How to make your own webtoon: format, tools, scripting and publishing on WEBTOON Canvas

TUREFF• •0

Webtoons are made to be read on a phone, by scrolling down. That changes almost everything about how a comic is planned, and it is the reason a comic adapted from print pages often feels awkward on screen. This guide covers what makes the format different and how to go from an idea to a published series that keeps going.

The vertical scroll format

An episode is one long, narrow strip. The reader's thumb controls the pace.
Space between panels is a storytelling tool. A large gap feels like a pause or a passing of time; panels close together feel quick.
Usually there is only one panel across the width, so each panel has the reader's full attention.
Text has to be readable on a small screen without zooming, so lettering is larger than in print comics and speech bubbles are shorter.

Canvas size

WEBTOON's own creator handbook gives the maximum individual image size as 800 pixels wide by 1,280 pixels tall, and says the system slices and resizes images that exceed it. In practice many creators draw on a long canvas at a multiple of 800 pixels wide (for example 1,600) so they have a higher resolution copy, then export and slice at 800. Upload rules change, so check the platform's current guidelines before you export a whole episode.

Tools

Software: Clip Studio Paint is widely used for comics and has webtoon canvas and slicing features. Procreate (iPad), Krita (free), Photoshop and Medibang Paint are also common. Use what you can afford and will actually learn.
Hardware: a drawing tablet, either a pen display or a screenless tablet, or an iPad with a stylus.
Fonts: check that any font you use is licensed for commercial or online use.
3D models and assets: many creators use 3D backgrounds or brushes. Check the licence for each.

Write before you draw

Premise: one or two sentences describing who the story is about and what they want.
Outline: the main arc of the first season and how it ends, even roughly.
Episode script: for each episode, what happens, the dialogue, and where it ends. Many readers decide whether to continue in the first few episodes, so start with something happening.
End each episode on a hook: a question, a reveal or a decision. That is what brings readers back.

Thumbnails and panels

Sketch a quick, rough version of the whole episode as a long strip before drawing anything properly. This is where you fix pacing.
Vary panel sizes. A wide establishing shot, then closer shots for emotion.
Keep the reading path simple: left to right inside a panel, then down.
Not every moment needs a panel; cut what does not move the story or the feelings.

Producing an episode

A common order is thumbnail, sketch, line art, flat colours, shading, backgrounds, lettering and effects, then export. Creating templates (character colour palettes, brush sets, bubble styles) saves hours over a series.

Publishing on open platforms

WEBTOON Canvas is WEBTOON's open section: anyone can sign up and publish a series. It is also where some creators have been picked up for the platform's Originals line.
Tapas also lets creators publish their own comics.
Some creators post on their own website or social media as well, to build an audience in more than one place.

Prepare a series thumbnail, a short summary and genre tags, which are what readers see first. Read each platform's content rules and terms, including what rights you keep, before posting.

Staying consistent

Consistency matters more than any single episode.

Build a buffer of several finished episodes before you launch.
Choose a schedule you can keep for a year, not one that suits a good month. Weekly or fortnightly is common.
Simplify where you can: fewer characters per scene, reusable backgrounds, a cleaner art style.
If you need a break, announce a hiatus rather than disappearing.
Reply to comments; early readers become your most loyal ones.

Working on a webtoon, or thinking about starting one? Share your project, your workflow or your questions in the comments.