Paul writes:
"I am trying to learn everything I can about self publishing and I'm about at the pre-press stage.
I have all my word balloons and lettering right on the page so I wanted to know if I just scan the
whole piece and leave it or should I be doing something else. The work is totally black and white. Also, does a scan from a photocopy have enough resolution for the pre press setup?"
First of all, I would recommend talking to whoever will be printing your comic and find out what format they would prefer to receive the pages in. They may be able to shoot film from your originals or photocopies, or they may prefer to generate it from computer files, in which case it would need to be scanned. Here's an overview of the scanning and layout process:
Scan your artwork at least 400dpi at printed size. If your artwork is on 10x15 or 11x17 paper, scan at 300dpi, and then when it's reduced 60-67% in the page layout program (see step 3), the resolution effectively increases to about 450dpi.
Adjust brightness/contrast (command-b in Photoshop) so that the contrast is all the way up, and slide the brightness control until the scan looks clean. Convert the file to "Bitmap" mode and save as TIFF with LZW compression.
Import the scan into QuarkXPress (or PageMaker or InDesign or a similar program -- once again, check with your printer to see what formats they accept) and size to fit the standard comic size page (6.625 x 10.187) or whatever size your comic will be. For more info on this process, click here.
Send the Quark layout file and all the TIFF artwork files to your printer for output. Many publishers now offer FTP services, which can save you money on shipping charges.
If you're shopping for a printer, here's links to the websites of printers who specialize in printing comic books:
Quebecor in Canada prints most "mainstream" U.S. comics. Probably your best choice if you're printing a large quantity of color comics.
Morgan Printing in North Dakota are smaller outfits that print color and black & white comics
Small Publishers Co-Op is a club publishers can join to get a great deal on printing black & white comics.
All-Ages Comic Book Publishers also offers low prices for printing black & white comics and trade paperpacks. However, they require that the book be suitable for any age reader.
Udo Printing uses digital technology to print color comics in extremely small quantities.
When you're interviewing printers, be sure to also ask about film output charges and any other setup fees, and whether they will ship the printed comics to Diamond's drop points (or any other locations you need them to).
Removing Halftone Dots
Peter writes:
"I'm trying to translate dojinshi (Japanese amateur comic books),
but scanning them using a flatbed scanner is proving a bad idea
due to the use of acetate. Do you have any advice for me about
how I could scan in acetate (the dots) pages and print them digitally?"
There's two strategies to go about it...
A) Convert the dots to a smooth gray field. The specific process will depend
on your artwork and scanner, and plenty of experimentation. Here's several
Photoshop techniques to try...
scan in the art at the highest resolution available and shrink it down 50%
or more, until the resolution is still at least 400dpi at final printed dimensions.
the Noise/Despeckle filter is great for removing fine dots
for larger dots, try the Blur/Gaussian Blur and/or Noise/Median filters. For optimum control, set it low (like .5 or 1 pixel radius) and apply it repeatedly until the dots are gone and the linework is still crisp.
You'll have to experiment with which of these, and in what order, works
best for the art you're scanning. But if you can get the dot fields to turn
to pure gray, then the output device will create its own halftones, and you
won't have any moire patterns (the dark and light "bumps" that appear
when two screens are overlapped).
B) Try to get really crisp versions of the existing dots on the art...
set the Levels so the blacks are black and the whites are white.
use the Sharpen/Unsharp Mask filter, set really high, like 300%/25/0.
This is a great filter for cleaning up line art in general. Then convert to
bitmap mode (make sure the art is at least 400dpi at printed size).
Reader Mick Hawkins sent in the following additional tips:
"I find that if the line screen is fairly coarse say 60 - 80lpi (similar to
most laser printers) fairly successful scans can be obtained
by scanning as line art at highest resolution (say 1200lpi) instead of
scanning as greyscale. Even though this means that the scanner may have to
interpolate, the results will are usually be good since scanning as line
art stops any greys appearing. While this doesnt change the dot area to
grey, it is quick and retains the characteristics of the original.
