How Manga Is Made With Red And Blue Pens Step By Step Guide

Ever wondered how professional manga artists create such clean, perfect black lines? Many struggle with messy pencil marks under their ink, but there’s a proven industry workflow that solves this. It relies on a seemingly strange combination of colored pencils.

The process of making manga with red and blue pens is a traditional workflow where artists first sketch their pages using a special non-reprographic blue pencil. They then use a red pen for corrections or to add details for the inker. Finally, the page is inked in black, and the underlying blue and red lines are digitally removed after scanning, resulting in clean, professional line art.

This guide is based on the proven workflow used by professional Japanese manga artists for decades. From years of hands-on experience, we’ll break down this authentic manga creation method. You’ll discover the step-by-step process, the specific tools required, and the technical secrets that make it work so effectively.

Key Facts

• Non-Photo Blue is Key: The traditional manga workflow relies on non-photo blue pencils because their specific cyan color can be made invisible to scanners and graphic arts cameras, eliminating the need to erase sketches.
• Red is for Communication: Red pens are used for corrections and notes because the color stands out vividly against the blue sketch for the artist or an editor, but can also be easily removed digitally.
• Line Variation Comes from Dip Pens: The expressive, dynamic line weight iconic to manga is primarily achieved with flexible steel dip pen nibs, like the Zebra G-pen, which creates thicker lines with more pressure.
• The Magic is Digital: The final step involves scanning the inked page in full color and using software to filter out the blue and red channels, leaving only the pure black line art for printing.
• An Industry Standard: This red and blue pencil workflow is not exclusive to manga; it has been an industry standard in western comics and traditional 2D animation for decades to streamline production.

How Is Manga Traditionally Made With Red and Blue Pens?

The traditional method of making manga involves using a non-photo blue pencil for the initial sketch and a red pen for corrections or details. This analog technique allows the artist to ink the final black lines directly on top of the colored underdrawing. After the page is scanned, the blue and red marks are easily removed using digital software, leaving only the clean, final line art. This proven workflow forms the backbone of how millions of pages of manga, from Dragon Ball to One Piece, were originally created.

This manga artist workflow [process] is an elegant solution to a common problem: how to create a perfect ink drawing without laboriously erasing an underlying graphite sketch, which often smudges the ink and damages the paper. The entire system is built around colors that can be easily filtered out during post-production. The process is a core component of the analog manga drawing pipeline and can be broken down into three main stages.

• Step 1: Sketch in Blue. The artist uses a non-photo blue pencil to lay out the panels, characters, and backgrounds. This is the foundational stage where composition and poses are established.
• Step 2: Correct in Red. Using a red pen or pencil, the artist (or their editor) makes corrections, refines details, or adds notes for the inking stage. Red provides a high-contrast color that is easy to see over the blue.
• Step 3: Ink in Black. The final, permanent lines are drawn using black, waterproof ink and specialized dip pens. The artist traces over the blue sketch, incorporating any red-penned corrections to create the finished line art.

Why Do Professional Manga Artists Use a Red and Blue Pen Workflow?

Artists use non-photo blue pencils because their specific color is invisible to the orthochromatic film used in old graphic arts cameras and is easily filtered out by modern scanners set to black and white. This saves a massive amount of time, as the artist doesn’t need to erase the underlying sketch after inking. Red pens provide a high-contrast color for making corrections that are easy for the creative team to see but can also be removed digitally along with the blue. This manga artist workflow is an industry standard in both Japanese manga and western comics.

The logic behind this method is rooted in both efficiency and quality. It addresses several practical problems that arise during the creation of hand-drawn manga.

• ⏱ Saves Time (No Erasing): The biggest advantage is speed. Completely erasing a detailed graphite sketch from an inked page is slow and risks smudging the ink or damaging the paper fibers. The digital removal of blue lines takes only seconds.
• 🚫 Prevents Smudging: Graphite is essentially carbon powder that can easily smear, especially when a hand is resting on the page during the inking process. The waxy lead of a non-photo blue pencil is far more smudge-resistant.
• 📷 Clean Final Scans: Even after erasing, graphite can leave behind faint lines or a shiny residue that shows up on a high-resolution scan. The blue pencil method ensures the final digital file contains only pure black and white information.
• 📝 Clear Communication: In a professional setting, a manga artist often works with an editor and assistants. Using a distinct red pen for corrections creates a clear, non-destructive way to communicate changes on the original artwork.

Pro Tip: Many digital art programs like Clip Studio Paint and Procreate have a “Layer Color” feature that mimics this exact traditional manga inking process. This allows you to set a sketch layer to appear blue, making it easy to ink on a separate layer above it, just like in the analog workflow.

What Is a Non-Photo Blue Pencil and How Does It Work?

