12 / 17
Jun 2016

This question has been stuck in my mind ever since. Recently, I bought a:

  • Canson Fanboy Comic Book Art Boards 11x17

and

  • Canson Artist Series Fanboy Comic Manga Illustration 9x12

Ever since then, I've been wondering: What type of paper should I use to create my comics? And what size should they really be? I really like both, but I'm just curious to see what type of paper and paper size you guys use.

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    Jun '16
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    Jun '16
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HAHA um... I use.... printer-paper sized cardstock. Like. I go into an office supply store and buy a package of store-brand 8.5x11" cardstock that's meant for printing stuff on and that's what all my comics get drawn on. xD I prefer it because it goes through the printer easily, and printing out the sketch in non-photo blue is a big part of my process.

When I was in art school I used 11x17 Bristol Board for all my projects, because at one point that was the Industry Standard, but in comics now that's kinda becoming less and less important.

As far as what type of paper, there's not really any "should" at this point, honestly! You should use whatever works best for your process. I use cardstock because I ink pretty heavily in ballpoint pen but need the paper to go through my printer. Another person might use Bristol Board because they're going to be using india ink on it. My previous comic was inked with micron pens on a piece of normal computer printer paper folded in half because that's all I needed and that helped me keep it a consistent size.

As for what size they should be, the place that will matter the most is if you want to print your comics at some point! It sounds like the two styles of paper you have are in the standard/western size ratio and the manga/digest size ratio, so honestly, whichever one of those feels like a better fit for your comic is the good to use. (I just recently posted photos of these two sizes of book142 for comparison in another thread if that'd be helpful!)

Preferrably, I use ANY 11"x 17" bristol board. I prefer vellum stock and not smooth.

You can use basically about any type/size paper you want- just make sure it's good quality paper/board that can take tons of abuse(bristol usually can- unless you draw real hard or use TONS of ink/marker).

I use DELETER manuscript paper for my manga style comic, size B4 310 x 220mm (printing size)

B4 size manuscript paper no matter the brand is very popular with most mangaka in Japan.
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Paper link47

I also have Canson Fanboy comic art boards but I plan to use them for a future one-shot series.

I use Deleter manuscript paper, and I go for the A4 because it's easier to carry around so I can pencil in my breaks at work. It's a little expensive to import, but it's so much easier having the printed rulers, and it keeps my page sizes the same. It's also nice and smooth compared to most fine art papers, which is great because I don't like textured paper.

I would use manuscript role DELETER but in my country it does not exist that hehe is really difficult and limited so obte for 17 uses a sheet of 11 x to scan and to do the digital rest

I do my sketch phase on Canson XL Recycled Drawing Paper (11x14) and my inks on Strathmore Vellum Bristol (11x14)

I like to print my own guide lines onto my drawing paper. I work for print, and I've just found it works for me to denote my own safe zone and bleed lines that correspond with the printer I use. (When doing comics for publishers I make new templates based on their safe zone and bleed specs since they can be a little different)

Here's the page I'm working on today as an example. The bottom panel is gonna be full bleed.

I use Bristol Smooth 11X17 art board, the special one made for comics with all the blue-lined guides (only a couple extra bucks for that type and they carry it at my local store, so why not?).

I like it for three reasons: 1, it's thick, 2, it takes ink really well and resists smudging, and 3, I like to draw big and then shrink down for printing purposes, helps me get better at details when I draw big, plus it helps me to navigate around the page when I draw.

It best to use standard 9x11 paper since it fits in to scanners perfectly. I drew one comic on a 11x15 and it cut out most of the drawings when I tried to scan it

If you're working on a piece of paper larger than your scanner, you can scan it in parts and then use photo merge to assemble them. I did this for a long time before I got a large format scanner.

I just use whatever piece of scrap paper I find, then I put it together in CSP.
As a template in CSP, I use an A4 size page turned 90 degrees (297mm).

I guess if you want to do it traditionally it matters, but I never gave the paper I use any thought.

Yeah pretty much the same here blush
I only sketch paper and then finish the rest digitally in photoshop/Paint Tool Sai

when working with larger boards you either A) have to have a bigger scanner that is capable of scanning 11x17 size work- in which most younger artists dont, or you have to B) be able to know how to scan larger size paper on an 8.5x11 scanner(in halves), and "marry"(join/combine) the halves together in a program like Photoshop, Gimp, or Manga/Clip Studio.

True, but I just stick with the 8x11 for now. And that is a good idea I will try stuck_out_tongue

@indagold No, you're not! XD But hey, everyone works differently. Haha

Everyone here has amazing advice though! Thank you. I mostly work with 8.5 x 11 paper, but I think that's going to change, since I have a 11 x 17 Canson paper. Thank you all and keep up the awesome work!