Printing

Re: A Guide To Reproduction (PDF) - Ron Rege Jr., Dave Choe, Brian Ralph & Jordan Crane

Let’s Print a Comic (book) - Rhiannon Rasmussen-Silverstein and David McGuire

Printing Terminology (article) - University of California

Glossary of Printing Terms (article) - Printing Industry Exchange

Self Publishing and Printing Comics (article) - Comic Book Tutor

How To Print Comic Books and Graphic Novels (article) - chilliprinting.com

Printing a Book (podcast) - Dirty Old Ladies

Where Did You Get Your Books Printed? (article) - Webcomic Alliance


Gang printing, trim zones, plate signatures, colour gamuts…

There are A LOT of technical terms in the world of printing and it can be a daunting task trying to understand them all. Don’t worry though, I’ll be covering all that printing jargon in this section of the guide, so by the end of the chapter, you’ll be a printing wiz!

Printing is a hugely important part of the comic making process and can be a massive money sink for creators. The tips I’m going to share with you will hopefully get you in the printer’s mindset and help you get the most bang for your buck.

As I always say, you may not be expecting to print your comic but if you do the work ahead of time and make print-safe art, you’ll save yourself tons of trouble down the line if you ever change your mind.

Printer Turn Around Times


I intentionally put this section before the one on crowdfunding because I’ve found it to be a major choking point for Kickstarters. Creators often find their crowdfunding projects missing deadlines because they didn’t anticipate how long it would take to get through the printing process.

A lot of steps go into printing a comic and each can take weeks to complete. That is why it’s important to start talking to printers in advance of your crowdfunding projects!

After receiving your formatted files, digital printers can deliver in a few weeks (Greko takes ~2 weeks though it can be rushed, Drive Thru takes ~3 weeks) while offset printers average over a month (Krakenprint takes 8-10 weeks)

That number doesn’t account for the time it takes to choose a printer, decide on your paper type, get a quote and then format your files, so make sure you give yourself enough time to complete the process! You really don’t want to leave your backers waiting in the dark for a comic you promised a month ago.