Art: B/W or Full Color?

[Aristotle]

I'm working on a little project and, while I am months away from having anything close to a product, I thought I should make some decisions pretty early. My primary concern right now is on art. I know I want to include some, but I'm not sure what the best format would be...

I generally prefer the look of full color art, and that works fine for a PDF product. But I was considering a possible Print on Demand future for the product. That would have a black and white interior. I suppose I could try to print the art in greyscale, but I am betting that won't look so hot (although I really don't know as I have no experience with the industry). Is b/w artwork (and layout for that matter) the only way to go if you have any hope of a future for the product in print? Or is PoD proving to be generally not worth the hassle? (which would mean full color art would be okay as it wouldn't be getting printed anyway)

Any insight would be welcome...

 

[mroberon1972]

It is almost tradition to use line art in black and white RPG books. While many have chosen other kinds of art, they are far out-weighed in this case.

That does not mean you cannot take the 'road less traveled'. I would advised keeping in mind the battlecry of all PDF printers as well: "LESS INK!"

 

[DanielSchenstrom]

As an artist I could chime in with one important factor, cost.
A color piece usually cost at least twice what a black and white image do. And this is important not only for budget but what you actually want to show with your pictures. Images can be either filler, to just break up text, but it can also show important facets of the text, and if you have many concepts that need visualizing it's better to go with more images at the same cost.

 

[Cergorach]

As an artist I could chime in with one important factor, cost.
A color piece usually cost at least twice what a black and white image do.

I've heard quotes from some very good pros:
B&W (Greys): $40
Color: $150

 

[madelf]

I don't know if anyone else feels the same way or if it's just me, but IMO...

I'm not into color art in pdfs in the first place. Sure a nice color cover and maybe a few splash pages here and there, that's nice. But when I buy a pdf, I'm looking at printing it, or at least portions of it. And though color inkjets are cheap now, color ink cartridges are not. On top of that, I've been considering getting a laser printer to improve the quality and reduce the cost of my printouts. A b&w laser printer is fairly cheap. A color one, not so cheap. Color drives up the publisher's cost and the buyer's cost, without much return on the investment for either one. I think the appeal of pdfs is the low cost and the usability. A proliferation of color artwork doesn't enhance either one, so I wouldn't waste the money on it.

 

[Aristotle]

That is an excellent argument. Thanks.

I don't mind black and white so very much in most books. I expect it in some. I was looking at doing a monster manual sort of book, and for some reason I'm just not certain it would be as attractive if the illustrations were b/w. But you do make a very good point about cost and ease of printing. I'll have to consider it when I decide...