Transcription is the process of copying the dialogue and narration out of a comic and into a machine-readable and searchable form, like text. Having comics transcribed gives many benefits, not the least of which is a search engine!
You're probably wondering what format your text should be in. Basically, copy out all text that's dialogue, narration, or sound effects. Put a new line after each panel, and you're set! You can include things like the names of the characters speaking or the words on a character's shirt if you want, but it's not necessary - what is necessary is that you put them in a specific format, as shown below.
Don't worry too much about doing things 'wrong' - the comic creator will approve and be able to edit your transcriptions before they go up.
Here's an example comic, with an few example transcriptions! First a simple one (in case you don't have much time to transcribe), and then a more-detailed one. Both are equally valid!
The easiest transcription for this comic would be:
meanwhile, in some dirty apartment near a college campus
god, you're so melodramatic, all smoking and bleary
i am an individual
right now, millions of people are smoking and watching television, just like you
you're a cog just like them
being scared of the truth does not change it
This transcription is all in lowercase, but that's becase the comic is in lowercase too.
However, if you wish, you can add more information. The speaker of each line of dialogue can be identifed by their name and a colon, and you can go even further by incorporating markup tags. You can surround scene descriptions in [[two square brackets]], sound effects in <<two triangle brackets>>, and meta-comic information in {{two curly brackets}}. A more detailed transcription for this comic would be:
[[A woman sits smoking in front of her television]]
Narrator: meanwhile, in some dirty apartment near a college campus
TV: god, you're so melodramatic, all smoking and bleary
Woman: i am an individual
TV: right now, millions of people are smoking and watching television, just like you
TV: you're a cog just like them
[[Outside her apartment, the TV is thrown out the window]]
TV: being scared of the truth does not change it
{{title text: But - maybe it will help?}}
Both transcriptions are valid, but obviously, the more detail you put in the transcription, the more useful it will be when searching. It's your call! That's pretty much it - thanks for your help in transcribing comics! You can close this window if you want.