What size book do I use for publishing my webcomic artwork?
I've been doing my webcomics since 2017 and every year I print a collected version of them as a book.
The sizes I use for these books have changed over the years
I made the first collected issue of the comics in 2018 after I figured out how to publish it on Amazon KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing).
I wasn't thinking about sizing it for print when I started
When I first started drawing the webcomic itself I didn't think about the size or that I might publish it for print later. I just picked a large rectangle size and drew the comic.
I learned a lot of stuff over the years through trial and error like that.
For example, books that I've made up until now are all different sizes.
The First Book
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| The First Book was 10 x 7 inches |
The first book is a much larger size because my comics also used to be a lot taller. That is what happened when I just chose a random size like I said earlier.
I went with a 10 x 7-inch size. So after I made it, had it printed and I ordered a copy I was like "this is a gigantic book!?"
(First book on Amazon - https://amzn.to/35wSN6x)
The Second Book
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| The second book was 8 1/2 x 5 1/2 inches |
So the next year, when I made the second book I printed it a bit smaller 8 1/2 by 5 1/2 inches.
I also changed the size of the webcomic itself because I had started sharing the webcomics on Instagram and the bottom was getting cut off.
I messed around with a few different drawing sizes and found one that worked better. So now, I draw my comic at 1000 by 1200 px.
Also in the second book, I realized as I printed it I had a hard time figuring out how to center this smaller size.
There was a big gap at the bottom of the pages.
(The second book on Amazon - https://amzn.to/3KHagIr)
The Third Book
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| The third book is 8 x 5 inches |
(Third book on Amazon - https://amzn.to/3tE5VP6)
For the third book, I was inspired by these old newspaper comic paperbacks that I collect.
I have old issues of Dennis the menace, Beetle Bailey, Heathcliff, stuff like that.
These were in a pocketbook style type book that they did in the 70s.
So I chose the smallest size Amazon KDP had for a paperback which is 8 x 5 inches.
I was also able to figure out the format of the comics this time so that they fit in the center on the pages of the book.
This worked for me. I liked the throwback to those vintage books.
So what size do I prefer to print my webcomic book?
Finally, after my third book, I figured out what sizes I wanted to use for both my comics and my books.
For the webcomic artwork
1000 px wide, 1200 px tall at a resolution of 300dpi
For the print book
5 inches wide, 8 inches tall
But as you can see none of that stopped me from making my books. As I pointed out I clearly learned more by just doing it and seeing what happened.
Check out the video
I made a video talking more about this and the whole process of making my webcomic book. You can check that out on the site here! Making a book of my webcomic - Part 1