Which panel layout is better?

Cavechan 2018-11-23 16:37:00 UTC #1

I've been considering breaking up my pages into vertical scroll format for Tapas and Webtoons since readers seem to prefer it, but I'm honestly not sure if it actually looks better. Actually, I think it looks worse... but it seems that there is a negative chance of ever getting any recognition by Tapas or Webtoon if you do the dreaded page by page format and regular readers (not other creators who are also readers) will always point it out and will begrudgingly subscribe, if they even do.

So I'm looking for some feedback. I changed the first chapter of one of my comics to vertical scroll on Webtoons and have it as page by page on Tapas. Does this actually look any better? I checked it out on both PC and my phone and I still think the page format looks better, but I think as the creator my opinion is biased.

Vertical scroll:

(it's chapter 1)

Page format:

I really like GlobalComix since it works for comics that are page format and vertical scroll comics. It would be nice if Tapas and Webtoon had options for both, but we're stuck with what they give us.

qwerty 2018-11-23 18:37:43 UTC #2

The link seems to be broken for the Webtoons one.

In general, I like the page format better since I think you can make more interesting compositions and layouts with it. Reading page-format comics never bothers me, but that's probably because I'm always on desktop. The main advantage to vertical scroll format isn't that it's supposed to look better, but because it's easier to read on mobile - and unfortunately I don't see any way around that.

HGohwell 2018-11-23 19:30:53 UTC #3

Yeah the link isn't working but I went and found it.

I don't think it looks too bad. You can tell you just rearranged the panels, which is a little off putting , some of the panels are open on two sides in a which looks odd (although your page format seems to do that too?). I don't think it's impossible to do a different lay out but I think it's easier if you planned to do both from the start. Vertical format has a lot of potential if you're open to playing with it. Some of may favourite panels in mine and other vertical scrolling comics are the big vertical panning shots of environments that can give you a real sense of scale. You've got a few gradient sky shots that could look really nice pulled out into a big long pan for pacing. Some of the panels where you've got two people discussing across from each other really work well in vertical format too. I think if you brought more of the speech bubbles out of the panels to help with flow it'd be even better. I'm not overly swayed either way to say one looks better than the other but I will note the vertical scroll felt like it was more substantial because you're moving down always and you can control the pacing with space and white space in a way that would just look odd as a page. Haha that got longer than expected sorry.

(I don't subscribe to the idea you can be more creative/interesting layouts in page form btw, they're both versatile and interesting but their are less tutorials on vertical scroll and it's newer so it's often samey. There are some utterly wonderful uses of vertical scroll out there).

Cavechan 2018-11-23 22:26:44 UTC #4

Ugh, god I hate Webtoons. For some reason the link to the chapter just isn't working. I changed the link to the profile page and it's chapter 1.

Thank you for the feedback!

Definitely. I feel the same. I don't see much advantage to vertical scroll other than you can read the equivalent of 5 pages and 5 seconds, but at the same time I feel it's easy to just glance over important parts of the story. I always view on a desktop too, but I really don't think it's any easier on mobile. There's less scrolling, which I think is nice. The panels are exactly the same in both and I've heard that page format means text can be more difficult to read, but I just don't see how. I just feel like we're sorta being forced into a format. I don't really see a reason for it. But that's my opinion as a creator/reader and not someone who is purely a reader. Supposedly, readers who are not creators prefer the scroll.

Yes, that's because it would be going off of the page. I guess it does look a bit odd digitally though.

I'm not really open to playing with it unfortunately since I do have limited time in comic making, but I do want it to look good for sure. I like those long panels too, but transferring a long panel from page to scroll would be difficult in most cases I think. I suppose I could export different size panels maybe and have it work.

I might try the vertical scroll and see how it goes and try experimenting a bit to see if I can get some good shots going. I realize that contradicts what I just said. lol So I guess I am a bit open as long as I don't spend too long on it.

JeanGuillet 2018-11-23 22:29:39 UTC #5

I think as an artist, our first impulse is to say 'what looks visually better', and page format with interesting layouts wins here...but the better question to ask is 'what conveys the message clearly to the audience'. In both vertical and page format, this is a difficult thing to do, but it's really essential. I often read page format comics that are unclear which panels to read next. This usually doesn't happen with the vertical format, because one panel necessarily follows another. I wish I could find a way to balance clarity and aesthetics perfectly, but unfortunately, I have not found something yet. My one encouragement is to think about what your readers would like. But yeah, otherwise I vote vertical for screens, page for print.

qwerty 2018-11-23 23:05:05 UTC #6

It's pretty common in page formats to have up to three panels horizontally next to each other, so text that's small enough to fit in panel arrangements like that would be hard to read on mobile (not necessarily on desktop). Vertical scroll format generally accomodates only one, possibly two panels per screen-width.

StorySeamstress 2018-11-24 03:35:01 UTC #7

I think each layout conveys the "flow" of the story differently. On a page it's up to the reader to look at the page or panel and see how the characters are interacting, or take their time to notice details. With a vertical format, you're totally controlling/guiding the details your reader sees, and in what order. For me, it took a bit of a mindset switch to convert my pages to a scrolling episode.

At first I was going to take the panels and pretty much just re-arrange them vertically, but since Webtoon announced their contest just as I was about to launch my comic, I decided that I might as well re-cut the episodes so they'd meet the panel requirements.

So, I re-cut my pages MUCH more creatively; grabbing little elements to turn into their own panels, etc.--and I feel like it really helped me grow as a scrolling-webtoon-creator, and made me realize that a vertical webtoon isn't just stacking the panels on top of each other, but that the scrolling is part of the action, and how the sequence of panels or details of panels you show or the amount of blank space between frames really changes the flow of the story, giving a sense of the passage of time in a way that a page doesn't.

TheFalseVyper 2018-11-24 04:13:22 UTC #8

There was a thread a while ago that pointed out that some of the most popular creators on Tapas seem to do a single page layout. There are pros and cons to both, but it ultimately comes down to what will fit with your style better. If you're thinking of taking advantage of the vertical scroll format with long, expansive imagery then you should take that path. If you feel like you can stylize panels with lettering fairly well and you have a solid grasp on page flow (which honestly does make a difference with comics) then perhaps you can make those single pages work for you.

Personally, I like both styles but I ended up choosing the single page layout mainly because I eventually want to have a printed copy of my comic for myself.

I hope this helped!