How to Make a Manga The Complete Guide to Art and Story

Struggling with how to make a manga and bring your epic story to life? Many aspiring creators feel overwhelmed by the process, from story writing to final art. It can seem like a complex, gatekept world.

To make a manga, you follow a step-by-step process starting with developing a story idea and writing a script. You then design your characters and world, create a storyboard (nēmu), sketch and ink the final pages, add tones and dialogue, and finally format the manga for publishing online or in print.

Based on professional workflows and proven techniques, this guide breaks down the entire manga creation process into manageable steps. You will discover the exact methods used by pros to take an idea from a simple concept to a finished, shareable manga chapter, covering everything from story structure to art tools systematically.

Key Facts

• Significant Time Investment: A single person can expect to spend 80 to 200 hours creating one 20-page manga chapter, demonstrating the dedication required.
• Industry-Standard Software: Clip Studio Paint is widely recognized as the best software for manga creation due to its specialized features like paneling tools and screentones.
• Drawing Isn’t Always Required: It is possible to create a manga without advanced drawing skills by collaborating with an artist, hiring a freelancer, or using tools like 3D models and AI art generators.
• The Blueprint is the Nēmu: The ‘nēmu’, or storyboard, is a crucial first artistic step used by nearly every professional to plan page layout, pacing, and composition before committing to final art.
• Accessible Publishing Options: In 2026, self-publishing platforms like Webtoon, Tapas, and Amazon KDP have made it easier than ever for independent creators to find an audience for their manga.

How to Make a Manga From Scratch: A Step-by-Step Guide

Making a manga from scratch involves a structured process that can be broken down into four main phases: Ideation & Scripting, Character & World Design, Page Production, and Finalization & Publishing. This professional workflow takes you systematically from a raw idea to a completed manga comic. It ensures you build a solid foundation with your story and characters before diving into the detailed artwork, saving you time and improving the final quality. Anyone can learn this process with dedication.

This comprehensive guide demystifies that journey. We will walk through each of the core stages required to create your own manga, providing a clear map that even a complete beginner can follow. Understanding this entire workflow upfront is the key to staying organized and motivated throughout your project.

The main phases of the manga creation process include:
* Ideation and Story: Developing your core concept, choosing a genre, outlining the plot, and writing a formal script.
* Design and Storyboard: Creating your character designs, building your world, and drawing a rough storyboard (nēmu) to plan your pages.
* Page Production: The main artistic phase of penciling, inking, and adding tones and textures to your final pages.
* Finalization and Publishing: Lettering the dialogue, adding sound effects, formatting the pages, and preparing for print or digital release.

What Are the Essential Tools and Software for Manga Creation?

For digital manga, the best software is Clip Studio Paint, paired with a drawing tablet from brands like Wacom or Huion. For traditional manga, you need manga manuscript paper (e.g., Deleter), inking pens like a G-pen or Maru pen, rulers, and screentones for shading. The choice between digital and traditional methods depends on your budget, workflow preference, and artistic goals.

Digital Tools

A digital workflow is the most common approach for manga creators in 2026 due to its flexibility and efficiency. The core components are a drawing tablet and specialized art software.

• Drawing Tablets: A pressure-sensitive drawing tablet is essential. Wacom tablets are the long-standing industry standard, but brands like Huion and XP-Pen offer excellent, more affordable alternatives. For portability, an iPad with an Apple Pencil is a powerful choice.
• Art Software: While many programs can work, manga creation is easiest with software that has built-in comic features. Based on our hands-on testing, a professional workflow often utilizes Clip Studio Paint for its robust toolset.

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Traditional Tools

For those who love the feel of pen on paper, a traditional workflow is still a valid and respected method.

• Manga Manuscript Paper: This paper, often from brands like Deleter, comes pre-printed with non-photo blue lines for trim, bleed, and inner frames, which is the standard manuscript format.
• Inking Pens: A flexible dip pen, such as a G-pen, is the classic tool for manga inking, allowing for expressive, variable line weights. A Maru pen is used for finer details. For consistent lines, technical pens like the Sakura Pigma Micron are also popular.
• Screentones: These are transparent sheets with printed dot patterns used for shading. They are cut out and applied directly to the paper to create gray tones, textures, and effects.
• Other Supplies: You will also need pencils (including a non-photo blue pencil for roughs), rulers, erasers, and white ink for corrections.

