Comic Book Paper Sizes!

[JoieSimmons]

I wrote an article about the differences between store-bought comic book paper sizes. I wrote it because it's the kind of thing I wanted to read years and years ago.

http://tinyurl.com/4757zpz

[William Blankenship]

The second Canson Fanboy pad you shown seems to be their early version. I recently bought some more (online, as it seems you had a hard time finding them per your article) and it looks more like the first version with the girl in the cloak on the cover. If you want to buy them online at a deal, go here.

http://www.dickblick.com/products/ca...-manga-papers/

The image shows the cover of their early line, but my recent order had the cover with the girl with the cloak. Both are the same product, they just may have updated the line measurements.

[JoieSimmons]

Originally Posted by 3'LL

The second Canson Fanboy pad you shown seems to be their early version. I recently bought some more (online, as it seems you had a hard time finding them per your article) and it looks more like the first version with the girl in the cloak on the cover. If you want to buy them online at a deal, go here.

http://www.dickblick.com/products/ca...-manga-papers/

The image shows the cover of their early line, but my recent order had the cover with the girl with the cloak. Both are the same product, they just may have updated the line measurements.

They need to update their product images!

[William Blankenship]

, I know I even had to double check my paypal to see, but yeah that's where I ordered from. It's a really good deal and Canson Fanboys are the best boards I've worked on.

[UniverseX259]

Interesting article, Joie, and it's something I've wondered about myself. I've used a bunch of different kinds of pre-lined boards, from Canson to Strathmore to my personal favorite, Eon. And I did notice that each board has a different aspect ratio in terms of the live area, and sometimes even the trim area - For instance, Canson's live area is wider than Eon's.

I guess what really matters in the long run is that the aspect ratio for the trim lines are close enough to 10"x15". There's no point in having precise measurements from the live area if the trim area is, say, 9"x16", because that will mess up the page more when it's printed.

Many people will tell you it's best to rule your own boards so you're not at the mercy of a company's aspect ratios, but sometimes it's more convenient to have the pre-lined boards (And they look fancier!). I personally stick with Eon boards because they use Marvel's aspect ratios, and they supply paper to Dynamite, so I know that when the pages are prepared for print they won't be horribly off the standard dimensions.

[JoieSimmons]

Originally Posted by 3'LL

, I know I even had to double check my paypal to see, but yeah that's where I ordered from. It's a really good deal and Canson Fanboys are the best boards I've worked on.

I really enjoy the Canson boards. Even with a marker (a good Micron marker) the paper really shows the ink well. Big fan!

[JoieSimmons]

Originally Posted by UniverseX259

Interesting article, Joie, and it's something I've wondered about myself. I've used a bunch of different kinds of pre-lined boards, from Canson to Strathmore to my personal favorite, Eon. And I did notice that each board has a different aspect ratio in terms of the live area, and sometimes even the trim area - For instance, Canson's live area is wider than Eon's.

I guess what really matters in the long run is that the aspect ratio for the trim lines are close enough to 10"x15". There's no point in having precise measurements from the live area if the trim area is, say, 9"x16", because that will mess up the page more when it's printed.

Many people will tell you it's best to rule your own boards so you're not at the mercy of a company's aspect ratios, but sometimes it's more convenient to have the pre-lined boards (And they look fancier!). I personally stick with Eon boards because they use Marvel's aspect ratios, and they supply paper to Dynamite, so I know that when the pages are prepared for print they won't be horribly off the standard dimensions.

Much as I'm a fan of Canson papers, I'll have to check out the Eon boards. I don't think I've heard of 'em. Might make for a another good article!

[JoieSimmons]

Got to thank everyone on the boards here for the great response this article is getting!

[Kody]

I posted this on the Image board a while back, and figured I'd share it here.

I designed some custom art boards a few years ago, picked out my own paper, etc. I did my layout based on the ACTUAL trim size of modern comics (which is 6 5/8" x 10 3/16 — or a true ratio of 1:1.65), so I set my page size to:

Bleed: 10 1/2" x 15 7/8"
Trim 10" x 15 3/8"
Live 9" x 14 3/8"

The ratio is close to the 1:1.5 everyone else uses, but that ratio tends to leave more negative space on the top and bottom than it does on the sides. So if you look at comics that use this ratio, you'll normally see a bit of extra space on the top and bottom, and that bugs me.

