What Makes Andertoons Different

Let’s say you want to buy some chocolate.

You could buy a cheap brand name chocolate bar at a corporate grocery chain or big box store and it would be OK. Not great, but totally fine.

Or, you could go to that little local chocolate shop in town. The person behind the counter made a fresh batch this morning and always says hello. They have that kind of fudge you just can’t get anywhere else, and you feel really good supporting a small business you like.

That neighborhood shop feel is what I’ve strived for at Andertoons.com. So as we launch a new website, I thought I’d take a moment to talk about what I think makes Andertoons different and maybe a little special.

Sensible Pricing

Big box cartoon sites like to make sure they don’t leave any money on the table. And that’s fine, but it also makes things complicated.

One site has six basic prices, but if you count all the additional options and permutations, there are more than 26 different prices. To illustrate, there are two different prices for “indefinite private non-commercial use with family, friends and colleagues” depending on whether or not you also want electronic rights. Also, for newspapers distributed solely in India, they “can offer a further 30% off list price for any category N1/N2 license.”

Sheesh!

I have basically two prices. $20 per month ($200 per year), or $75 per month ($750 per year) and you can download whatever you like with no complicated contract. Cancel whenever. Easy peasy.

Stop Me If You’ve Heard This Before

Let’s say it’s Monday and you’re at the office. Someone tells you a joke and it’s really pretty funny. Then on Wednesday someone else tells you the same joke. And on Friday you hear it again. You continue to laugh politely, but it doesn’t really have the same effect.

With big box cartoon sites, you’re using cartoons that, while good, have been printed and reprinted and re-reprinted over and over for years in books, magazines, marketing, calendars, etc…

Andertoons cartoons are less widely published, and that’s very much to your advantage. A cartoon your audience hasn’t seen before makes a much bigger impact.

It’s Just Me

Big box cartoon sites have lots of people working for them: web developers, e-commerce consultants, marketers, salespeople, administrators, lawyers, and, oh yeah, cartoonists. Need something? That’s Tom’s job. Oh, actually, I think that’s Judy’s department. And we should check with Jerry. We’ll get back to you.

With Andertoons, it’s just me. (OK, I also have my assistant, and I have a guy who does my taxes.) Problem with your order? I’ll help. Website gone kabonk? I’m on it. Something special you need? I’m your guy.

But Wait, There’s More!

While Andertoons sells cartoons online, we also do a lot more.

Need a custom cartoon made just for you? I’ve created hundreds of custom cartoons for clients large and small. I’ve got tons of examples if you’re interested.

I also teach cartooning to kids. In fact, last year I taught almost 100 cartoon classes at schools and libraries! Dinosaurs, robots, and superheroes! Oh my! Check it out!

Plus there’s a free daily cartoon, our cartoon blog, and Andertoons on Instagram.

So as we launch a new Andertoons.com, thanks so much for your support! And I hope you’ll agree that Andertoons is different and special.

It certainly is to me.

All About the New Andertoons.com

Welcome to the new Andertoons.com!

It’s been more than ten years since we made such a substantive change to the website, and we’re very excited to tell you all about it!

Fixes

The web has changed a lot in the past decade, and while the last iteration of Andertoons was robust, it was starting to show its age. Passwords would stop working, RSS feeds would glitch, and just recently every cartoon went AWOL for a few hours. Well, I’m happy to report that those problems are a thing of the past.

We’ve built the new Andertoons on the world’s best e-commerce platform. We’ve also partnered with industry leading designers and developers including specialists in subscription and search. We’ve even gone though the entire cartoon database line by line and cleaned up all those little quirks and errors that had creeped in.

Long story short, it’s working great! And when technology moves forward, we’re positioned to move with it.

Subscriptions

Since we introduced Cartoon Subscriptions back in 2012, we’ve signed up over 1000 individuals, schools, government agencies, and businesses large and small all over the world. Our subscribers have downloaded more than 75,000 cartoons, and subscriptions make up almost 95% of our e-commerce.

And it’s no wonder – Cartoon Subscriptions are simply the best product and greatest value we have. Why pay $20 for a single cartoon when you could pay the same $20 for a subscription and enjoy an entire cartoon buffet? In fact, single cartoon customers usually buy additional cartoons within one day of their original purchase.

The numbers don’t lie, and our customers have clearly indicated this is their preferred way to do business, so we’ve phased out individual cartoon purchases. If you’ve purchased that way in the past, we urge you to try a subscription. We know you’ll love it! (Did I mention you can cancel any time?)

Mobile Friendly

The old Andertoons was actually launched before the original iPhone, so it was never designed to be used on a smartphone.

The new website, however, was built from the ground up to be responsive and display beautifully on desktops, smartphones, tablets, and just about anything else!

Finally you can peruse the latest cartoons while waiting for the barista to call your name!

Larger Clearer Images

While we were fixing everything else, we also took the time to refresh and clean up the thousands of cartoons in our inventory. They’re bigger, clearer, and easier to read. The cartoons are the real stars of the show here, and we’re happy to present them at their best.

Downloads

In the past we offered cartoons at just two sizes – small (480×360 pixels at 72 DPI) and large (1500 pixels wide at 300 DPI). But, again, the internet has changed drastically since Andertoons launched (we actually predate Facebook by 3 years!). So a change was overdue.

