Resources

I have scoured the scanlation world and associated with all the misanthropic, eccentric, reclusive, egotistic, patronizing, obsessive, veteran, and experienced assholes in order to bring you the best of the best text guides that actually explain shit thoroughly and correctly.

DO NOT use machine translation (MTL) (using Google translate, DeepL, Jisho, and/or other automated translation tool without any competency in Japanese language and grammar and then reinterpreting the output so that it appears to make sense in English) if you are going to release something. You will end up with significant translation errors and frequently misinterpreted text. MTL only gives the appearance of a proper translation, but an incorrect translation will be incorrect no matter how nice the English sounds.

Just another attempt at a modern manga scanlating resource collection. Guides I consider outdated and redundant will not be included. Updated at my discretion. Find video guides elsewhere. Useful for both newbies and veterans. There’s always something new to learn. Suggestions always welcome. Last updated May 2022. Feel free to ask any questions or give feedback at quicksandscans@gmail.com.

This list of guides primarily concerns with using Photoshop to scanlate. If you are looking for advice on how to use Photoshop or its tools, I recommend googling what you don’t know. Your question has been asked and answered many times over already!

QSS’s Introduction to Scanlation (image)

pnyxtr, circa 2009 (text)

Contents

• GUIDE LIST
  • Essential Editing Guides
    • Beginners should read these guides first.
  • Essential Editing Tools and Resources
    • Useful resources and significant time savers. Download and try these out as soon as you understand the fundamentals.
  • Situational Methods and Guides
    • Guides and techniques that are useful in some edge cases.
  • Advanced Editing Tools and Guides
    • For those with experience who want to learn more.
  • Skill practice
    • A couple Photoshop tool practice sites.
  • JP SFX Resources
    • SFX lookup and guides. Japanese knowledge not necessary.
  • Translator Guides
    • A bit of learning guidance for newbie translators.
  • Supplementary Comprehensive Beginner’s Guides
    • Other beginner’s guides to supplement the essential guides.
• OTHER
  • Interesting manga related resources.

Guide list

Essential Editing Guides

• Essential Cleaning Guides
  • Cleaning Physical Raws
    • Delux’s cleaning guide (2018)
    • Sarrymast’s cleaning guide (2015)
    • QSS’s Dusting Guide (2021)
  • Cleaning Digital Raws
    • tangy’s “Waifu2x denoise guide for digital raws” (2021)
    • Delux’s “how to clean artifacts from digital raws” (2018)
• Essential Redrawing Guides
  • Fallen Angel’s Basic Redraw Tutorial Part 1 Part 2 (2017)
  • Gemelli’s CLRD Textbook (2020)
• Essential Typesetting Guides
  • Archive.org’s version of Red Hawk Scans Typesetting Tutorial (2011)
  • Vorbis’s typesetting guide (2004)
  • Blambot’s Lettering Tips & Comic Book Grammar & Tradition (2017)
• Essential Intermediate Guides
  • Dance’s redrawing scanlation snacks (2017) (redrawing)
  • Rain’s redrawing tutorial (2013) (redrawing)

