Organizing Pages in Clip Studio Paint for Publishing
When preparing your comic or manga for publication, it's essential to understand the guidelines for organizing pages in Clip Studio Paint. This comprehensive guide will walk you through the traditional manuscript paper guidelines, Clip Studio Paint guidelines, understanding margins and setting up a comic file, understanding page layout and binding for comics, configuring binding settings in Clip Studio, and provide additional resources to help you succeed.
Traditional Manuscript Paper Guidelines
When using traditional manuscript paper, there are guidelines for various trim marks for pages that can also be applied to Clip Studio Paint. These guidelines are crucial in ensuring that your important text and images are preserved in the final printed version.
Clip Studio Paint Guidelines
In Clip Studio Paint, there are three essential guidelines to keep in mind:
- Drawing Frame: The innermost margin where important text and images should reside for easy reading.
- Print Cutoff Lines: The margin surrounding the drawing frame where you can place content that can still be printed, but may extend to the edge of the page.
- Panel Placement: The print cutoff lines are suitable for panels that need to stretch to the very edge of the page.
Understanding Margins and Setting Up a Comic File
Margins and Safe Zone
When working with Clip Studio Paint, it's essential to understand the importance of margins and safe zones. The outer edge of the page has a cut-off margin where important art and text may not be printed and may get chopped off during final binding, cutting, and alignment. To avoid this, it's advised not to put important text or details outside of this margin to ensure they are preserved in the final printed version.
Setting Up a Comic File
To set up a comic file in Clip Studio Paint, follow these steps:
- Open a new file and select the "Comic" option.
- If starting from digital, choose a size that fits the publisher's guidelines or a size that suits your needs.
- If using scanned pages, use the exact size of the paper to ensure a smooth fit.
- In this example, the file size is 182 x 257 millimeters, using Leader Art Paper for Expression Color.
- The color mode can be changed depending on whether the comic is colored or black and white.
Understanding Page Layout and Binding for Comics
Page Layout:
- Western comics typically read from left to right.
- Manga typically reads from right to left.
Binding:
- Binding refers to the point where the pages are attached together.
- Western comics usually bind from the left.
- Manga usually binds from the right.
- The binding point determines where the pages start or end:
- Binding right: prioritizes filling the right end of the book first.
- Binding left: prioritizes filling the first pages from the left.
Importance of Binding for Double Page Spreads:
- Choosing the correct binding is crucial to avoid awkward separation of pages meant to be together.
- Pay close attention to binding when creating double page spreads.
Recommended Approach:
- For a manga-style comic, start from the right and read to the left, with left binding.
- This allows the first page to start on the left side.
- It's recommended to review this section to ensure proper understanding of binding and page layout.
Configuring Binding Settings in Clip Studio
To configure binding settings in Clip Studio, follow these steps:
- Check the box to have the option to create double page spreads.
- Once set up, Clip Studio will create a file for each single page and a file aggregating all pages together in one folder.
Benefits of configuring binding settings include:
- Allows for creation of double page spreads.
- Enables separation of double pages into single pages by right-clicking and separating.
Post-configuration steps include:
- Copy and paste scans into Clip Studio.
- Resize scans to polish digital manga.
- Publish digital manga for the world to see.
Additional Resources
- Watch an additional video on creating double page spreads by clicking the link.
- Subscribe for more manga tips, reviews, and content to help you improve your craft and succeed in the world of manga creation.