Manga and Comic Background Reference Photos

Every panel needs a different angle

A single chapter can need an establishing shot, a low angle for a dramatic moment, a high angle looking down on a street and a tight close-up of a door. One photo can't give you all of that. A pack can.

• Japanese Style Empty Night Market (285 photos): a Japanese-style night market in Bangkok, with cherry blossom trees, statues, a food court, slot machines and calligraphy. Almost every photo was taken by drone, and there are no people in it, so the layout is easy to read.
• Tokyo Riverscape (322 photos): Tokyo seen from a river ferry, an almost endless row of office and apartment buildings.
• Tokyo Aerial Cityscape (208 photos): wide views to the horizon for opening pages.

Japanese streets up close

Japanese Streets - Osaka focuses on streets, props and textures around Osaka. It was shot with a full-frame Nikon D850 at 8256 × 5504, so you can zoom in on small props and surface textures and still see clean detail. Osaka City Under Bridges (119 photos) shows the darker side of the same city: deep shadows, weathered structures and reflections in the water under its bridges. It suits night scenes and tense moments.

Traditional Japan: temples, symbols and gardens

Period stories and quiet scenes need traditional settings. Japanese Traditional Decorative Elements - Kyoto (357 photos) and Japanese Traditional Decorative Elements - Various (418 photos, from Fukuoka, Kamakura, Tokyo, Osaka and Nara) cover traditional architecture, props and symbols. Japanese Zen Garden in Autumn (95 photos, Nara) adds red maples, raked gravel and placed stones. For clothing, Yukatas (38 photos, $4.99) shows traditional summer robes. See more Japanese architecture reference photos.

The clutter that makes a city feel lived-in

Clean streets look like a 3D render. Real Asian cities have layers of cables, pipes and machines.

• Asian Back Alley (356 photos, Singapore): stacked air conditioners, walls of pipes, kitchen back doors and open trash bins, shot at dusk and at night.
• Bangkok Messy Wires (172 photos): tangled cables on electric poles, up close and from a drone.
• Street Wires (84 photos, Thailand): cables that run everywhere, even through trees.
• Building Sewers Shaft Hong Kong (146 photos): the pipe shaft inside an old residential tower, a strong vertical setting for a chase or a hiding place.

For more streets and markets, see Asian street reference photos.

Drawing over photos

Many comic artists draw perspective lines or line art over a photo, then simplify it into their own style. The drawing you make is your artwork, and you can publish and sell it. The rules change only if the photo itself appears on the printed page, for example as a filtered background. Then the pack's content type decides: Commercial photos can be used for nearly any purpose, while Editorial photos can't be reproduced in products for resale.

Frequently asked questions

Can I use line art I drew over a photo in a comic I sell?

Yes. Line art you draw is your own artwork. If you want to place the photo itself in the comic, check that it is Commercial, not Editorial. Mixed packs keep Editorial photos in a separate folder.

Is every pack shot in Japan?

No. Several packs are from Japan, but others come from Singapore, Thailand and Hong Kong. The Japanese Style Empty Night Market, for example, is a Japanese-style market in Bangkok. Each product page names the location.

Are there backgrounds without people?

Some packs have none. The Japanese Style Empty Night Market was shot with no people in it, which makes the space easy to read and redraw.