Thread "Need Feedback -- Page Layout" in forum "General Divine Leap Stuff"

Posted at 7:10AM, Oct. 19, 2009

The question I have in short is should I change from traditional comic page sizes (narrow and long) to something more representative of standard monitors (more horizontal than vertical).

In length, when I started Divine Leap I just followed along with standard comic page dimensions. Over the years I've seen this is usually not the way to go for a webcomic. With traditional monitors being more horizontal than vertical it means readers will have to scroll down and space being wasted on the left and right side and pages just don't fit right which could impact the reading of it. Building a page closer to a monitor's dimensions seems the more proper way to go for webcomics. I've been thinking about going that route for a while now but I've been holding off since I had chapter 2 mapped out in the traditional format and I didn't really want to change mid-chapter. But now that I'm entering chapter 3 the question is coming up again.

So what do you think? Should I change it up?

Posted at 6:10AM, Oct. 21, 2009

It would be cool if you provided a couple of links with examples of the style of page you're talking about.

The closest layouts I have seen that fit that description were giant squared pages (1300 pixel width aprox) with tons and tons of panels. They look like a mess to me, I'm not too keen about them.

With that said, It's true that a lot of people use widescreen nowadays, and I'm really curious about how YOU would do it. Besides, if your artistic will wants to go bigger, you should let it. From my personal experience it has never been a bad thing.

So my opinion is: It doesn't look easy, but you should go for it.

Posted at 7:10AM, Oct. 21, 2009

Probably the easiest way to see examples is on Zuda comics. They're 800 pixels wide by 600 high. Though the various creators on there have varying degrees of success with the format.

I'm still rather torn on it. It definitely would be a change in terms of storytelling. I'm so used to laying out pages vertically.

Thanks for the feedback.

Posted at 8:10AM, Oct. 22, 2009

Oh, I see. It doesn't look as messy or different from vertical pages as the stuff I've seen before (this time I saw one called "Old Cthulhu's On The Rise" at Zuda). And it does use the space better. Actually, it looks quite appropriate.

Posted at 4:11PM, Nov. 9, 2009

As an example (though the forums may have shrunk this a bit so you may have to click on it to get the full size) here is what I'm thinking for chapter 3's pages. This a page from the prolog. I'm also experimenting with the art a bit here, I'm trying stuff to speed things up as it's currently taking me way too long to do a page.