Before The Presses: Bleed and Margins

Whether or not you decide to print a physical copy of your manga, there are rules and formats in place necessarily from the history  and process of manga (and comics) being printed. Aesthetically there apply to digital comics/manga but are often less crucial.

Traditionally an artist or team would hand in the paper manuscript to an editor. Currently it is more common to prepare your work for pre-press digitally through a program such as Clip Studio.

Size Matters
These programs allow you to set the size and layout of your page ( or pages if you have EX). It is important to make sure all of the pages are the same. It may seem obvious, but i have run into multiple creators with inconsistent page sizes, which are impossible to compile into one book. Manga is traditionally drawn on B4 (pro) or A4 (Doujin) at 600dpi (dots per inch) , the page is scaled down to a given book size, making the artwork look more crisp. Digital can get away with being 72dpi but that is very low quality and never good enough to print. It's also worth noting that competitions ask for 300-600dpi, so it's a good habit to just work in that size.
Thanks to digital programs it is now possible to add your bubbles and text separately. If you work traditionally, when you do the text, keep in mind the reduction of size mentioned above. Especially as the text many languages take up a lot more room than Japanese does.

BLEED
Across the printing industry bleed is by far the most misunderstood, forgotten or screwed up step. It's not particularly complex in concept, but is weird if you're not used to it. 
So...what is it?  Bleed is a sacrificial allowance on the outside of the page, usually around 3mm or 5/8" on the 3 outer edges for a book, or all four edges for an illustration. 
Check with your printer for how much bleed allowance they want, as it can vary.

Marginally Important
Moving in from bleed to outer margin. If you look at a novel, or indeed this magazine, you will see a band of open space around the outside of the text. This margin gives a little more security against the cutter and binder. Digital comics and saddle stitch don't have to worry about it as much as a perfect bound manga volume or graphic novel. In a perfect bound book (like a novel) about half and inch can disappear into the spine. As such. it's generally kept clear. Spreads sometimes make use of this area, but make sure to plan for it and don't put anything crucial there.

 Some times it can help to see it in the wild and experience how other creators deal with an issue. Crack open a few manga volumes and see. Some artists keep their work out of all margins. Some go all full-bleed all the time (One Piece), other, like Bleach, play with the outer margin and use small panels that cut half way.

general rule of thumb, and general rule in competitions: art goes to full bleed OR inner margin, not halfway between (looking at you Tite Kubo). In the following photo there is an example of art falling into the spine. Notice that Kishimoto Sensei made sure the face was within the "safe zone". This panel wouldn't have the same feelin gif it cut off, so we can see why he decided to extend the speed lines through the outer margin. If a few extra millimeters of speed line was cut off of the spine was too tight to see them, it really wont matter.
Safu
The smallest and innermost box is the safe zone, home to all text, faces and important information. In a novel, this is where the text hangs out. If you're not used to it, this can feel weird because it feels like such a small part of the page.  After a while you learn how to plan for it, but, I admit, occasionally I still have trouble fitting art and bubbles in this box. If it's too tight, add pages and spread things out.
Text much not leave this area, if the side of a bubble eeks out, that's probably fine as it wouldn't be a loss of information.
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Pre-flight check
As a publisher, page setup is the most important and often infuriating thing I come across. If you can master page size, order/direction, bleed and margins you are well on your way for  preparing your work for publishing. Digital work prepared this way looks more professional and carries the aesthetic of the publishing tradition, elevating the feel of the work.

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Make sure your pages are all the same size and dpi, art that goes to the edge of the page needs to extend out into the bleed, keep the margin near the center of the spread clear and don't put text or faces anywhere but the safe zone (unless you're OK with them being accidentally cut off! 
You've worked hard on your script, protect it! Don't lose important art to the maw of the spine or the gnashing of the cutter. Give your story the best chance and a professional appearance with industry standard margins and bleed!

I hope to make more articles like this with tips, tricks, industry secrets and know-how to take your manga from goal to got it. Let me know in the comments or the Mayapple Discord if there are any manga creation or publishing questions you have of topics you'd like me to cover!

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Zenko

...is typing