What Paper Is Best For Manga Drawing? Professional Manga Paper Guide

There are a ton of supplies required to start making professional grade manga, some more important than others. However, there’s no denying that paper is one of, if not the most important supply for drawing anything, manga included!

Thick, heavy weight paper should be used for drawing manga because manga involves inking the lines after the initial pencil drawings are laid. Thick paper, like Bristol paper or Comic / Manga paper with a gsm of 150+ should be used for making manga. Ink will bleed through regular printer paper.

If you don’t plan to ink your manga once you’re done drawing it with pencil, then you really don’t need to worry about paper although a thick paper can still be really handy and help keep your drawings safe and durable.

However, if you do plan to go all out and use Nibs to ink your drawing, you’re going to want thick paper. Bristol paper is something you can find in most stores that will work really well for drawing and inking manga.

If you want a more professional / official manga paper, you can choose something like Deleter Comic Manga Paper which was made specifically with manga creation in mind. Deleter is the brand I swear by, and their paper is trusted by many amateur and professional manga artists. It’s top quality and quite affordable.

The next thing you’ll want to think about is the size of your manga paper, which I’ll go over in the next section.

A4 paper is best for drawing manga because it is the perfect size for manga pages, especially for self-published and amateur artists. A3 paper is also a good option for manga, but is not as popular as A4. Professional manga artists will use B4 paper and manga manuscript paper with built-in margins.

Manga Manuscript Paper is what professional manga artists use because the paper has built in margins that keep content more centered on the page. If you’re just starting out, though, I'd recommend just using A4 or A3 paper. The Deleter paper I mentioned above is a great option, but if you want to pick something up in store, Bristol paper works really well since it is thick enough for ink.

What Is A4 / A3 Manga Paper

A3, A4, A5, B4, etc all refer to the size of paper. Manga paper is generally A4 (21 x 29.7 cm / 8.3 x 11.7 inches) or A3 (29.7 x 42 cm / 11.7 x 16.5 inches.) Generally, manga artists will not use anything larger than A4.

A4 and A3 are just fancy ways to quickly reference the size of paper, but it’s not really something you need to worry too much about. Personally, I just grab manga paper from Deleter and call it a day. Deleter even has some B4 paper, which is a bit more expensive but pretty fun to draw on (plus it makes you feel like a pro!)

If you’re just starting out, whether you use A4, A3, or even B4 paper won’t matter too much. Just choose something within your budget that is thick enough to hold ink.

A3 paper will be a little harder to find and A4 is more standard, so I recommend starting there and then adjusting based on your preferences. Again, Deleter has the best A4 manga paper available that is very affordable for the amount of paper.

I’m not sponsored by Deleter in any way, but I absolutely love the brand as they’ve completely toppled the barrier to entry for creating beautiful manga.

Now that I’ve talked about the different types of paper, let’s go over the best choice for each type. Keep in mind, this is my opinion and in the end, it’s just paper. As long as you get something thick enough for ink and marker, you’ll be able to make your manga!

However, paper is one of the two main requirements, so if you want something quality, here you go!

Best A4 Paper For Drawing Manga

Lion DELETER 201-1032 Comic Book Paper, white

There’s no secret that I love Deleter paper, and this is the cheapest, quality A4 paper available. Deleter has a few other options available too, so feel free to take a look around!

Trust me, there’s no better way to start off your manga drawing journey than with A4 paper. Whether you choose Deleter or not, A4 is the standard for a reason and the go-to choice of many self-published artists!

Best A3 Paper For Drawing Manga

Canson Illustration 250gsm Drawing Paper

Deleter didn’t have a lot of good options for A3, to be honest, and I know a lot of artists are already used to this size so I had to put one on this list.

I chose this Canson paper because it’s one of the few A3 options available that can actually withstand marker and ink! If you’re going to be drawing and inking your own manga, and want A3 paper, then it has to be paper that can hold heavy black ink and marker, which is why I chose this 250 gsm drawing paper.

Best B4 Paper For Drawing Manga

Deleter Comic Manga Paper [Ruled Type A]

Don’t let the A on the cover of this paper fool you, this is premium B4 paper. Just like the A4 paper listed, this is made by Deleter and it’s absolutely fantastic.

B4 is usually used by published manga artists, so if you want to get a sense for what their drawing lives are like, you can take a crack at B4. I still recommend A4, or maybe even giving both a shot and seeing what you like best!

B4 is between A3 and A4 in size. I personally like the size of A4 a little more but, there’s really nothing wrong with either as long as the paper itself is high quality!

Keep in mind that this paper is ruled, so it provides some margin. This is what’s known as manuscript paper and pretty much a necessity when professionally making manga. However, hobbyists and self-published artists much prefer A4. Again, it’s all personal taste.

I-C also makes really good Manga Manuscript Paper, if you want to take a step away from Deleter (although, how dare you!)

Best Sketchbook For Drawing Manga

Strathmore 300 Series Bristol Paper Pad

If you want a nice little sketchbook to practice in, then Bristol is the way to go! It’s not technically a traditional manga paper like the Deleter paper above, but this Bristol paper is made to withstand ink, marker, and anything else you throw at it really, making it perfect for dark manga inking lines and huge areas of black hair shading!

Professional manga artists use B4 Manga Manuscript Paper. B4 is the paper size used by published manga artists, and manga manuscript paper shows margins and rulers along the edges of the paper. A4 paper is also used by professional artists, although mostly by self-published artists and freelancers.

If you’re a hobbyist or trying to break into manga drawing as a hobby or career, then I highly recommend picking up A4 manga paper. It’s going to be the easiest paper to work with, while still being thick enough for ink and marker.

If you’re looking for something more professional, then you want B4 Manga Manuscript paper, which will have margins along the edges of the paper for you. This paper can be overwhelming to new artists, but it’s a lot of fun to use and makes you feel like a pro!

A lot of self-published artists use A4 manga paper, while B4 is usually used by professional manga artists that have their works published in books and magazines.

You can use printer paper for drawing manga. Printer paper is fine for drawing manga for fun and can handle mechanical pencils and fine-tipped pens and G nibs for inking. However, printer paper will have trouble holding ink, which is necessary for coloring in black hair, clothes, and shadows.

If you plan to fully ink the manga you draw, then I highly recommend picking up thicker paper than printer paper. There’s a lot of quality and cheap manga paper available in store and online (some of which I’ve talked about above!)

I’ve tried creating full-blown manga with printer paper, and the paper really just can’t handle the inking process. It’s fine for practicing, but if you want a quality finished product to show off, gift, or sell, then you’re going to want something thicker like cartoon or manga paper, or even Bristol paper.