Hi, all!

I am new in the world of manga scanlation. I have been fortunate enough to get a job as a proofreader for Hana Haru, which was a pretty difficult job to snag since proofreaders are so abundant. Because of that, I want to learn a new skill that would make me a more valuable asset: Typesetting.

I've read up on typesetting and it seems like a job I would be good at. I understand the basics and what groups normally look for. The final step before I can actually test myself is to get a good program to use.

For now, since I am unsure about the job, I don't want an expensive option like Photoshop. I'm looking into GIMP, but I am unsure about it. So my three main questions are:

- Is GIMP for OS X a safe option? (As in if I download it from https://www.gimp.org/downloads/ will it kill my computer or not?)
- Are there any good free programs that would allow me to typeset series
---------- If yes, can it run on a MacBook OS X
- To those who've typeset before, what are some good tips to follow?

Thanks everyone! I look forward to helping out the manga community in the future!

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Currently getting my life together~ (unsuccessfully)

I'm not a typesetter, but I've been in scanlation for a while, so here some things I've picked up:

1. GIMP is frowned upon by most groups because it apparently rasterizes the text as soon as you type it in, which makes it difficult to change its size position later on.

2. Almost everyone uses Photoshop. For free. You know, "in for a penny, in for a pound" type of thing.

3. In general, while there might be a lot of competition for a proofreader position initially, it's mostly people without experience who for some reason believe they can proofread. In reality, the job far more difficult than they assume. So experienced *good* proofreaders are rare and as valuable as good experienced editors. It's sometimes the case that translators will specifically ask for a proofer they know and trust.

4. You would provide the most value to scanlation by learning not only typesetting, but also cleaning and redrawing. If you are that versatile, you would be able to provide 75% of the effort required on a project, which would give you a lot of leverage in picking out projects to scanlate -- all you'd need to find is a tler, and you're good to go. Once the project is underway, you can recruit dedicated typesetters and cleaners to help you with editing. Tlers still have more pull, at least in Japanese manga, but a versatile editor is the next best thing.

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Thank you so much! I will keep all of your points in mind.

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Currently getting my life together~ (unsuccessfully)