A non-photo blue (or non-repro blue) pencil uses a specific shade of light cyan lead that was originally designed to be invisible to high-contrast orthochromatic film used in the printing and comic book industry. In modern digital workflows, this specific color is easily isolated and removed, either automatically by a scanner’s black-and-white setting or manually in software. This tool is the cornerstone of the traditional manga inking process.

The “magic” of the non-photo blue pencil works through two primary mechanisms, one historical and one modern.

• Historical Method (Film): The original technology relied on orthochromatic film, which was only sensitive to blue and green light. Because the pencil’s color was a similar shade of blue, the high-contrast camera simply didn’t “see” it, capturing only the black ink lines.
• Modern Method (Digital): In software like Adobe Photoshop, an image is made of color channels (Red, Green, and Blue). Dropping the cyan channel is like telling the computer to be colorblind to that specific shade of blue. This instantly removes all blue lines from the scan, leaving the black ink untouched.

Did You Know? The same non-reprographic technology is why rough drafts in classic 2D animation were often done with blue and red pencils. It streamlined the process of inking the final lines onto clear animation cels.

What Is the Role of the Red Pen in Manga Drafting?

In the manga production workflow, a red pen serves two primary purposes: first, for the artist to make clear corrections or sketch new ideas over their own blue pencil draft, and second, as a communication tool for an editor or assistant to mark changes directly on the manuscript. Red ink stands out vividly against both the white paper and the light blue sketch, ensuring that notes and revisions are impossible to miss.

While the blue pencil is for the initial structure, the red pen is for refinement and direction. Its role is crucial in both solo and team environments. An editor might use a red pen to draw a different expression on a character’s face to suggest a change in tone for a scene.

1. Self-Correction: An artist can use it to fix anatomy, adjust a character’s pose, or rethink a panel’s composition without erasing the original blue sketch. It allows for a clear “version 2” to be drawn right on top of “version 1.”
2. Editor’s Notes: In professional publishing, like at Shonen Jump, editors frequently mark up an artist’s manuscript with red ink to suggest changes to the story, art, or pacing before the final inking is done.
3. Inking Instructions: If the main artist is delegating the inking to an assistant, they might use red to give specific instructions, such as “Add more hatching here” or “Make this line thicker.”

What Essential Tools and Supplies Are Needed for This Workflow?

Essential tools for the traditional manga workflow include non-photo blue pencils (e.g., from Pentel), red pencils for corrections, various dip pen nibs like the G-pen and Maru pen, a pen holder, waterproof black ink like Sumi or India ink, and specialized manga manuscript paper from brands like Deleter or IC. These professional manga tools are the foundation for creating authentic, hand-drawn manga. Demonstrating expertise starts with using the right supplies. Based on real-world implementation, certain tools have become the industry standard for their reliability and performance.

Pencils and Leads

Your underdrawing is the foundation. You need a blue pencil that is easily removed and a red one that stands out.
* Non-Photo Blue Pencils: These come as traditional wood pencils or as mechanical pencil leads (e.g., 0.5mm or 0.7mm). The Pentel brand is a popular choice for its consistent, erasable blue lead.
* Red Pencils: Any red colored pencil or mechanical pencil lead will work. Its only job is to be clearly visible over the blue sketch.

Pens, Nibs, and Ink

The soul of manga art is in its expressive line art, which comes from dip pens.
* Dip Pen Nibs: These steel tips are the most critical tool for line variation.
* G-pen: The workhorse. Its flexible nib is perfect for character outlines and dynamic lines that vary from thick to thin with pressure. The Zebra G-pen is the most famous.
* Maru-pen: A stiff, fine-point nib used for consistent thin lines. It’s ideal for details like hair, cross-hatching, and intricate backgrounds.
* Saji-pen (or Kabura-pen): A moderately firm nib that offers a balance between the G-pen and Maru-pen, good for panel borders and general drawing.
* Pen Holders: A simple wood or plastic holder is needed to mount your nibs. Tachikawa and Deleter make popular models.
* Black Waterproof Ink: You need a deep black ink that won’t bleed or run if you add tones or color later. Sumi ink and India ink are the two most common choices.

Paper and Correction Tools

The surface you work on and the tools to fix mistakes are just as important.
* Manga Manuscript Paper: This paper is specifically designed for inking. It’s smooth, durable, and less absorbent than regular paper to prevent ink bleeding. Brands like Deleter and IC (I-C) are industry standards and often come pre-printed with non-photo blue border lines.
* White Correction Ink: For fixing mistakes made in black ink. This opaque white fluid or pen (like the Sakura Gelly Roll) covers black lines so you can draw over them once dry.

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How Do You Create a Manga Page Step-by-Step?