Essential Editing Tools and Resources

• Cleaning Tools
  • Illiteracy’s Tankroller v0.0.0.5 / video
  • Bubble filling action (v5)
  • waifu2x
    • Check “Waifu2x denoise guide for digital raws” for the correct version to download and how to use.
    • waifu2x-caffe
    • waifu2x-ncnn-vulcan
      • ncnn vulcan GUI extension
  • Mech’s SmartStitch (for automatically stitching and cutting long strip webtoons)
• Screentones (For Redrawing and Typesetting)
  • screentones’ collection of screentones
  • PsychoBob’s screentones
  • oujimishima’s screentone Resources
  • Mangadex’s Screentone Collection
• Typesetting Tools
  • Illiteracy’s Typesetterer (info) (windows, cs2+) – use the version that works best for you, a bit finnicky. Instructions: run as administrator the first time you open the program!
    • v1.0.1.1
    • v1.9.9.9
    • v2.0.0.0
  • Flint’s “Presets: How To?”
  • Swirt’s TyperTools (source) (cc2015+)
  • NexusFont (font manager and organizer) (windows)
• Free Fonts
  • Essential: Scanlator School Font Drive – Blambot, Comiccraft, and misc
  • Kimberly Geswein’s handwritten fonts catalog
  • PressGang Studio’s fonts on dafont
  • 1001fonts.com – tag searchable fonts
  • dafont.com – category and foundry searchable fonts
  • fonts.google.com – great for non-handwritten serif and sans serif fonts
• Typesetting font reference guides
  • Basic Font Collection (references: dialogue/shouts/handwritten/misc)
  • Constipat8’s Font Sheet (2o21 version)
• Brushes (for handwritten text + redraws)
  • Kyle’s Brushes (info)
    • NOTE: If the link to the download does not work, copy the link and paste it directly into your address bar. 
    • Essential: Megapack (reference)
    • Additional: (letterers/ref) (manga/ref) (gouache/ref) (dry media/ref) (watercolor/ref) (splatter/ref) (runny inkers/ref)(crosshatch/ref) (rakes/ref) (impressionist/ref) (halftones and screentones/ref) (copier/ref) (concept/ref) (art markers/ref) (summer 2018/ref) (summer 2019/ref) (winter 2019/ref) (spring 2020/ref) (summer 2020/ref1 ref2) (keith haring/ref) (winter 2020/ref) (spring 2021/ref) (summer 2021/ref) (fall 2021/ref)
• Scanning and Releasing Tools
  • DrWhoCares’ imgdanke (comprehensive PSD/PNG to PNG optimizer GUI)
  • Bulk Rename Utility (for batch renaming files)

Situational Methods and Guides

• Forever more’s scanlation guide Text Effects section ONLY (special effects, pre-2008)
• Archive.org’s version of Senbonzakura Kageyoshi’s Advanced Tutorials (cleaning, redrawing) (2007)
• QSS’s Smooth Stroke action v1.0 (info)
• QSS’s collection of thư pháp fonts v1.0 (info) (Asian calligraphy inspired fonts that don’t look like Chinese takeout)
• “Fonts seem to install, but don’t… [appear in program]” (2017) (Windows debug, typesetting)
• QSS’s Guide to Scanning Physical Raws (2020)
• Sense Scan’s magazine cleaning guide and filters (2014) (cleaning)
• Archive.org’s version of Sense Scan’s copy of Imperial Scan’s magazine cleaning guide (2012) (cleaning)

Advanced Editing Tools and Guides

• Frequency Separation Retouching Tutorial in Photoshop (2015) (cleaning)
• fft-descreen with Python 3 (cleaning, fft descreening)
• Pattern Suppressor for Photoshop plugin & action (cleaning, fft descreening)
• The Ails Of Typographic Anti-Aliasing (2009) (typesetting)
• Delux’s how to clean artifacts from digitals without affecting screentones (2019) (cleaning)
• Sara Linsley’s Lettering Tutorials (2021) (redrawing, typesetting, Indesign)
• Illuminati’s Cleaning Actions (cleaning, physicals)
• Lazy Nezumi ($35 paid app with advanced brush setting and ruler features, two week free trial) 

Skill practice

• Pen tool practice (redrawing)
• Kerning practice (typesetting)

JP SFX Resources

• The Jaded Network’s SFX resource (translations) (2012)
• Manga Studies’ SFX Glossary (translations) (2015)
• Help:Japanese SFX (translations) (2015)
• Archive.org’s version of Onomatopoeia list (descriptions in JP) (2019)
• Japan Powered’s Manga Sound Effect Guide (guide) (2016)
• Kristen Dexter’s Japanese Onomatopoeia Guide (guide) (2015)
• Comic Book FX (inspirations)
• アカリがやってきたぞっ (inspirations, video)

Translator Guides

• Wraith’s Tips on Translation for Noobs like Him.txt (2016)

Supplementary Comprehensive Beginner’s Guides

• Ruinevil’s manga editing guides (2007)
• The idiot’s guides to editing manga by Kalendel (2003)
• Eito’s scanlation classroom (2012)

Other

• List of delinquent manga (2018)
• Anon’s ultimate delinquent manga guide chart (2018)
• Yukisub’s fansubbing guides list (2020)
• Vampbyte’s CSP Tutorial Masterlist (2021)
• Inside Scanlation (2010)
• Manga Mogura
• Resources Graveyard