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Comic life page size for graphic novel

M

manyrains

macrumors member
Original poster
Oct 12, 2008
40
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I'm using Comic Life to write a graphic novel. I'm having trouble formatting the page to the same size as some reference books I'm using (Watchmen, a couple of other paperbacks the same size). I have computed the page format size based on the 72 pts per inch to what appears to be the standard 10.25 x 6.625, but when it prints it's significantly smaller.

I realize I need to create the book in a format size that will be available with the book on demand printing I anticipate using- The Watchmen book appears to be roughly 10.25x 6.625, the size listed on Lulu for Comic book size.

Anyone able to help me figure out how to set up comic life page to be same size?
Thanks
 
Comic Life font size?

I've jumped into the world of making comics since I've discovered this app that came with my MBP. I'm creating a graphic novel. I puzzled about appropriate font size. I keep feeling like I'm taking up too much space with my text bubbles, then am surprised when I look at a reference comic book at how much text they fit in theirs. My CL defaults to 10pt font size, but I've been changing it to 7, which appears OK when I print it out. But that brings up the other issue of I have no idea what size I'm really working at, or should be working at. I think so far I've been working on regular letter size, and just realized tonight i need to format to size i want tis to be published at. (See my other post)
Bottom line- is there a standard comic font size?
Thanks
 
I can't speak to font sizes in comic books, but I can tell you my research for some ads I created have led me to create my original pencil and ink drawings at 13 x 19. The final artwork is scaled proportionally from that, though I don't know what the final size actually is.
 
Hey what ever happened to my Comic Life on Leopard?

Hey what ever happened to my Comic Life on Leopard?
I've just upgraded my OS from Tiger to Leopard a few months ago. and I just realized that I don't have Comic Life anymore. DOES IT COME WITH Mac Leopard 10.5? Can someone tell me how to get it?
 
manyrains said:
I have computed the page format size based on the 72 pts per inch to what appears to be the standard 10.25 x 6.625, but when it prints it's significantly smaller.
Click to expand...

I'm guessing you know this already, but I'll spout this out anyway....

Optimal print resolution is 300dpi. Anything less, and your image is going to print out blurry or pixelated. If I had to guess, the printer is compensating for the resolution by shrinking the image.

Attempting some proportional math here, 300/72 = 4.167. Multiplying your page dimensions by that ratio gives the following: 42.71 x 27.6 at 72dpi. Never having actually used Comic Life, I'm not sure if its capable of that.

The other option is to make sure the printer is printing at 100%. Or make sure the printer is printing the oversized image at about 24% (72/300 to get the percentage).

I'm guessing you've tried both of these options.

I suppose a Plan C would be to save each page as an image, and import them into a page layout program of some sort.

Good luck.
 
Ironically, that helped. The "72 pts" is the page size in Comic Life- 72 pts per inch.
But- I wasn't paying attention to resolution in printing, and savig the image at 300 dpi did indeed print it at correct size.

Thanks

I'm still doing a lot of trial and error trying to set up my page format identical to the books I'm using as reference. I think I'm getting there, but any more suggestions on typical procedure- eg. gutter size, margin size, for graphic novel versus comic book would be appreciated.
 
Honestly - it varies from publisher to publisher. My best advice is to contact whomever will be doing the final printing of your book, and ask them your specific questions. And don't forget to ask about the spine thickness.
 
Comic Life- graphic novel?

I've dived into the world of creating a graphic novel since I discovered Comic Life on my MacPro. I'm having trouble fromattting the page size to match reference graphic novels, and comic books, for that matter. For example, I'm trying to use the "Watchmen" book as model. The closest I'm getting is "comic book" setting, but needing to change the margins significantly. I'm also very confused about what font size to use. The default setting is 10, but in trying to create text baloons similar to published examples, I needing to make the font way smaller. The last mock-up I printed out was 5pt, I believe I'll try 6pt.

To sum- my question is how do you set up page in CL comparable to typical graphic novel layout?

Then I'll have some questions about cost effective printing of a graphic novel- obviously way more expensive, complex (?) than standard text book. Appreciate any ideas on that as well.
Thanks
 
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