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Mintoons β€” Comic Page Templates

Published: 2010-01-09 23:47:14 +0000 UTC; Views: 26856; Favourites: 162; Downloads: 3350
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Description UPDATE: I've fixed up the measurements. The Photoshop file now uses guides for accurate measurement, and the Illustrator files have more exact measurements because I used the ruler tool in the Photoshop file. Only problem with Illustrator was the program always rounding numbers up to the nearest whole value.

Okay. I should explain this just in case people don't know comic book terms.

The one problem I've been having with sketching comics in Photoshop and inking in Illustrator (then taking it back to Photoshop for colouring) is keeping the page the same size (the standard comic page size). So I thought this would work. Having a .psd file and an Illustrator template of the SAME size to prevent distortion.

This file is the standard dimensions of a traditional comic book page sold in the U.S. The zip include a Photoshop file template (400DPI because that's the standard, if you're doing the lineart digitally, start at 600DPI) and two Illustrator templates (a single page and a spread).

Overall area - 6.875" x 10.438" (17.463cm x 26.513cm)
Trim size - 6.625" x 10.25" (16.826cm x 26.04cm)
Safe area - 5.899" x 9.075" (14.983cm x 23.050cm)


Now for essential information. The whole image/canvas in Photoshop (which is everything up to the red boarder in Illustrator) is the entire page PLUS BLEEDS. Bleeding is when a comic artist wants to be creative and have a panel or two extend off the edges of the page. Yes, you have to colour the bleeds too, or else you'll get unsightly white areas that you might have missed around the edge of the page.

The first boarder in Photoshop (the outer one, which is basically the edge of the art board in Illustrator) is the trim size, the finished size of the page once the bleeds have been chopped off in the presses. In the end, the page will be this size.

Finally, the inner black boarder in the SAFE AREA (or sometimes also known as the live area). Let's face it. Printing presses are not perfect (yet). You have to be prepared in case the plates slip and more of the page gets chopped off than you intended. Also, don't you hate it when you're reading a thick graphic novel and there's something interesting or important squished in the binding of the book, and you have to almost rip the book apart to see what it is? The safe area is an area that is guaranteed to not be chopped off in the presses. This is the area where you should fit all the speech bubbles and important elements in your comic so the reader isn't left confused.

So enjoy it, and I hope it helps out with your comics.


(Just to be sure, you don't need to use any template if you're making a web comic and have no intention of printing it. Web comics can be of any size and shape because they're just images)
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Comments: 31

madrogr [2021-11-13 17:45:55 +0000 UTC]

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Mintoons In reply to madrogr [2021-11-14 00:36:42 +0000 UTC]

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tyferrell [2018-04-30 11:05:49 +0000 UTC]

Thanks this is very helpful!

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Mintoons In reply to tyferrell [2018-05-02 01:28:48 +0000 UTC]

It's okay. Glad it's helped.

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Pr-Vodkakoff [2018-04-11 09:26:39 +0000 UTC]

Thanks a lot for these work and your explanations!

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Mintoons In reply to Pr-Vodkakoff [2018-04-28 05:40:11 +0000 UTC]

It's alright. I did these quite a while ago so I'm not sure if they're still relevant today.

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Pr-Vodkakoff In reply to Mintoons [2018-04-29 08:08:07 +0000 UTC]

I will take it into account.!.. Thanx

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grantenier [2017-08-04 14:03:04 +0000 UTC]

I just uploaded pages i did on image comic book template sketches of an idea and wanted to have a different template this is pretty close to what i was using and i could used it without the Image add.

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Mintoons In reply to grantenier [2017-08-05 00:03:13 +0000 UTC]

Glad it helps. Thanks.

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Master-of-the-Arts [2016-03-19 08:53:00 +0000 UTC]

Thank you for your effortΒ  , i was looking for this template

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lunaSerene [2015-07-08 15:48:47 +0000 UTC]

Thank you for much for the insight!
When making a cover for the comic, it has to be in the Live area or it can be in the whole page?

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Mintoons In reply to lunaSerene [2015-07-09 09:05:28 +0000 UTC]

Well the text needs to be in the live area if you want it to not be at risk of being cut off at the printer. That's what the live area is for. Anything that you can't risk being cut off when the comic is trimmed down to its "trim size".Β If you want to have art or graphics that extend all the way to the edges of the page when printed, then you'll need to draw it out into the bleed area. Some of it will get cut off, but you won't wind up with any ugly white gaps between your art and the edge of the page.

I made this template ages ago, so it might not be accurate to what's being published today. Many comic self-publishing websites have downloadable templates that you can also use. I mainly use Ka-blam's single page template these days.

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lunaSerene In reply to Mintoons [2015-07-09 15:14:39 +0000 UTC]

Oh I see, but its already very helpful! I was wondering if the same rules goes for the cover
Thank you

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Beasty52 [2014-08-24 03:35:18 +0000 UTC]

thank you for this

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MisiakasVasileios [2012-12-21 10:56:35 +0000 UTC]

Thanks for saving my time!

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CaptMarVel [2011-10-14 22:27:49 +0000 UTC]

Great Help, will be putting this to use

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SebastianvonBuchwald [2011-08-28 14:16:34 +0000 UTC]

This will come in handy. Much appreciated!

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Cellbit [2011-08-21 20:25:12 +0000 UTC]

I'm going to use it! Thank's a lot!

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residentcrow7 [2011-04-22 22:23:40 +0000 UTC]

thanks, ive been looking for a template like this, really appreciate the effort!

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Jio-Derako [2010-07-02 01:29:02 +0000 UTC]

Quite handy! Was looking for a template that could show me the bleed area as well as the general page size, fits the bill wonderfully.

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Mintoons In reply to Jio-Derako [2010-07-02 04:53:59 +0000 UTC]

Glad they were helpful. If the guides are distracting you can make the areas into paths by drawing squares with snap to guides on in Photoshop.

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Jio-Derako In reply to Mintoons [2010-07-02 05:07:29 +0000 UTC]

Thanks for the tip! I'll have to give it a try.

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zeroscore [2010-06-05 02:44:05 +0000 UTC]

thank you so much

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Mintoons In reply to zeroscore [2010-06-05 04:27:42 +0000 UTC]

That's okay. They have templates like this on ka-blam.com as well.

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zeroscore In reply to Mintoons [2010-06-05 04:51:50 +0000 UTC]

god bless you

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rowanmcintyre [2010-04-28 18:41:53 +0000 UTC]

Thank you very much.

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Mintoons In reply to rowanmcintyre [2010-04-28 23:22:05 +0000 UTC]

That's okay. Hope they help.

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christine326 [2010-03-16 09:19:45 +0000 UTC]

THANKS FOR MAKING THIS >W<
YOU'VE JUST SAVED My life xD
i'm gonna use this

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Mintoons In reply to christine326 [2010-03-16 23:16:35 +0000 UTC]

That's okay. There's actually a few resources like this around DA, but I made this one so the canvas was actually the size of the bleed area to avoid confusion.

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christine326 In reply to Mintoons [2010-03-21 12:21:02 +0000 UTC]

=]
thanks anyways
ur awesome =]

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Dykrentsu [2010-01-30 15:47:10 +0000 UTC]

I'm gonna be using this!

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