The 1 : 1.65 ratio is an odd number, so most people don't want to do the math, but it is more accurate to final trim size. Yes, I am a little OCD about these things.

However, to prove I'm not completely OCD, I did round my numbers to the nearest 1/8th and slapped a ruler around the art board to speed things up.

Anyway, just wanted to share for those of you that have to measure stuff.

FYI: This is also the ratio EON boards use because I did that original design for them. I've since tweaked my design a little, so they're not exactly the same, but pretty close.

[JoieSimmons]

Originally Posted by Kody

I posted this on the Image board a while back, and figured I'd share it here.

I designed some custom art boards a few years ago, picked out my own paper, etc. I did my layout based on the ACTUAL trim size of modern comics (which is 6 5/8" x 10 3/16 — or a true ratio of 1:1.65), so I set my page size to:

Bleed: 10 1/2" x 15 7/8"
Trim 10" x 15 3/8"
Live 9" x 14 3/8"

The ratio is close to the 1:1.5 everyone else uses, but that ratio tends to leave more negative space on the top and bottom than it does on the sides. So if you look at comics that use this ratio, you'll normally see a bit of extra space on the top and bottom, and that bugs me.

The 1 : 1.65 ratio is an odd number, so most people don't want to do the math, but it is more accurate to final trim size. Yes, I am a little OCD about these things.

However, to prove I'm not completely OCD, I did round my numbers to the nearest 1/8th and slapped a ruler around the art board to speed things up.

Anyway, just wanted to share for those of you that have to measure stuff.

FYI: This is also the ratio EON boards use because I did that original design for them. I've since tweaked my design a little, so they're not exactly the same, but pretty close.

That's awesome!
Nice, official info! Sweet!

[Kody]

Sorry, the comic ratio I'm using is actually 1:1.537. All the page measurements are the same.

[JoieSimmons]

Originally Posted by Kody

Sorry, the comic ratio I'm using is actually 1:1.537. All the page measurements are the same.

That's pretty awesome.
I have to say that Math is my Kryptonite.
I really need to check out those Eon boards.

[UniverseX259]

Originally Posted by JoieSimmons

That's pretty awesome.
I have to say that Math is my Kryptonite.
I really need to check out those Eon boards.

Do check out Eons if you're set on using pre-lined boards. Great company and customer service, and excellent product. I suggest ordering the Heavy Duty boards, which are thicker and printed on higher quality paper. I used to use their standard boards but I found myself struggling with them and fighting them a lot. Once I switched to heavy duty I found it much easier to draw a page, especially during the inking stage.

But if you want to rule your own boards, definitely get some Strathmore 400 or 500 series bristol. It's like butta!

[JoieSimmons]

Originally Posted by UniverseX259

Do check out Eons if you're set on using pre-lined boards. Great company and customer service, and excellent product. I suggest ordering the Heavy Duty boards, which are thicker and printed on higher quality paper. I used to use their standard boards but I found myself struggling with them and fighting them a lot. Once I switched to heavy duty I found it much easier to draw a page, especially during the inking stage.

But if you want to rule your own boards, definitely get some Strathmore 400 or 500 series bristol. It's like butta!

I spent a long time measuring boards and it's not for me! I'll do it but if I don't have to I won't. I'm too ADD to have to do that. I like to pull it out and get to work!

But I did notice that all of a sudden Strathmore sells 11x17 paper and that's AWESOME!

Good tip on the heavy duty boards.

[Flairbrusher]

Originally Posted by JoieSimmons

I spent a long time measuring boards and it's not for me! I'll do it but if I don't have to I won't. I'm too ADD to have to do that. I like to pull it out and get to work!

But I did notice that all of a sudden Strathmore sells 11x17 paper and that's AWESOME!

Good tip on the heavy duty boards.

Now if they could only get the notion out of their heads that inking is a dying art...