Step 3: Drawing Your Layout Even before you have decided on a storyboard for the page, you will need to have the basic page sizing correct. Japanese Manga Format Using the metric ruler and the triangle, draw a rectangle 320 mm tall, by 234mm wide. Then, once again using the ruler and triangle, create margins of 27mm on the inside of the left and right sides, and 25mm on the inside of the top and bottom parts of the rectangle. Western Comic Format Using the ruler and triangle, draw a rectangle 10 inches wide by 15 inches tall. (On a 14x17 pad of paper, this will mean measuring in one inch from the top and bottom edges, and two inches in from the side edges.) Then measure to 1/2 inch inside all sides of the rectangle to create the margins.

Note:Here's a neat shortcut one of our artists found for doing the top and bottom parts of the rectangle when using an Engineer's Scale. (This only works with a three-sided scale because the thickness of each side is one inch.)

1. Line the scale up with the top edge of your sheet of paper, and line up the "0" inch mark with one side of your paper.
2. Make a mark at "2", "2 1/2", "11 1/2", and "12", then draw a line between 2 and 12.
3. Repeat this technique at the bottom of the paper.