Options For Printing Comics

When I was first looking into the idea of creating my own comic this was definitely one of my first questions. I didn’t find a good answer for quite a while. Until I found the “The Complete Guide To Self-Publishing Comics” by Comfort Love and Adam Withers. There is a section in the book that explains the options available for printing comics.

These two options are Offset Printing and Print On Demand Printing, also known as POD Printing. This article is going to discuss their differences. That being their pros, cons, their purpose, and some suggestions for comic creators.

Let’s begin.

If you have never given thought to what printing comics actually looked like. You probably would have guessed it looks like what Offset Printing looks like. Don’t worry, most people do.

The machine itself is very large. Not like the one that I talk to at work (yes I talk to the office printer. I get bored). They can be the size of a large dining room at their smallest. But they can be so big that you need a warehouse just to house the whole thing.

Check out this video to see what Offset Printing is all about.

If you are using Offset Printing then you are likely printing on a large scale; hundreds, if not thousands, of copies.

The most notable benefit to Offset Printing is that if you choose to go this route the cost per unit printed is lower the more units you print. For example, if you’re printing 300 comics each comic could run you up to $5.57 each (I am making these number up). but if you were to print 400 comics the cost per unit will be $4.87. This can help with increasing profit margins when increasing your volume of sales.

There are two significant downsides to using Offset Printing for printing comics. The first being the price tag.

Remember the example from earlier? 300 vs 400 copies? Did you happen to do the math back there? Let me show you. If you printed 300 copies you would be paying $1671. For 400, $1948. True, those numbers aren’t so scary on their own. Until you find out that you have to pay it all in one go.

If you are just starting out as a comic creator, you don’t have $1671, or $1948 to be spending printing your comic.

Oh and the benefit of Offset Printing? It works both ways. The less you print, the more expensive it gets. So let us say you wanted to see how your comic would do at a convention, printing 50 copies could leave you selling your comics at a loss.

Thankfully, there is a solution for the last problem.

These guys are an indie comic creator’s best printing friend. Especially if you’re just starting out in the industry.

The printers themselves are significantly smaller than those used for Offset Printing. On average they can be the size of a dining table (I hope I’m not making you hungry with all this talk about dining rooms and tables).

The main reason why you should ever use POD Printing for comics is if you are not looking to print a large quantity at once.

The main benefit is that the cost for printing comics in a small quantity is less compared to Offset Printing.

The downside is that normally the price per unit will never change. No matter how many units you order for print. As your number of sales go up (as they should, you work hard!) your costs will too.

If you are just starting out as a comic creator and your sales numbers aren’t too high. You’re better off using a POD Printer. Some PODs even help you with providing delivery to the people buying your comics online like this one.

If you have started to see your volume of sales go up. Maybe you should start thinking of switching to a bigger distributor like Diamond. Then you should also use an Offset Printer to reduce unit costs. Doing this will help maintain and increase your profits.