What's one thing you wish you knew when you started your comic?

[sarrowsmith10]

This is a really good thread for tips:
https://forums.tapas.io/t/one-thing-you-wish-youd-known-when-you-started/7551

I wish I would have known proper formatting for printing physical copies before I started. I had to go back and redraw and re-edit a bunch of stuff for the first chapter in order to get it printed. It was a nightmare.

[Aspie_Gamer]

People will find and sub to your comic no matter how niche it is. Of course, you've still got to put yourself out there and commit to a regular updating schedule, but with the swath of BL, slice of life gag comics, and whatever else is "popular" on the site and with Staff right now, I feel that its worth saying for those who want to forge their own path, but are afraid that they might get caught up in that vicious cycle of "amount of views/subs equals validation" or even wholeheartedly believe it themselves.

If your comic is consistent, people will know it exists.

If your comic is good, the right people will find it.

If your comic has value, the right people will stick around for the long haul.

[dawgofdawgness]

I wish I knew that the head is not 50% of the body

[shaylafarley5]

How to lay panels more fluidly and work on cell shading

[herssian]

I'm loving all of these. I don't personally agree with the "don't shade with black" rule because I know enough from my own experiences in semi-realistic painting that it can work, but still, all of these are a gold mine!

[serenitysquirrel]

How to do comics properly. HAHAHA

[thekinginthesun]

I'm loving all of these. I don't personally agree with the "don't shade with black" rule because I know enough from my own experiences in semi-realistic painting that it can work, but still, all of these are a gold mine!

Well, it certainly didn't work for me!
Probably because my shading style is not semi-realistic at all!
But I'm glad to know there are actually some cases where it works!

[spadesart]

that youre not supposed to draw the speech bubbles BEFORE putting the text in. god that was awful.

[AVXP]

1) The art doesn't matter, it's the story that survives.
2) How important EVERY comic I ever did would be to me someday. Wish I drew more of them.
3) Don't make the first time you draw something - be used in any comic. Practice first.
4) Save everything. I didn't know too much about creating an archive.
5) Pick the things you don't draw well and draw them until you do draw them well enough.
6) Draw HUGE and then shrink it down.
7) Create in the highest resolution (Print, at least 300 dpi) and then resize it for sharing.

[Tes]

Engage with the community through comments, forums and social media. I'm pretty sure it's is how I get most of my subs nowadays.

[AVXP]

that youre not supposed to draw the speech bubbles BEFORE putting the text in. god that was awful.

Hahahah Yeah, I used to picture the words and then by the time I got to the bubble, I'd forget what they said and have a huge bubble and not know what was supposed to go in it.

Write a script first. I used to freestyle everything.

[herssian]

Well, it certainly didn't work for me! Probably because my shading style is not semi-realistic at all! But I'm glad to know there are actually some cases where it works!

Try using it on a multiply layer on a low opacity! It works wonders for even my cell/flat shading :~)

[thekinginthesun]

Gotta try that! Thanks for the tip

[AmysGames]

I wish I knew what I was getting myself into.

[kip]

I think I would definitly kick myself for choosing to do all the text by hand. It takes me about as long as doing a couple of panels and is generally just not necessarily worth it, better make your own font if you want it to look handmade!

General art tip I did know but I just want to share because it's so helpful, mirror (flip) your canvas while doing the lineart and make sure it looks good flipped as well! Even if you won't actually flip it, it's a huge help when it comes to the final product's looks.

[Shanny8]

The bleed lines & border dimensions on where to keep the art. No one ever mentioned that in ANY type of comic making tutorial back in the day when I first started, so I was drawing stuff larger than it should've been.

3) Don't make the first time you draw something - be used in any comic. Practice first.

I dont draw it the "first time" when I initially draw the thing in my comic, but I dont draw it 100 times enough. I may draw a thing 2 or 3 times before "BAM"- I throw it in my comic.

The number one thing that I still bitch & groan about today- COLORING. I do okay in certain zones- and I'm still learning, but I wish I could learn a LOT more faster. There are some days where I hate my coloring.

[joe_galindez]

There are some days where I hate my coloring.

You are beautiful just the way you are.

[IdiotWithPencil]

older me: here little me read this and do what it says and you will be fine
young me: shut up you old geezer and suck it *flips me off

I was a dick =/

[shaylafarley5]

I'm doing all of these and it helped a lot but I should have learned more about Photoshop before I started publishing my comic

[abohac]

Also, if you're planning on printing your comic, shading with black is pretty risky because CMYK printing often comes out darker than you think it's going to. Avoiding adding black to your colour palette means you can avoid this