How Do You Develop a Compelling Manga Story and Script?

To write a manga story, first choose a genre and create a logline summarizing your idea. Next, outline your plot using a three-act structure (beginning, middle, end). Finally, write a script that details each page’s panels, character actions, and dialogue. This process turns an abstract idea into a concrete blueprint for your artist—or for yourself.

How Do You Define Your Core Concept, Genre, and Logline?

A logline is a one-sentence summary of your manga’s plot, main character, and central conflict. This is the first step to clarifying your vision. Before you can outline, you must know what your story is fundamentally about. For example, a logline for Death Note could be: “A high school genius finds a notebook that kills anyone whose name is written inside and decides to purge the world of evil, pitting him against a brilliant detective.”

Next, define your genre. The genre sets reader expectations for the tone, themes, and conventions of your story. Understanding your genre helps you focus your creative choices.

• Shonen: Aimed at young boys. Focuses on action, adventure, and friendship (e.g., One Piece, Jujutsu Kaisen).
• Shojo: Aimed at young girls. Focuses on romance, drama, and emotional relationships (e.g., Fruits Basket, Kimi ni Todoke).
• Seinen: Aimed at adult men. Features more complex, mature themes and often darker or more realistic content (e.g., Berserk, Vinland Saga).
• Josei: Aimed at adult women. Explores realistic romance, drama, and life experiences (e.g., Chihayafuru, Princess Jellyfish).
• Isekai: A subgenre where the main character is transported to another world (e.g., That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime).

How Do You Outline Your Plot Using a Story Structure?

A story structure is a skeleton that holds your narrative together and ensures proper pacing. The Three-Act structure is a simple and effective model that divides a story into three parts.

1. Act 1: The Setup. In this part, you introduce your main characters, their world, and the “normal” state of their lives. The act ends with an “inciting incident”—an event that kicks off the main plot and pushes the protagonist into the story.
2. Act 2: The Confrontation. This is the longest part of the story, where the protagonist actively pursues their goal. You raise the stakes, introduce obstacles and conflicts, and develop your characters through their struggles.
3. Act 3: The Resolution. The story builds to a climax, the final confrontation where the main conflict is faced. Afterward, you resolve the story, showing the aftermath and the new “normal” for your characters.

While common in Western media, many manga use a four-act structure called Kishōtenketsu (kee-sho-ten-ket-soo). This structure focuses less on direct conflict and more on escalation: Ki (Introduction), Shō (Development), Ten (Twist – an unexpected, major event), and Ketsu (Conclusion – reconciling the twist with the story). It’s often used for slice-of-life and comedy manga.

Once your outline is ready, you write the manga script. This document translates the story into a format the artist can draw from, breaking it down page by page and panel by panel.

Example Manga Script Format:

PAGE 1 (4 PANELS)

PANEL 1:
WIDE SHOT of the city street at night, rain pouring down. The streetlights reflect off the wet pavement.
CAPTION: The rain never stops in this city.

PANEL 2:
MEDIUM SHOT of KENJI, huddled under an awning. He’s soaked and shivering.

PANEL 3:
CLOSE UP on Kenji’s face. His eyes widen as he sees something off-panel.
KENJI (SFX): !!!

PANEL 4:
POV SHOT from Kenji’s perspective. A glowing cat is sitting across the street, looking directly at him.
CAT (DIALOGUE): Are you lost?

How Do You Create Professional Manga Pages from Sketch to Finish?

To create a manga page, first draw a rough storyboard (nēmu) to plan panel layouts. Then, pencil your detailed artwork. Next, ink the final lines using a G-pen or digital equivalent. Finish by adding screentones for shading, and lettering the dialogue and sound effects. This structured workflow is the industry standard for producing clean, professional-looking pages.

Step 1: How Do You Create the Storyboard (Nēmu)?

A storyboard, known as a ‘nēmu’ (neh-moo) in Japanese, is a rough draft of your manga pages that focuses on planning panel layout, pacing, and visual flow. Think of a nēmu as the architect’s blueprint for your page. Its goal is speed and clarity, not beauty. Use simple stick figures and basic shapes to map out where characters are, what the camera angles are, and where the dialogue bubbles will go.

