How to Rule Your Comic Book

As a cartoonist, Photoshop has been a godsend for me, especially when it comes to setting up clean and sharp page margins and panel borders for my comics. Before discovering the shortcuts available in Photoshop and other image editing software, I ruled my pages the old-school way with T-squares, triangles and the like. For many comic artists, the old-school way without benefit of a computer, scanner and Photoshop is still the preferred way to rule a page.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• Bristol board
• T-square
• Triangle
• Drafting tape
• Drawing board and/or drafting table
• Pencil
• Ruler (preferably clear plastic)
• Any other type of paper

1. Image how your comic page will look as a finished entity. How will the page be divided? How many panels will there be? Where will dialogue and/or narration text go on in each panel? Do a thumbnail drawing or several drawings on any type of paper.
2. Tape your Bristol Board page to your drawing board or drafting table. Make sure that it’s properly aligned.
3. Bleed Margin Do all your initial ruling in pencil, because there’s more room for error. Because you’re creating your work for publication, a “bleed” margin should be the first margin that you rule. Note that “bleed” is a printing term referring to a printed impression that goes beyond the edge of the page after trimming for publication. This is a common occurrence in the printing process. A bleed margin assures that part of your comic won’t be lost in the process. The standard width of a bleed margin is 1 inch from the edge of the comic page.
4. Safe zone Rule a “safe zone” margin for your artwork that fits within the bleed margin. This margin should be about 3/4 of an inch in from and parallel to the bleed margin. This is an optional step. Note that comic strips have different margin types and sizes than a comic book or graphic novel page.
5. Rule your panel borders using your T-square and triangle. However, you may prefer to use different panel types and sizes. Some of my panels don’t have borders. Others might be circular or irregular shaped.
6. Before drawing or sketching characters and backgrounds, rule your lettering margins, then rough in your dialogue and/or narration text. Keep the distance between lettering lines uniform.
7. Start drawing.

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