Thinking about printing, Advice?

Zak 2020-01-09 11:07:22 UTC #1

Hello,
I had been thinking about printing my first chapter of my comic, Since its technically finished and in the backlog of new pages I'm planning for upload of my comic, JETX.

I just wanted to ask for some advice about what is a good number in terms of quanity I should get? I'm not worried about money or costs at the moment just seeking advice.

I mostly want to print it rather than do a graphic novel of the first story arc in the future because I want to try and sell something online maybe or at my local market to earn some pocket money. That and I was thinking of donating money to the bushfire appeal thats happening down near my area (Australia, and yes, I am affected by it since its close to where I live.) So I figured Id do my part on that as well since I can't really do much else.

Again, Just a thought.

Thank you.

faeriesandents 2020-01-09 11:10:02 UTC #2

Go around and look for local printers and ask for quotes first so you can see what your budget offers. Second, don't go too big if it's your first run, 200-400 copies are often plenty to keep you safe for a year (or longer). Putting your stuff on Amazon Kindle is a smart idea too so people can order it world wide

Zak 2020-01-09 11:14:30 UTC #3

Never thought of doing it digitally since, well, Tapas has it uploaded lol. Do you know if it requires anything or is overly expensive? (again, from Australia. Everything to us is expensive lol).

Thanks for the quick reply.

faeriesandents 2020-01-09 11:17:12 UTC #4

No problem! If you look for local printers it doesn't have to be overly expensive, just keep in mind you have to keep extra bleeds on all sides (usually 3mm all around) and you usually have to turn it into a PDF yourself. Do you work on a publish-able size? Tapas' upload size is not fit for printing.

Zak 2020-01-09 11:31:46 UTC #5

I always keep big images of originals before I get them ready for Tapas and Webtoons. So I got them. I haven't it before for those but Ill look more into it!

faeriesandents 2020-01-09 11:43:06 UTC #6

Good luck! If you need to put together a PDF for it, I advice the free program Scribus.

spadedigsbutts 2020-01-09 20:11:23 UTC #7

Don’t forget things like bleed and How CMYK changes the color profile! They’re easy to forget but really Important for good printing!

faeriesandents 2020-01-09 20:36:30 UTC #8

That's why I love scribus, it automatically exports to CMYK so you don't have to worry about that either

spadedigsbutts 2020-01-09 23:40:36 UTC #9

Okay well now that IS delectable

Shanny8 2020-01-10 03:58:26 UTC #10

Also check your colors to make sure they aren't TOO dark. When comics are printed the colors are a little darker than what you see on the screen; if your colors are too saturated and dark they will print even darker...

rajillustration 2020-01-10 05:16:43 UTC #11

Another thing to think about is storage--depending on the amount, they'll come in a big ol box so make sure you got enough garage space or they'll just kinda live in your bedroom for a while.

Zak 2020-01-10 05:36:11 UTC #12

Thanks for the replies everyone, Will be taking it all into consideration.
I have found a somewhat local print-on-demand place to print 50 to begin with. Will cost me roughly 250 dollars.

Might be a bite late to get here when I get around to paying for it, they have to go through the Bushfires to get to where I am, and the Postal services arent exactly willing to go through fire so yeah..

I am thinking of besides a market to probably make an Etsy Store or Ebay Store for it. What do folks think of that? Or is there a better place to do it? I'm just looking around at places that benefit Australians more than American folks. Mostly because I feel like we get overcharged because of currency conversions and GST taxes >3>