Creating a manga page with this verified technique involves first sketching the panel layout and characters lightly with a non-photo blue pencil. Next, you use a red pencil to refine details or mark corrections. Then, you carefully ink the final lines using a dip pen with black waterproof ink. Once the ink is completely dry, the page is ready for the scanning and digital cleanup phase. This traditional manga inking with dip pens tutorial breaks down the entire analog workflow.

Step 1: How Do You Sketch the Rough Draft in Blue?

To sketch the rough draft, use a non-photo blue pencil with very light pressure to draw your panel borders, character poses, and basic background elements directly onto the manga manuscript paper. The goal is not to create a perfect drawing but to establish a loose, energetic guide for the final inking stage. Think of it as building the skeleton of your page. In our testing, keeping lines light is the most critical factor for easy digital removal later.

1. Plan Your Layout: Start by lightly sketching the panel borders. This frames your action and guides the reader’s eye through the story.
2. Sketch Character Poses: Use gestural, “stick-figure” like lines to establish the poses and positions of your characters within each panel. Focus on movement and flow.
3. Add Placeholders: Lightly draw in the basic shapes for backgrounds and the placement of speech bubbles. Don’t worry about messy lines or mistakes. The blue pencil is for exploration.

Pro Tip: Many professionals first draw tiny, rough versions of their pages called “thumbnails” or “names” (ネーム). They then use a light box to trace a cleaned-up version of these small drawings onto the final manuscript paper using the blue pencil.

Step 2: How Do You Refine and Correct in Red?

With the blue sketch in place, use a red pencil to make your corrections and add any details you missed. This is the stage where you tighten up the drawing and make final decisions before committing to permanent ink. The red lines act as your final guide. For example, if a character’s hand in the blue sketch looks wrong, you can draw the corrected version in red right on top of it. When you ink, you simply ignore the blue hand and trace the red one.

Step 3: How Do You Ink the Final Lines in Black?

This is the most crucial step. Dip your G-pen (or other nib) into the black ink and confidently trace over your blue and red guidelines. The key is to use pressure to control your line weight variation. Press harder for thick, powerful lines (like the outline of a character) and use a light touch for delicate, thin lines (like clothing folds or hair). Practical experience shows that pulling the pen towards your body gives you more control than pushing it away. Let the ink dry completely—this can take several minutes—before handling the page further.

How Do You Scan and Finalize a Manga Page to Remove Blue Lines?

To finalize your manga page, scan it in full color (RGB) at a high resolution—600 DPI is the industry standard for line art. Then, in an image editing program like Photoshop or Clip Studio Paint, you can remove the blue and red lines by adjusting the image’s Levels or by manually deleting the Cyan color channel. This digital cleanup process is the final payoff of the entire red-and-blue workflow.

Here is a simple, step-by-step method for cleaning up your scanned art using the Levels adjustment, which works in most image editing software.

1. Scanner Settings: Set your scanner to “Color” or “RGB” mode and the resolution to at least 600 DPI. Do not scan in black and white or grayscale yet.
2. Open in Software: Open the scanned file in your preferred program (e.g., Photoshop, GIMP, Clip Studio Paint). You will see your black ink along with the blue and red guide lines.
3. Adjust Levels: Find the Levels tool (in Photoshop, go to Image > Adjustments > Levels). You’ll see a histogram with three sliders underneath. Drag the right-most slider (the white point) to the left. As you drag it, you will see the light blue and red lines disappear, leaving only the dark black ink.
4. Convert and Save: Once the line art is clean, convert the image mode to Grayscale. This discards all color information, leaving you with a pure black-and-white file ready for toning, lettering, or printing.

What Are the Key Differences Between a Blue Pencil and a Regular Graphite Pencil?

The key difference is that a non-photo blue pencil’s lines can be removed digitally after scanning, whereas a graphite pencil’s marks must be physically erased. This fundamental distinction makes the blue pencil far more efficient and safer for a professional inking workflow. Graphite, while excellent for general sketching, introduces several problems that the blue pencil was specifically designed to solve. Based on practical implementation, the choice between them comes down to your final goal: a standalone sketch or a clean, inked final piece.

Here is a direct comparison of the two tools for an inking pipeline:

The verdict: While a graphite pencil is perfectly fine for practice sketches, the non-photo blue pencil is the professional’s choice for a fast, clean, and error-proof inking pipeline.

FAQs About how is manga made with red and blue pens

What is the difference between a G-pen and a Maru pen?

The primary difference is that a G-pen has a flexible nib for creating dynamic lines of varying width, while a Maru pen has a stiff, fine nib for consistent, thin lines. G-pens are ideal for character outlines and action effects. Maru pens are used for intricate details like hair, eye highlights, and detailed backgrounds.

How do you clean and maintain dip pen nibs?

