Why is there only a 40 page limit?

[snopmark]

40 pages is too limiting.

I'd rather have maximum amount of space(2MB(per page)x40(page maximum)=80MB(maximum per chapter/episode), and the freedom to cut the pages as small as I want.

If I'm not using the whole page limit(940 x 4000px) then I feel like I would be losing out if I used something smaller, for instance 940 x 300px.

And this ties into the fact that Tapas's policy is to focus on "bite-sized" stories.

Then what about creators who's dream is to create epic long chapters/episodes? Are they just out of luck?

Please give us creative freedom!

Does anyone else have any thoughts?

[Jenny-Toons]

EDIT: Croppy Extension now ALSO works on Tapas. Same bookmark works for both websites, so if you already made the bookmark you can start using it for tapas as well- you just may need to close and reopen your browser completely before it will work- you'll know it works when the popup says tapas and webtoon(not just webtoon). Hi Everyone! You may recall me posting a link in the past to croppy, a website my husband made for the community that slices images for Tapas and webtoon, WELL, he has cr…

Just use Croppy to make things a bit longer.

That, and let's face it -- how much are you trying to fit into one episode? Like, do you need a long-ass episode that could be made into 4 seperate episodes easily?

From my angle, it's better for pacing and keeping up a good buffer.

[snopmark]

That's not the point, because Krita's Image Split do that very easily.

I'd rather much have a maximum size limit per chapter. And what if I wanted a tiny gif image in between, that'd already count as 1 page.

[joannekwan]

Personally, I don't want to read 40 pages in one go, it would take forever to load if I'm on a machine with limited abilities or have a bad connection. And if I have to stop in the middle of an episode for whatever reason, it will be a slog to scroll back through to find my place.

[snopmark]

You don't have to read anything in one go.

I tend to just turn off the phone if I can't read it all, and resume later where I left off.

It doesn't really matter how long a chapter is for me.

And it doesn't have to load all the images at once, it can do that one at a time as you scroll down.

And even spots can be saved if they program it to.

[snopmark]

It's not that I'm planning to make a ridiculously long chapter or anything.

Just I just want creative freedom.

If I were to compare it to Webtoons for instance, they just have a straight up 20MB chapter limit.

[beta1042]

20mb is just as limiting tho?

i dont understand why you can't just have multiple updates for the same chapter? it's not limiting your creative freedom at all

[Jenny-Toons]

multiple updates for the same chapter

And strategically, that's better for your comic. You're able to have more updates, which means you're able to appear more often in the "Fresh" tabs, as well as get more potential likes and comments.

[snopmark]

Because that messes with the pacing, and if you break it into multiple episodes there's a disruption.

Also vertical webcomics uses a lot of white space for pacing(like change of scene or downtime between panels etc) to be an effective story element.

Yes 20MB maybe small. Their page size specification is also smaller than Tapas. But you can upload pages however you want, that's the beauty of it.

If I happen to upload 60 small pages or so on Webtoons, then i can't very easily turn around and upload to Tapas because of the page limits, and who knows if I'd be able to upload everything even if I stitched them all together into a bigger size.

[snopmark]

That's just some superficial gimmick.

[BobbyjoeX]

ok, for example, i update 2 pages an update, i usually try to break befor a reveal or a scene switch, this was something i read in a book years ago, you do that to get hype to turn the page or in my case, see the next update.

not just that but readers tend to not like it when they have to wait a long period of time for an update so splitting up the chapter is good for that too

[snopmark]

Ah like how in manga, you read 2 pages at a time, and your last panel should generate hype for the reader to turn the page.

Okay that's one viable technique to use.

But in regards to length, people also don't like it when updates are very short, even though they may be frequent.

Oppose to waiting longer for the update, but the chapter is also longer.

I'd it it pretty much evens out.

[Jenny-Toons]

For you, maybe. And that's chill -- but I see it differently and not superficial at all.

As a reader of both manga and webcomics, 30-40 pages is a good amount for one chapter. Sure, there are some that go over and under, but usually that's a good amount to progress a story and know enough content.

You don't want it so short that people aren't engaged, but you definitely don't want it so long that people get lost. Also, you have to remember that readers do binge-read and will wait to see more updates before reading your stuff.

Also have to remember that a lot of people have adopted doing things based on panels rather than actual comic chapters -- so that differs in how many pages you actually need.

[GalacticPotato]

We live in a society

[snopmark]

I do agree with what say, and at the same time I respect you for respecting my opinion.

Definitely 30-40 pages is very good, but for vertical comics, that might as well be about half that, because our panels are very big, so maybe about 3-4 panels per page.

Then we have to take into account vertical page spreads as well as white space or downtime in between scenes and panels.

30-40 pages for Manga is a lot of content, but not so much for vertical webcomics.

[nostalgicroxas]

Definitely 30-40 pages is very good, but for vertical comics, that might as well be about half that, because our panels are very big, so maybe about 3-4 panels per page.

Depends on what kind of webcomic you're reading. Some of the ones I read upload 30-40 images for their updates. It's a long read each time. Some upload 25, but use 5-10 more of those uploads to load in the white space to save on building the white space into each image.

[BobbyjoeX]

well i have seen many people adapt, in this case you can shrink up your panels since they do not need to be super massive OR lower your width size to make the segments longer

[snopmark]

Webtoon Originals can have double, 80 images or so per chapter.

I don't see that affecting them negatively in anyway, and they tend to be the favorites.

[ar-ninetysix]

30-40 pages for Manga is a lot of content, but not so much for vertical webcomics.

You bring up an interesting point. (Hi btw just popping in here lol) I'm in a weird mindset when it comes to these so take my thoughts on the matter for what you will. I guess it'd really go to show how much it depends from person to person but anyways here goes.

30-40 pages of manga content for one chapter consumable in roughly 5-10 minutes? Dope! 30-40 pages of webtoon content over one update??? Yikes. Like even if it's a fraction of that manga content, I dunno what happened but somewhere down the line, I just started taking in webcomics as a separate kinda format??

I'd be way more inclined to read several smaller updates over one massive update. To have it all in one spot would just feel so intimidating to read rather than inviting. And like, yeah, even if you could take a break in between and just pause and come back to it later... that's like.. idk it's a weird feeling. Like I'd personally feel like finishing the update would become a chore to do. And it makes no real sense, but that's really how I see it.

But again, I don't know how my tastes align with the average reader so

[colinmooredraws]

40 pages is huge for a single update. But ultimately each platform is different and has different limits on their servers, different needs they're catering to, things that not every user wants/needs.

Go over to Smackjeeves or one of those older formats. Where they allow only a single page per update. Just 1. That's it.

Then what about creators who's dream is to create epic long chapters/episodes? Are they just out of luck?

From this it sounds like you're thinking of chapters/episodes the wrong way. You aren't required to cram it all into a single update. They use that phrasing but it's different from when you script it out. You can have an actual comic chapter broken down into smaller pieces.

Also, you can't complain that the individual page limit is too small when you want to post individual panels not stitched together to take advantage of that longer format.