How important is artwork for PDF products?

[Jürgen Hubert]

Given my extremely limited (i.e., non-existant) budget, I have gradually come to the conclusion that if I want to publish Urbis, I will probably have to do the art myself. However, while I think that with some more practicing I can eventually produce some artwork that doesn't look completely amateurish (see here for an example), I am aware that I am nowhere as good as the professionals in this industry.

So I was wondering: How important is the artwork in PDF products for you? What kind of quality do you expect, and how frequent should the art be in the product?

 

[ZombieButch]

You can get away with a heck of a lot less artwork if you have a really kick-ass, visually interesting layout. Check out some of the stuff Politically Incorrect Games does; most of their PDFs have just a couple of pieces of art, if any, but they're hardly boring to look at.

If you're on a limited budget, too, you can check out some of the art collections on RPGNow, or look for unrestricted free artwork. Phil Reed used a bunch of old public domain images for vs. Monsters, for instance. You just have to be careful and make sure that the art is licensed for commercial works.

 

[Crothian]

It depends on the size of the PDF. The bigger it is the better art and lay out that needs to be. Otherwise it gets really tough to read.

 

[Jaws]

Well, considering the size of your project, I would say artwork is important. A piece here and there around every three pages should do it.

I liked Der Blaustein. If that is the quality, then I would be interested.


Peace and smiles

j.

 

[barsoomcore]

I think it's important, but keep in mind there are sources of art other than custom-built drawings. Plenty of old images are public domain; good scans of those could do you a lot of good. Also consider online stock image sources; often they offer some images free of charge and you might be able to find stuff in there that translates well. I used that approach with my FREE Gun-Fu Adventure and I think it worked out pretty well.

Also maps and stuff can help reduce your need for images.

Good luck!

 

[Umbran]

So I was wondering: How important is the artwork in PDF products for you? What kind of quality do you expect, and how frequent should the art be in the product?

There's competition here - some folks want a pdf to be a print book in electronic form. Others want a pdf that's optimized for use on a computer. The artistic needs differ greatly.

 

[Thomas Percy]

You can always use Art Packs.

 

[Upper_Krust]

Hey Jurgen!

I found myself in exactly the same position with the Immortals Handbook series I have been developing. I had to do all the art for an entire Bestiary as well as paint the cover. I was very worried about how this would be received (I consider myself an average artist at best), but I am very happy how things have worked out and quite proud as well. Feedback has generally been pretty positive and I now have a publisher doing print versions of my work.

You can see samples of my illustrations here:

http://www.immortalshandbook.com/

http://www.immortalshandbook.com/IHpreview3.htm

http://www.immortalshandbook.com/IHpreview4.htm

http://www.immortalshandbook.com/IHpreview5.htm

http://www.immortalshandbook.com/IHpreview6.htm

A few are a tad weak (like the Akalich, and Kabiri: Demon Prince of Shadows) but overall I am happy.

So my suggestion would be go for it!

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

Well, considering the size of your project, I would say artwork is important. A piece here and there around every three pages should do it.

I liked Der Blaustein. If that is the quality, then I would be interested.

Well, landscapes are relatively easy to do - it's people that still give me trouble...

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

You can always use Art Packs.

I've seen some of the art on sale on RPGNet, and while there are quite a few good pieces of artwork out there, they tend to be more of the medieval fantasy type, which is not quite what I am looking for...