"For higher linescreens, fair results can sometimes be obtained simply by
slightly rotating the image so that it doesn't sit square on the scanner --
then scanning as greyscale at hi res. This works because most black
halftone screens are at 45 degrees (causing some of the scanned dots to
line up and some to miss), and rotating the artwork changes this angle. The
image can then be rotated back in Photoshop, then applying an unsharp mask.
Experimenting is a good idea since slightly different angles can give very
different results.
Thanks, Mick!
Large Format Scanners
Ally writes:
"I have to be able to scan in a regular 10x15" comicbook page into
the computer so I can letter it. I have a scanner, a nice UMAX, but it
appears I need to upgrade to something that can handle the 10x15" size. "
Walter writes:
"If the artwork is 11x17, how do you scan it on an 8 1/2 x 14 flatbed? I have resorted to drawing my originals at 8 1/2 x 11, which degrades the quality of the image reproduction."
In the past, we've scanned art in two pieces and then put them together in Photoshop. It's not bad for just a couple of pages, but if you're regularly producing comics, you'll probably want an 11x17 (also called "Tabloid" or "A3") scanner. We just purchased a Microtek Scanmaker 9600 XL for about $1100 from Outpost.com This scanner has a SCSI interface, which is compatible with older (beige) Macs, or PCs with a SCSI card. If you have a newer (translucent) Mac, you will also need a SCSC-USB or (faster) SCSI-Firewire adapter.
If neither of these are practical options, you might call around and see if your local desktop publishing service bureau has a large scanner you can rent time on, or perhaps pay to do the scanning for you. And another option is to shoot the artwork down on a good photocopier and scan that -- if you scan at 400dpi or higher, it should print fine.
Two companies, Plustek and Mustek, used to produce 11x17 scanners for less than $200, however Mustek no longer offers their 11x17 scanners, and Plustek appears to have ceased operations altogether. At Plustek's site, there's still links to their distributors -- A1 Scanner Outlet is clearing out the Plustek A3-I Optic Pro for $149 (on their home page, click on "Plustek blow out sale"). I also found it at Image Land for $179. We've never ordered from either of those companies, and since Plustek is out of business, they'll probably be "while supplies last, no returns," type purchases, so you take your chances...
Additionally, this scanner has a parallel-port, which means it's designed for PCs. It is "Twain-compliant", which means you might (and I repeat, might) be able to get it to work on a Mac by purchasing a Parallel-USB adapter and using Photoshop's
"Twain Acquire" plug-in. For $149 (plus a $50 adapter), is could be worth a shot... If anyone does, please let us know how it works!
You might also check the computer superstore clearance/auction sections (Egghead, PC Warehouse, PCMall, Outpost, etc) or online auction sites (Ebay, Amazon, Yahoo) for either Plustek or Mustek "A3" or "Tabloid" scanners. The Mustek models were the "Plug-N-Scan A3 EP" (parallel port, for PC) and "Mustek SCSI Paragon 1200 A3" SP or Pro (SCSI port, Mac or PC)
If you don't need 11x17, I would simply recommend getting a new 8.5x11 or 8.5x14 scanner from Umax, Agfa, Microtek or Epson. You can get a decent letter-size scanner for less than $200. If you're on an older (beige) Mac, you'll want it with a SCSI connection, and if you've got one of the newer Macs (iMac, G3, G4, iBook), you'll want USB or the speedier FireWire.
Cleaning Up Old Artwork
Horst Schroder writes:
"Is there any scanning software which does help clean up old comic pages - stains, yellowed, remove color?"
I've had pretty good results in Photoshop, using filters like
Despeckle and Gaussian Blur to get rid of screen/moire patterns, and
the Levels controls to make the whites white, the blacks black, and
control the overall color balance. Take a class in Photoshop if
you really want to know the ins and outs of it -- there's all kinds of
great tools like Dodge/Burn that can be really useful for this kind of
thing.
To remove the colors and get just black lines, the simplest way
is convert the scan to CMYK mode, and delete the CM & Y channels. Then
try Filters/Sharpen/UnsharpMask set really high, like 300/30/10 or
even higher to get really crisp black & white outlines.
