The Two Numbers That Define a Screentone
A traditional tone sheet is an adhesive acetate sheet covered with a grid of dots. It is defined by two values, and they are almost always written on the packaging.
Fineness, in lines per inch
This is the number of rows of dots over a length of one inch, denoted as L: 27.5 L, 42.5 L, 60 L, 85 L. The higher the number, the smaller and tighter the dots are, and the more the tone resembles a continuous gray when viewed from a distance. The lower it is, the more visible the dots become and the more the tone turns into a deliberate graphic effect.
Density, in percentage
This is the share of actually black surface: 10 percent gives a very light gray, 30 percent a medium gray, 60 percent a dark gray. Two tones can have the same density and a different fineness: the same gray from afar, a completely different rendering up close.
Reading a reference
A label like 60 L 20 percent is therefore read as: fine dots, light gray. This is the most widely used tone in the world, because it is the one for skin shadows. Manufacturers' numbering systems, SE-61 for one, a three-digit code for another, are merely catalog numbers: always bring the reference back to these two numbers.
The three tones that cover almost everything
- 60 L, 10 to 20 percent: skin shadows and light clothing. This is the one you will use in nine panels out of ten.
- 60 L, 30 to 40 percent: dark hair, deep shadows, dark fabrics. It overlays cleanly onto the first one.
- A gradient: skies, atmospheric backgrounds, emotional panels. Just one is enough to start.
Three sheets, and you can tone an entire chapter. Buying an assortment of thirty patterns before understanding these two numbers is the most useless expense in manga supplies.
Applying a Screentone Cleanly
The gesture is simple, but it has three pitfalls that all show up in the print.
Cut wide, paste, then trim back
Do not cut out the exact shape in advance. Cut a piece significantly larger than the area, place it over the already inked and thoroughly dry drawing, then trim along the edge of the ink line, with the blade almost flat, cutting only the screen and not the paper. A blade held straight will gouge the sheet: upon scanning, the groove creates a grey line you will never be able to remove.
Burnish, or it bubbles
Once the screen is in place, rub it with the back of a fingernail, a spatula, or a bone folder, from the center outwards. Without this step, the adhesive traps microscopic air bubbles that appear as pale spots on the photocopy. This is the step everyone skips and everyone regrets.
Layer to darken, with caution
Two overlapping screens produce a darker grey, and this is the classic way to create three levels of shadow with two sheets. But it is also the primary source of moiré patterns, as the next section explains. Immediate rule: never overlap two screens aligned in the same direction.
Scratch to create highlights
For a reflection in hair or a glint on a blade, do not draw in white: scratch the already applied screen, with the blade held flat, using small movements in the direction of the strand. The dots will gradually disappear and the gradient will look more natural than any mask. This is the technique that instantly gives a page a professional look.
And what not to screen
A fully screened page is unreadable: the eye has nowhere to rest. Keep pure white on highlighted areas and pure black on the harshest shadows. The screen is the middle grey, not the background color. The same four-layer reasoning applies to color, which is detailed in manga color drawing.
Moiré, Scanning, and Digital Screentones
The moiré pattern is that network of waves or checkers that appears instead of the dots. It is not on your page: it is born from the encounter between your halftone screen grid and another regular grid, that of the scanner sensor or that of a second screen.
The 30-degree rule
When you superimpose two screens, rotate the second one by about 30 degrees relative to the first, or choose a different fineness. Two grids offset by only a few degrees are the worst-case scenario: it is precisely this small difference that creates the visible beating.
Scanning a screened page
A 60 L screen scanned at 300 dpi very often produces moiré: there are not enough pixels to render each dot distinctly. Scan at 600 dpi minimum, in grayscale or pure black and white, and above all disable anything called descreening, auto-sharpening, or enhancement: these filters are made for photos and they destroy the dots.
Never resize a screened area
This is the most common digital error, and it is irreversible. Enlarging or reducing an image that already contains a screen changes the size of the dots and breaks the regularity of the grid: the result is blurry or moiré-affected. Therefore, the page format is set BEFORE screening, never after.
In digital, the screen is a separate layer
In manga drawing software, a screen is placed on its own layer, keeping the gray value separate from the line art. The point is not comfort: it is being able to change the density of a shadow afterwards without retouching the inking, and to reuse the exact same value from one chapter to the next. Note down your values somewhere: the same pair of hair screened at 20 percent in chapter 1 and 30 percent in chapter 4 is immediately noticeable, and that is the kind of inconsistency that looks amateur.
Where the screen goes in the process
Always after inking and never before: a screen placed over a pencil sketch prevents erasing. In the complete workflow of a chapter, it is the penultimate step, just before lettering; the order and real time of each step are detailed in how to draw a manga.
Conclusion
A manga screentone is chosen using two numbers: the fineness in lines per inch and the density in percentage. Three sheets—a light 60L, a medium 60L, and a gradient—are enough to tone an entire chapter. When applying, cut large and then trim with the blade flat, always burnish, and keep crisp white areas so the page can breathe. And remember the two rules that save your work during printing: a 30-degree angle difference between two overlapping screentones, and 600 dpi with no filters whatsoever when scanning.
