Q&A for How to Panel Manga

It depends on what program you are using; if you're using regular old MS Paint, you can go into setting and change the mode from colour to black and white, and you can colour with dots as in a manga.

In my experience, I think it's easier to draw the picture first and then build the panel around it.

It depends on how much time you dedicate to it, but I would expect a manga that long to take a few months at least.

No, it does not matter what shape your panels are.

There isn't a specific paper, but Bristol board or manga paper is commonly used for clean lines. Some artists use digital tablets. For publishing, manga is often submitted as individual sheets, which are later compiled into a manga book. If you're self-publishing, you can choose to publish either a physical book or digitally.

Yes. Shonen typically targets a young male audience with action and adventure, while shojo targets young female readers with romance and emotional depth. Combining both can result in a manga that blends action with romance or includes both male and female character development, appealing to a broader audience.

Make a new document with the correct size and resolution. Use the shape tool or draw freehand to create panels. Sketch and ink your artwork, add speech bubbles with the text tool, and apply effects like tones and textures. Save and export your work.

Krita for brushes and effects, GIMP for photo manipulation and backgrounds, MediBang Paint for gradients and patterns, and Photoshop (free trial) for detailed backgrounds. These apps help create and enhance backgrounds.

Yes. In action or adventure genres, larger panels emphasize dynamic scenes or intense moments. Drama and romance genres often use smaller panels to focus on characters' emotions and expressions. Comedy tends to use uniform-sized panels for consistent pacing, but larger or exaggerated panels can highlight punchlines. Horror and suspense genres often use uneven or irregular panels to create tension and disorientation. Slice-of-life stories usually have straightforward, balanced paneling to maintain clarity. Fantasy and science fiction genres may use larger panels to highlight detailed settings and world-building.

Here are some good free apps for PC: 1. Krita for digital painting and illustration. 2. GIMP for photo editing and digital art. 3. MediBang Paint for comic creation and painting. 4. FireAlpaca, a simple painting tool for beginners. 5. Inkscape for vector graphics and illustrations.

Scan or photograph your paper, transfer the image to your computer, and then import it into Clip Studio Paint. You can clean up the image and start drawing or editing on new layers. That allows you to work digitally.

To learn watercolor painting, familiarize yourself with the basic materials: watercolor paints, brushes, and paper. Practice controlling the amount of water, as it affects color intensity and blending. Start with simple exercises like gradients, washes, and layering. Observe your teacher's techniques and practice methods like wet-on-wet or wet-on-dry. Regular practice, patience, and watching tutorials or reading guides can improve your skills.

The size of a manga panel can vary depending on the layout, style, and the artist's storytelling needs. A standard manga page is usually printed at around 5.5 x 7.5 inches (14 x 19 cm). Panels within the page can range from small close-ups to large full-page panels, with common panel sizes between 2 to 4 inches wide and varying in height. Artists adjust panel sizes for pacing, emotion, and emphasis.

Study different graphic novels and mangas to estimate the various panel sizes and how much of the page they occupy.

Storyboard your manga first to ensure the plot flows nicely, then use a ruler to draw your panels for a neat appearance. You can even take it a step further by outlining your panels.

When creating a manga or graphic novel, the size of each panel is up to you. Study different mangas or graphic novels to guide you.

It depends on the detail of the art and the size of the pages, so I can't give an exact answer. However, you can measure how long it takes to create one panel and multiply it by the number of panels.

Yes, variety helps when making the page more interesting. The differing sizes are also helpful to draw attention to the more important panels.

Ibis Paint is good if you are a beginner on a smartphone or iPad, since it has helpful tools and a simple interface.

You can try to write out a script with what you want to happen on what page, and you can get an idea. If you change it later, that's fine too.

About one third of the page, slightly smaller or bigger. It can be nearly as big as the whole page if you want; the size also depends on how important that one scene is.

Yes of course. This app is specifically targeted towards manga/comic illustrators. It comes with plenty of tools to help you make panels as well. Any art program can work for making a manga though.