The manga page: panels, reading order and balloons

Laying out a page

1. Step 1Reading order

   A Japanese manga reads right to left and top to bottom: you start with the top-right panel. Choose a direction and keep it for your whole story.

2. Step 2Horizontal tiers

   Split the page into 3 to 5 tiers, then split each tier into panels. The reader finishes a tier before moving on to the next.

3. Step 3Size means importance

   A big panel for a strong moment, small panels for what goes by quickly. A page of equal panels lacks rhythm.

4. Step 4Clear gutters

   Leave a regular gap between panels, wider between tiers than between the panels of a tier. That gap is what guides the reading order.

Balloons

• Place the balloons before drawing: they take up space and must hide neither a face nor an action.
• Balloons read in the same order as the panels: the first one at the top right, or the top left, depending on your reading direction.
• The balloon's tail points toward the speaker's mouth, without touching it.
• A round balloon to speak, a cloud to think, a spiky one to shout.
• Little text per balloon: if one overflows, split it in two.

Making the reading flow

1. Step 1A wide shot to set the scene

   Open a scene with a wide panel that shows where we are and who is there. Only then move closer.

2. Step 2The 180-degree rule

   If a character faces left in one panel, keep them on the left in the next while they talk to the same person. Otherwise the reader gets lost.

3. Step 3The last panel

   The panel at the bottom of the page makes the reader want to turn it: a question, a surprise, a look.

Rhythm and action panels

In an action scene, the layout itself becomes an effect: it speeds time up or slows it down.

1. Step 1Slanted panels

   Slanted borders add tension and speed. Keep them for action: in a calm scene, they are tiring.

2. Step 2Breaking out of the panel

   Let a fist, a sword or a character spill over into the next panel: the action seems to burst out of the page.

3. Step 3Slowing time down

   Several small panels on the same instant (a look, a hand, a drop of sweat) stretch the moment just before the impact.

4. Step 4The full page

   Save a panel that takes the whole page, or a double spread, for the strongest moment of the chapter. One per chapter, no more.

The coach's tips

• Take a page from your favorite manga and trace only its panels: you'll see its skeleton.
• Write the balloon text before drawing: it often decides the size of the panels.
• Alternate shots: wide, medium, close-up. Three panels in a row with the same framing feel frozen.
• Avoid panels that could be read in two orders: if you hesitate, the reader will too.
• Put characters from the app's catalog in a little four-panel story: it's the best exercise to start with.

Practice right now

Once the lesson is read, draw this exercise: it takes about 15 minutes.