During the redesign we spent a lot of time looking at all the most popular email marketing services, social media, and publishing trends, and we compiled five JPEG sizes and ratios to better serve our customers needs. And they’re all at print-ready 300 DPI. They are:

  • Small (480 x 360) – Great for blogs and Twitter
  • Wide 1 (1200 x 900) – Big enough for MailChimp but not too big
  • Wide 2 (1200 x 628) – Perfect for Facebook News Feed
  • Square (1200 x 1200) – Ready for Instagram
  • Print (2250 wide) – Gorgeous on the printed page

Even better, you don’t have to worry about which size you need. Every time you download you’ll receive a ZIP file with all five sizes!

No matter what your usage is, your Andertoons cartoons are always the right size.

But Wait, There’s More!

In addition to all of the above, additional improvements include:

The Best Part

So after more than two years of planning, sourcing, designing, coding, testing, and sparing no expense, how will all this affect your pricing? That’s the best news of all; the price you pay isn’t changing one bit.

Nada. Zip. Zilch.

We have the best and most loyal customers out there, and we built the new Andertoons for you. Have a look around and enjoy! We know you’re going to love it!

The History of Andertoons.com

When I was just starting out as a cartoonist almost 20 years ago, I was photocopying my cartoons at Kinkos, stuffing them in envelopes with a SASE, keeping track of my submissions in a spiral notebook, and watching the mailbox like a hawk.

A few years later I thought there might be an opportunity to sell my cartoons on the relatively new World Wide Web and I built the first Andertoons.com. It was a game changer.

Instead of sending out stacks of mail, people found and emailed me. Instead of weekly photocopying, I scanned in my cartoons one time. And instead of invoicing and waiting for checks, revenue went into my bank account everyday automatically. It didn’t take long to see that this was the way to do business.

Over the years Andertoons.com has changed and evolved in ways large and small, so with launching the new site, I thought I’d share some of the old Andertoons. Enjoy!

2001 – I built this myself using a WYSIWYG service.
2002 – Some WYSIWYG refinements.
2003 – I hired my first designer/developer.
2004 – I began working with a developer I’d continue with for almost 14 years. And the Andertoons font debuts.
2005 – Minor changes including a blog widget.
2007 – The last time I did the design myself. I should have stopped earlier.
2009 – A more modern Andertoons with a new logo.
2012 – Larger, cleaner, and a little more white space.
2015 – Larger and simpler still.

Well, that’s all of the old Andertoons.coms. Wanna see the new one?

Cartoon Subscriptions – How to Download Your Cartoons

The brand new Andertoons.com is great, but things are of course a little different.

If you’re a subscriber, there’s a new process for downloading your cartoons. It’s not hard though, and I’ve created this step-by-step guide to show you how it works. (There’s also a short video if that’s more your speed.)

So here’s the new Andertoons:

Nice, right? Let’s do a search for Batman:

Great! Here’s the search results for Batman:

That first one on the upper left looks good. Let’s click on that:

Hmmm… Why is this asking me to Join the Club? I’m already a subscriber!!

You are; but you haven’t signed in yet. Easy to fix:

Just click Sign In in the upper right corner of the site. Then you’ll go to the sign in page:

Enter your email and password and click Sign In. (The very first time you sign in to the new Andertoons.com you’ll have to create a password. You can use your old one if you like.)

Now you’re signed in and taken to your Account Page. From here you can see your past orders, change account settings, etc…

I recommend when you visit Andertoons that you just sign in first before searching for cartoons.

OK, let’s find and download a cartoon. Let’s search again for Batman:

Now when we find that cartoon we liked earlier, the page looks like this:

See the “You’re In The Club!” and the “Add To Cart To Download” button? Woo-hoo! Click that and you’ll see:

The cartoon is added to your cart. And because you’re a subcsciber, your price is $0.00!

Now click “Check Out” and you’ll see:

This is the place that might throw up a red flag for you. The site asks you for your billing address at this step.

We use the same e-commerce cart mechanism to handle your initial Susbcription pruchase as we do for downloads. That’s why it’s asking you this.

It’s not a big deal at all. In fast you can basically ignore it and just click “Bill To This Address.” Your price will remain $0.00:

See? I’d never steer you wrong!

Click “Continue” and you’re done Checking Out with that cartoon:

Hooray! You’re all done!! You’ll get an email with a link to download your cartoon(s)!

But, if you’re really in a hurry, you can continue here and click “Download The Items You Ordered.”

Click on your Order #.

Click on the orange arrow download button as seen above.

Click on the NUMBER.zip link to download the ZIP file containing your cartoon in five different ratios and sizes:

I’m on a Mac and my download looks like this. Depending on what computer and operating system you’re using, it may download someplace else. Here’s the ZIP file:

Click on it to see the folder containing your cartoons:

And you’re all done! Easy peasy!

I know it’s different than before, and it’s a few additional clicks.

I liken it to when they move something to a different aisle in your local grocery store. The first few times will take a little getting used to, but it’s not long before you know where everything is again.

So there it is! Enjoy the new Andertoons, and enjoy your cartoons!

(Again, there’s a short video that shows you how this works too.)