Cleaning and balloon cleaning

In workflows where image work runs separately there are two cleaning steps: the Cleaner cleans text from the images, and the Balloon Cleaner cleans the speech bubbles. When balloon cleaning is done, the pages move on to the typesetter. Both screens work the same way.

The top of the screen, the Workflow panel and Notes work the same on every step: What every step screen shares.

When it opens

• The Cleaner opens when the RAW upload is done; it runs alongside the translation and does not wait for the translator.
• The Balloon Cleaner opens when the cleaner is done.

If you open the screen before your turn, the This Step Is Blocked banner tells you what it is waiting for:

Meanwhile you can look at and download the RAW pages (and, for balloon cleaning, the cleaned pages) to prepare.

Screen layout

• RAW Files (Reference): the raw pages you will work on; the download button is on the right of the card. The source info entered by the RAW uploader is here too.
• On the balloon cleaner screen also Cleaned Files (Cleaner): the pages the cleaner handed in.
• Previous Step Notes and your own Notes.
• On first open, Choose Source Type: Upload Files or External Link.
• In file mode, a Cleaning Status card on the left: total images, cleaned and remaining.

Step by step

1. On the Choose Source Type card pick Upload Files (or External Link if you will share the pages in a folder; see below).
2. Drag your cleaned pages onto the upload box, or click it and choose them.
3. The pages appear in the Cleaned Files grid (Balloon Cleaned Files on the balloon cleaner screen). Fix the order by dragging or with Move Up / Move Down on the card. Delete a wrong file from its card; for several files, Select All → Delete (N). Download downloads what you uploaded.
4. Press Complete in the header. At least one file or an external link is needed ("Please upload at least one file or add an external link.").

After completing you land on the chapter page. After the cleaner the balloon cleaner opens; after the balloon cleaner, the typesetter.

Accepted files

	Extensions	Per file
Cleaner	PNG, JPG/JPEG, WebP, PSD	50 MB
Balloon Cleaner	PNG, JPG/JPEG, WebP, PSD	100 MB

If the team's storage is full, no new files can be uploaded.

Handing in with an external link

If you share the pages on Drive, MEGA or similar, choose External Link: Link (required), optional Platform and Notes, then Save and Complete. The next step sees this link instead of files.

You can change the mode later with Switch to external link mode / Switch to file upload mode; existing files are not deleted, only set aside, and they come back if you switch back.

If something is wrong with the RAW or the cleaning

Request Revision in the header asks the previous image step for a fix: the cleaner asks the RAW uploader, the balloon cleaner asks the cleaner (or the RAW uploader if the workflow has no cleaner). In a file-based request you flag the pages to fix and can add a note to each, or you can ask for the whole chapter to be redone. How a request travels: Proofreading and revisions.

When a revision comes to you

If the next image step (the balloon cleaner or the typesetter) asks you for a fix, an Incoming Revision Requests banner appears at the top of your screen. Preview the request, then Accept it or Reject it with a reason. Once accepted, the Revision Workspace opens:

• Files to Revise: the flagged pages, with the original and the note.
• For each page, upload the corrected version with Upload V2; add a note if you like. Progress shows as "N/N revised".
• Complete Revision. It cannot be completed until a corrected version of at least one file is uploaded.

If the request covers the whole chapter (Full Chapter Revision), you upload the new pages from scratch.

Who can do this

The person assigned to the step in this series, plus the team owner, Fansub Admin and Fansub Moderator (Step assignments). Teams often assign both cleaning steps to the same person; in that case, as soon as you complete cleaning, balloon cleaning is your turn.