-Guest Post written by Prototype
I believe webcomics authors are often too eager to mimic our paper print cousin. We try to make our comics as close to a normal issue as possible with format and length when we in fact should embrace the stuff we can do better. We don't HAVE to stick to 22 pages for a chapter/issue and there is no need to stick to the same sized page format as printed comics do. But often that is the case and yeah, I can see the reason. The goal is often to go from webcomic to print comic at some point so making everything in the standard size and format makes sense. If you browse a few webcomics here on the duck you will see they pretty much all stick to this print standard even if most will never actually put their comic to print.
So what are the specific ups to doing a webcomic? Well, longer pages is the most obvious. Is the page full but you want an wide extra panel of that nice castle the heroes are approaching? Just put it in. Pages can scroll forever. 
Art from Busty Solar by Prototype
Feel bad about that page you did a week or month ago? Just fix it, change it or completely redo it. There is also a bunch of digital trickery that can only be accomplished in a digital world. Using the GIF format you can make parts of the page animated, like rain outside a window or a displaying a glowing gem for example. Using the GIF or PNG format you can have characters or objects seemingly be OUTSIDE the page. The benefits and tools are there to make a webcomic really stand out and make it something a paper comic could never achieve. That's what makes them so great.
Of course this being said there are not all positives and sunny skies. Several pitfalls exist that only comes with making a webcomic but that is a topic for another day.
What do you think are some other strengths that webcomics have?
.::.
What's Quacking?
Do you have any original art to contribute to our stock image database, announcements, community projects, ideas, news, or milestones to report? Please leave general comments below or send a PQ to kawaiidaigakusei. Email me at kawaiidaigakusei(at)gmail(dot)com.
Web VS Print
kawaiidaigakusei at 12:00AM, Aug. 29, 2016
4 likes!
©2011 WOWIO, Inc. All Rights Reserved Mastodon
Z74 at 10:37PM, Aug. 29, 2016
The only thing I have done different for print vs web is draw web comics in landscape. I also expirament more with web stuff, I just feel free to try different things and see what I get, idk why
Luccia at 4:06PM, Aug. 29, 2016
I do whatever size paper fits in my scanner, which isn't very large. I do hope to someday use the whole sheet of paper without having to shave any of it off.
usedbooks at 3:53PM, Aug. 29, 2016
I draw on printer paper. Originally, it had a left margin for holes to keep it in a three ring binder. I've stuck to those same dimensions. I was happy to discover with just a tiny vertical stretch, it fits nicely in a "manga" format. Printed every couple hundred pages makes a lovely novel that blends in with other books on my shelf. So... I don't draw to a standard, but I did force it to print. I like print. That said, it's fun to stumble onto online comic strips that have a little animation in the punchline.
KimLuster at 2:31PM, Aug. 29, 2016
Well I draw on 11"x15" watercolor paper and it's just easier to do a single web page per paper page... But I did make the daring decision to do 24 pgs a chapter instead of 22!! I'm such a rebel...!! :)
Gunwallace at 1:08PM, Aug. 29, 2016
I do print my work, even if it is just self-published mini-comics to sell at local Zine events, and the occasional anthology title. So I choose the page size for an intended book size later on. It's annoying that US paper sizes are different from most of the rest of the Western World, which has caused me many wasted hours. It's amazing how many comic resources, from paper to apps, all still conform to the printed page format, even when they say they are specifically for webcomics.
PaulEberhardt at 10:44AM, Aug. 29, 2016
This "infinite canvas" thing is a great advantage indeed. I found that those that require you to scroll both horizontally AND vertically can be quite bothersome to read, but if you stick to one direction as you did above it's what I consider to be the best invention of the past few decades (at least).
Mika_yi at 7:04AM, Aug. 29, 2016
I draw on normal paper. It's cheap and I cannot draw well on a tablet. However I do keep it at a page size just in case I want to mess around with printing again. I haven't printed anything in a while. I think part of the reason I keep it standard is because it's how I gee up reading comics. In a certian formate. As for reading wise I do like web comics because lots of times it's straight from the creator it's not edited to fit a publishers idea of content and there is a full range of expression in them. I do admit I like to sometimes buy comics that web comic artist print because I do love hard copies of books easier to read and take with me if there no wifi around and I don't have to use phone data that way.
Banes at 6:39AM, Aug. 29, 2016
I normally stick to print proportions, just in case I ever go there. But being able to share one page at a time, to link back to older archives, and to update after the fact are wonderful things. Not to mention reaching a worldwide audience, though one could do print AND web distribution of course.
Banes at 6:36AM, Aug. 29, 2016
I remember that long page in Busty Solar and how cool it was, to scroll way down to the sewers. Would've been impossible to do in print in as effective a way!
MOrgan at 1:56AM, Aug. 29, 2016
In print an editor/publisher can say "No!" and your work goes unseen, but in a webcomic people have the chance to see your hard work.