To clean a dip pen nib, you should gently wipe it with a paper towel after each dip and rinse it with water after your drawing session. For dried ink, you can soak the nib in pen cleaner or warm water for a few minutes, then gently scrub with an old toothbrush. Always dry nibs completely to prevent them from rusting, a common problem that ruins them.

Can you use ballpoint or gel pens for manga inking?

While you can practice with them, ballpoint and gel pens are generally not used for professional manga inking because they lack line variation. Professional manga relies on the expressive, variable-width lines created by flexible dip pens like the G-pen. Also, the ink in many consumer pens is not waterproof or archival, so it may fade or bleed.

How do you fix a mistake made with black ink?

Small mistakes can be corrected using white correction fluid or a white gel pen designed for artists. Apply a thin layer over the mistake, let it dry completely, and then you can draw over it again. For larger errors, some artists will cut out the section of the paper and carefully patch it from behind with a fresh piece, but this is an advanced technique.

Why does my ink bleed on the paper?

Ink bleeding is usually caused by using the wrong paper or non-waterproof ink. Manga manuscript paper is specifically designed to be less absorbent to handle ink. If you use standard printer paper, the ink will soak into the fibers and spread. Always ensure you are using a waterproof, pigment-based ink like Sumi or India ink.

Is most manga today drawn traditionally or digitally?

Today, the manga industry is a hybrid, with many artists combining traditional and digital methods. A common workflow is to draw the line art traditionally with pen and ink, then scan it and use a computer for adding tones, text, and color. However, an increasing number of artists work entirely digitally from start to finish using software like Clip Studio Paint.

What is the standard size for manga manuscript paper?

The most common professional size is B4 (approximately 9.8 x 13.9 inches), which is then photographically reduced for printing in the final manga volume. For doujinshi (self-published comics) or personal practice, A4 size is also very common. The paper often has pre-printed blue border lines to guide the artist.

What are screen tones and how are they applied?

Screen tones are pre-printed adhesive sheets with patterns of dots (halftones) used to add shading to black-and-white manga art. Traditionally, the artist lays the sheet over their inked drawing, carefully cuts out the desired shape with a craft knife, and burnishes it onto the paper. Today, this process is almost entirely done digitally using assets in Clip Studio Paint.

How do you get varying line weights with a dip pen?

Line weight variation is controlled entirely by the amount of pressure you apply to the nib. A light touch will use just the tip of the nib, creating a thin line. As you press down harder, the tines of a flexible nib (like a G-pen) spread apart, creating a much thicker line. Mastering this pressure control is the key skill in manga inking.

Can you erase the blue pencil lines after inking?

You can, but you shouldn’t have to, and it is not recommended. The entire purpose of using non-photo blue is to avoid erasing, which risks smudging your fresh ink or damaging the paper’s surface. The correct professional workflow is to leave the blue lines on the paper and remove them digitally after scanning.

Key Takeaways: Mastering the Red and Blue Pen Workflow

• Blue for Sketching, Not Erasing: The core of this professional workflow is using non-photo blue pencils for initial sketches because the color is digitally removed after scanning, saving time and preventing smudging from erasing.

• Red for Clear Corrections: Red pens provide a high-contrast color against the blue sketch, making them the industry standard for artists to mark their own corrections or for editors to provide clear feedback.

• Dip Pens Are Essential for Line Variation: The expressive, dynamic lines iconic to manga are achieved with flexible dip pen nibs like the G-pen. Mastering pressure control with these tools is a fundamental skill.

• Paper and Ink Quality Matter: To prevent ink bleeding and smudging, it’s crucial to use waterproof, pigment-based black ink and specialized, less-absorbent manga manuscript paper from brands like Deleter.

• The Final Step is Digital: The magic happens after scanning. By adjusting levels or dropping color channels in software, you can instantly eliminate the underlying blue and red guides, resulting in perfectly clean black-and-white line art.

• Blue Pencils Outperform Graphite for Inking: Unlike graphite, non-photo blue lead doesn’t smudge under ink, doesn’t need to be erased, and doesn’t leave a reflective sheen that can interfere with scanning, making it the superior choice for professional inking pipelines.

Final Thoughts on Adopting the Traditional Manga Workflow

Adopting the traditional red and blue pen method is more than just a drawing technique; it’s an embrace of the efficient, time-tested workflow that has powered the manga industry for generations. By understanding how non-photo blue pencils, red correction pens, and expressive dip pens work together, you unlock a faster and cleaner way to bring your ideas from a rough sketch to polished, professional line art. This system elegantly bridges the gap between the tactile feel of analog drawing and the precision of digital finishing. Whether you are an aspiring manga artist or a curious fan, mastering this process provides a deep appreciation for the craft and skill behind every published page.

Last update on 2026-03-07 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API