga Studio save your pistures as jpegs or pngs?

Yes, you can export your comic into whatever file format your heart desires... except waffles. You cannot export your comic as a waffle.

[throwaway]

Thanks to all the people who responded! I really appreciate all the help/tips/suggestions you've given me!

I thought I should clarify what I meant by "smooth". My lines come out to pixelated and it really annoys me. @Savannah said something about DPI? Does changing the DPI make the lines less pixelated?

[doublethickcustard]

Just because as far as I can see nobodies mentioned it, but I like to use the pencils for lining. They give a bit of a different style to the g-pen or any of the inking pens in Manga Studio. I think they're a lot more forgiving too but that may just be because Ive used them the most and Im best practiced with those in particular. I think stabilization is set to 6 by default and thats usually where I leave it.

[Shanny8]

@iamsumwon check your settings to make sure you dont have the anti-alias on. If you're using a resolution lower than 300 dpi, that could also be an issue.

[SpavVy]

Yes, it makes it way less pixelated. Also, if you plan to publish your comic it will be rejected by printers if it's not at least 500 or 600 DPI.

[throwaway]

@Savannah, alright, then. Thank you for the advice!

[Overlord_Thundersnow]

What if I've got it at 300dpi and save it as 500?

gulp...

[joannekwan]

check your settings to make sure you have the anti-alias on.

Fixed~

[SpavVy]

Hmm, you can give it a try and see how it looks. I've scanned my work at 72 dpi once and been asked by a worker from a company that prints posters to change it to at least 300 dpi and it still looked great.

[chiharu_j]

It can save as PSD, png, jpeg and a few other formats I can't remember