The key goals of a nēmu are to:
* Plan the panel flow to guide the reader’s eye correctly (top to bottom, right to left).
* Test dialogue placement to ensure it fits without covering important art.
* Establish the pacing and rhythm of the scene.
* Finalize compositions and camera angles for maximum impact.
* Get editorial approval (in a professional setting) before investing time in final art.

From my professional workflow, I can say this step is non-negotiable. Skipping the nēmu is one of the biggest manga drawing mistakes, often leading to confusing layouts and wasted time re-drawing entire pages.

Step 2: Penciling the Artwork

Once the nēmu is approved, you begin the penciling stage. This is where you create the detailed, clean drawing that will be inked. Working on top of your rough nēmu layout (either digitally on a new layer or on a light box for traditional art), you’ll draw the final characters, backgrounds, and details. Focus on correct anatomy, perspective, and clear expression. Many artists use a light blue pencil for this stage, as it can be easily removed during scanning if you’re working traditionally.

Step 3: Inking the Final Lines

Inking is the process of going over your pencil drawings to create the final, crisp black line art that is characteristic of manga. This is a crucial step that defines your art style.

• For digital artists, this means using a pen tool in your software to create clean lines on a new layer above your pencils.
• For traditional artists, this is where tools like the G-pen and Maru pen come in. The G-pen creates dynamic, expressive lines that vary in thickness with pressure, perfect for character outlines. The Maru pen is used for fine details and consistent thin lines.

When inking, it is standard practice to scan your artwork at a high resolution. For black and white line art, scan at 600 DPI to ensure your lines remain sharp and avoid pixelation.

Step 4: Adding Tones and Lettering

The final artistic step is adding shading and text.

• Screentones: This is the classic manga shading technique. Digitally, you can use built-in screentone libraries in software like Clip Studio Paint to apply dot patterns for gray shades and textures. Traditionally, you would physically cut and apply screentone sheets.
• Lettering: This involves adding all text to the page. This includes dialogue placed inside speech bubbles, thought bubbles, and captions.
• Sound Effects (SFX): These are visual onomatopoeia that are often hand-drawn and integrated directly into the artwork to add impact and energy to a scene.

Can You Make a Manga If You Can’t Draw?

Yes, you can absolutely make a manga without drawing skills. Your main options are: 1) Collaborate with an artist and share the work, 2) Hire a freelance artist to draw your script, or 3) Use 3D character models and AI art generators as a tool to create your visuals. Many of the most famous manga are created by a writer-artist duo.

If you are a talented writer with a great story, your lack of drawing ability should not be a barrier. Here are your pathways:

• ✍ Find a Collaborator: This is the classic “writer and artist” team model, like Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata of Death Note. You can find potential collaborators on forums like Reddit (r/Mangamakers), DeviantArt, and other online art communities. In this partnership, you typically share the rights and any potential profits. A good partnership requires clear communication and a shared vision.
• 💰 Hire a Freelance Artist: If you have a budget, you can commission an artist to bring your script to life. Websites like ArtStation, Upwork, and Fiverr have thousands of talented artists available for hire. When hiring, be prepared to provide a detailed script and character designs (even if they are just reference images). Costs can range from $50 to over $200 per page depending on the artist’s skill and style.
• 🤖 Use Technology as a Tool: For solo creators without drawing skills, modern technology offers alternatives. Software like Clip Studio Paint includes posable 3D models you can use as a base for characters and scenes. In 2026, AI art generators have also emerged as a tool. However, it’s important to understand their limitations and the ethical considerations around using AI-generated art, as the style can be inconsistent and the data it’s trained on can be controversial. These tools are best used for brainstorming or creating background assets.

FAQs About how to make a manga

How long does it take to make a manga chapter?

The time to create a 20-page manga chapter can range from 80 to 200 hours for a single person. This varies greatly based on the complexity of the art, your skill level, and your process. A professional manga artist with assistants often produces a chapter weekly, but for a solo creator, taking one to two months is more realistic.

What is the standard manga chapter length?

A standard manga chapter serialized in a weekly magazine is typically 18-24 pages long. For monthly magazines, chapters can be longer, ranging from 30 to 60 pages. If you’re creating a one-shot (a self-contained story), 45-60 pages is a common length.

How much does it cost to make a manga?

