Hi there! Welcome to Tapas' Quick Guide to Thumbnailing for comics and novels. Thumbnails are an important part of showcasing both comics and novels as it will give the reader a overall impression before even clicking! We've put together this quick guide to help understand what makes an eye-catching thumbnail to help spark some inspiration! If you already have a thumbnail, GREAT! You got this! But if you haven't created one yet, or just want to check out our tips, please feel free to keep on reading. Remember, you can always come back and change your thumbnail later!
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Sizing
\nTapas Thumbnails are set to be squares of 300px by 300px. So be sure the image you use fits within this format and is not stretched as this may lead to a loss of resolution.
\nThemes
\nThe main purpose of your thumbnail is to portray the theme of your story. Many creator do this by playing around with the composition of the image.
Composition is the placement of visual elements within the space and how they interact with each other. (subject, background, lighting, color, negative space, the works!)
\nIt's common practice for creators to have their main character/characters be the main subject of the thumbnail. Along with specific coloring and/or lighting to give off a feel. For example, below are some thumbnails showing characters in dramatic lightning while looking to the camera. Which tells us that these stories will most likely be dramatic and rich with story!
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Never Follow the Wispfinch! Facing the Sun
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Placement of your Subject
\nHere we've collected some eye catching thumbnails that are great examples for ways to place your subject.
\n| Dear DnD Diary | \n100 | \nUniverse Jumper | \n
You can also work by cutting the frame into halves!
\n| Divine Command Theory | \nMiles of Painted Darkness | \nIT Guy & ART Girl | \n
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Movement, Wording and Combining
\nWording: If you put words in your thumbnail, shorter words or acronyms are highly recommended compared to a full title which can be difficult to read in the app where thumbnails are smaller.
\nMovement: Motion in a thumbnail helps catch and navigate the eye across the image, a great example can be seen here with the motion of the rope and character.
These examples also illustrate ways you can combine different techniques to make a fun thumbnail!
\n| Witch Wars | \nRONAR | \nThe Flying Ship | \n
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For novels, thumbnailing can be difficult if you do not draw yourself. However you still have a few options! You can either:
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There are two common techniques for novel thumbnails as seen below.
\nAs seen in these examples, you can play around with font and superimpose them over your photo in many fun ways!
\n| Siena | \nBaking with Boys | \nFire & Ice | \n
Many novelists will also hire freelance artists or comic creators to create a thumbnail for them featuring their character. Here are their examples!
\n| The God of Pain’s Groom | \nI Love You; Goodbye | \nComing Up Roses | \n
Thumbnail Content
Tapas, as a whole, is a community of individuals from all ages and cultural backgrounds. Although we believe creators should have the freedom of artistic expression we must also acknowledge our reader's experience on the platform. Exposure to mature themes, stories or artwork should be an opt-in experience for readers -- similar to the mature filter readers must opt-in with in order to view mature material.
Thus, Thumbnail and Book Cover images must follow our Terms of Service and Content Community Guidelines. If any Book Cover or Thumbnail breaks our TOS or Content Community Guidelines, the series will be temporary interstitial until the images are altered.