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dcsimpson
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Postby dcsimpson » Thu Sep 06, 2007 6:36 pm

The originals of daily strips are 15 inches wide by 4 1/2 inches high, with an inch or so of white border space around them.
Except that I really should update that, because a few months ago I moved to a smaller size--13 by 4, which is I'm told the standard dimensions for newspaper comics (I don't think I knew that when I chose it).

The theory was that I could probably work just as well, not have to buy bristol so often, and maybe even find greater economy of words and layout by doing it this way. And, I think it's mostly been a success. At least, no one's complained.

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VenM2
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Postby VenM2 » Thu Sep 06, 2007 6:47 pm

Are you dipping solely into the ink, or double-dipping with a jar of water? Because I find I have to do the latter to keep the lines nice and smooth, but it does gray them a fair bit.
I imagine it would, yes.

It seems to me that if that's happening, you should buy different ink. What kind of ink are you using?
I am using Acrylic Artist Ink: Black India. Oh no... I just read the back and it says shake before using. *Bams head on desk*
I moved to a smaller size--13 by 4
That makes me feel more confident around my size of 12x4, but even that is pushing the size of my scanner.
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Rooster
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Postby Rooster » Thu Sep 06, 2007 6:55 pm

Of course, the REASON I'm mentioning any of this is that because of my process, I'll never see one of my strips displayed like that. Man, it makes me seriously consider changing techniques.
That's the downside to working so deep in digital media.

The up side, though, is that on your web site, people are seeing your work exactly as it is. You don't have to worry that some of the work's integrity is lost in scanning or resizing (maybe resizing--I'm not sure how you work). There's less of a distance, if you like, between the creation and the audience.

Everything's a kind of tradeoff.
Also another plus aboot digital stuff is that if you mess up while drawing or inking that you can then change the pants-up...but if it comes to selling the piece that people maybe said "oh, that looks cool on your site" actually maybe it doesn't look so cool or neat and they won't want to buy it.

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Steve the Pocket
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Postby Steve the Pocket » Thu Sep 06, 2007 10:31 pm

Actually I think the standard is 13½" by 4". The original Buckles strip I got from David Gilbert (OMG NAMEDROP) was that size, and so are my "Mandy" strips.

Podunk U, meanwhile, is 12" wide because originally it was 9" to fit on standard office paper, and everything from line spacing to panel spacing divided evenly by 3, so I just scaled everything up by ⅓.

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dcsimpson
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Postby dcsimpson » Fri Sep 07, 2007 1:20 am

Actually I think the standard is 13½" by 4". The original Buckles strip I got from David Gilbert (OMG NAMEDROP) was that size, and so are my "Mandy" strips.
Mathematically that makes a bit more sense. I'll have to take a crack at it that way.
That makes me feel more confident around my size of 12x4, but even that is pushing the size of my scanner.
It's not a law anywhere that you have to scan a strip in one go. I always have to assemble mine from two different scans.

Holyman83
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Postby Holyman83 » Fri Sep 07, 2007 1:55 am

Really, Mine would never work that way. One scan would always be darker than the other. It was old an cheap thou and it is now dead and gutted. It's hide is waiting to be made into a light box for my mom.
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Steve the Pocket
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Postby Steve the Pocket » Fri Sep 07, 2007 2:59 am

Really, Mine would never work that way. One scan would always be darker than the other.
My old one does too, but it's only noticeable if you're scanning grayscale or color. Which so far has never been an issue.

Oh, and I'm glad I'm not the first one to realize the usefulness of dead scanners as lightboxes. Important question though, what are you planning on using for the lamp? I've never found one small enough.

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Rooster
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Postby Rooster » Fri Sep 07, 2007 3:16 am

I've just always made my strips in centimeters as we can't buy arcane inch rulers anymore...my dimensions are 38cm by 11cm...which is 15 in by 4.3 in
Important question though, what are you planning on using for the lamp? I've never found one small enough.
I'd reckomend the smallest ammount of light known to man, the glovebox light of a 1973 Ford Cortina.

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Postby Holyman83 » Fri Sep 07, 2007 10:33 pm

Oh, and I'm glad I'm not the first one to realize the usefulness of dead scanners as lightboxes. Important question though, what are you planning on using for the lamp? I've never found one small enough.
There are a lot of thing you could use.

1. If the light on the scanner still works and you know how to power it you can use that.

2. you can use thous little decorative light bulbs that are long and slender.

3. A bunch a good LED.

4. A flashlight or two.

The only one that I have tried is #1 so far. I could not get enough power to the light directly. I did not know its voltage
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Postby Foxhound » Fri Sep 07, 2007 11:25 pm

I still think of it as very cool that DCS does the strips all by hand, and the only digital stuff is actually putting it on the website. (Though if I'm not mistaken, weren't the old Sunday style strips colored digitally? I thought I read that somewhere...)

But yeah, it does show dedication to what you're doing if you do it completely by hand, unlike an increasing trend with other webcomics to do it with a computer and/or use the cut/paste method.
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Steve the Pocket
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Postby Steve the Pocket » Sat Sep 08, 2007 2:55 pm

But yeah, it does show dedication to what you're doing if you do it completely by hand, unlike an increasing trend with other webcomics to do it with a computer and/or use the cut/paste method.
And even some non-webcomics. I'm convinced Aaron McGruder's job, drawing-wise, consisted entirely of copypasting from a group of characters with the exact same three expressions every day. And he even farmed that out to other people!

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Bocaj Claw
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Postby Bocaj Claw » Sat Sep 08, 2007 5:03 pm

Didn't he quit because he said he was tired of the stress?
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IceDragon
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Postby IceDragon » Sat Sep 08, 2007 8:04 pm

I still think of it as very cool that DCS does the strips all by hand, and the only digital stuff is actually putting it on the website. (Though if I'm not mistaken, weren't the old Sunday style strips colored digitally? I thought I read that somewhere...)
The sunday ones are colorized digitally, I assume using a process similar to what the House Rules guys use. It gives the artist great variety to experiment with color, and the ability to change something very quickly.

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Postby The MAZZTer » Sun Sep 09, 2007 8:23 pm

I've just always made my strips in centimeters as we can't buy arcane inch rulers anymore...
As far as I know in the US we still teach inches and feet as if they're the world standard. Students learn meters and other SI units... but everywhere in the US we still use feet, gallons, miles, etc etc etc so I suppose it only makes sense to teach them. Image

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Tom Flapwell
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Postby Tom Flapwell » Mon Sep 10, 2007 1:57 am

Didn't he quit because he said he was tired of the stress?
I thought it was just because he was much more into the animated series based on the comic. The comic strip was never an ideal medium for "The Boondocks," and I'm sure TV's making him more money anyway.
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