The cost can range from nearly $0 to several thousand dollars. If you use free software like Krita and draw digitally, your main cost is your time and the hardware you already own. If you hire a freelance artist, prices can range from $50 to $200+ per page, making a 20-page chapter cost $1,000-$4,000 or more.

How do you make a manga panel flow correctly for readers?

To ensure correct panel flow, you must guide the reader’s eye from top-to-bottom and right-to-left. Use panel shapes, character gazes, action lines, and dialogue bubble placement to create a clear path. The most important action or reveal should typically be in the top-right panel, as that’s where the reader looks first.

What’s the difference between manga, manhwa, and manhua?

The primary difference is their country of origin and reading direction. Manga is from Japan and is read right-to-left. Manhwa is from Korea and is read left-to-right, often in a long, vertical scrolling format for webtoons. Manhua is from China and is also read left-to-right.

How do I get my manga published?

You can either self-publish online or submit your work to traditional publishers. For self-publishing, platforms like Webtoon, Tapas, and Amazon KDP are popular. To submit to traditional publishers like Shonen Jump, you often need to enter a contest (e.g., Tezuka Award) or submit a completed one-shot that meets their specific manuscript guidelines.

What is a manga “one-shot”?

A one-shot is a self-contained manga story told in a single chapter. It is not part of a longer series and has a complete beginning, middle, and end. One-shots are often used by new artists to showcase their skills to editors and are a great way to practice completing a full story.

What DPI should I use for drawing manga?

For black and white line art, you should use a resolution of at least 600 DPI (Dots Per Inch). For pages that will be in color, 350-400 DPI is the industry standard. Using a high DPI ensures that your lines will look crisp and clean when printed and won’t appear pixelated.

Can I make a manga on an iPad?

Yes, an iPad is an excellent tool for making manga, especially when using apps like Clip Studio Paint or Procreate. The combination of an iPad and an Apple Pencil provides a powerful and portable digital studio. Many professional artists now use an iPad as part of their workflow.

How do I practice drawing in a manga style?

Practice by studying the work of your favorite manga artists and focusing on fundamentals. Pay attention to how they draw eyes, hair, and expressions. Practice basic anatomy, perspective, and composition. Don’t just trace; try to understand why they make certain stylistic choices and then incorporate those lessons into your own drawings.

Key Takeaways: How to Make a Manga Summary

• Story Is King: Before you draw a single line, invest time in your story. A strong concept, a clear plot outline using a structure like the Three-Act model, and a well-formatted script are the foundation of a great manga.
• Choose the Right Tools for You: The process is the same, but the tools differ. For a professional, all-in-one solution, Clip Studio Paint is the industry standard. If you can’t draw, focus on your writing and explore collaborating with an artist or using AI as a tool.
• Follow the Professional Workflow: Don’t jump straight to final art. Always start with a rough storyboard (nēmu) to plan your page composition and pacing. This single step will save you hours and dramatically improve your visual storytelling.
• Master the Core Art Steps: The artistic process follows a clear sequence: Penciling (detailed sketches), Inking (clean line art), Toning (shading with screentones), and Lettering (dialogue and SFX). Master each step in order.
• Paneling Guides the Reader: Your panel layout is not just a container for art; it controls the pacing and flow. Remember to guide the reader’s eye from top-to-bottom and right-to-left.
• Don’t Be Afraid to Start Small: You don’t need to start with a 50-volume epic. Create a short 5-page story or a 45-page “one-shot” to practice the entire process from start to finish. Completion is a skill in itself.
• Publishing Is Accessible: In 2026, you don’t need a major publisher to find an audience. Platforms like Webtoon, Tapas, and Amazon KDP allow you to self-publish your work and build a following on your own terms.

Final Thoughts on Your Manga Creation Journey

Creating a manga is a challenging but immensely rewarding journey that combines storytelling with art. It requires patience, practice, and a willingness to learn both the creative and technical sides of the craft. The key to success is not raw talent alone, but the discipline to follow a structured process.

By breaking down the mammoth task of “making a manga” into smaller, manageable steps—story, script, storyboard, pencils, inks, tones, and publishing—the goal becomes achievable. Whether you are an artist, a writer, or both, the tools and pathways exist for you to tell your story. Don’t wait for permission or perfection. Start with a small one-shot, embrace the process, and begin your journey as a manga creator today.

Last update on 2026-02-27 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API