Starting out with zines can be like an essay where you can write whatever you want, so it becomes hard to think of anything at all. I hope this is helpful and enjoy making zines!
What do you use to format your zines? I love quarter page and have been trying to figure out for a while the best way to do it using indesign but I think they only have a half page option for their book formatting. Thanks for this resource!
You're so welcome! Personally, I use Canva, but that's after a very long time doing the traditional cut/paste/copy. I you take a blank piece of paper and pre-fold it, then number the pages, when you unfold it you can easily see where the pages go. You can either print your pages to fit the template, glue them in, and photocopy it; or, you can create a document in Canva and "paste" the pages in digitally (flipping them upside down in Canva is easy). You can see what that looks like in my previous post (the free mini zine). I hope this helps!
Oh wow, I really appreciate your comment! I wasn't even sure the article was necessary or it if was too "inside baseball," so knowing that it was a benefit really means a lot <3 I think we all have formats that work best for us (half page is mine) so maybe experimenting will help you find your match.
I had heard of zines, in the midst of researching what size of book, when zZI discovered the mini type book size ,(this was before I knew about Substack )would I like to write with people who are actually ADHD, or people increasely are developing the shorter span of attention, from daily Internet scanning.. Physical Books and physical magazines, now they have discovered that these are necessary for children to be able to learn how to read and write. Many sign with a X, on legal or no legal forms. Without computers many who are adults nowadays,who didn't get educated with textbooks are at a disadvantage if blackouts occur in Internet.
Social sites such as YouTube and Substack has multiple artists in countless interesting topics. We learn so much and get many of my older friends as well myself have continued to keep or trade physical books.. But magazines increasingly are now digital. I've kept my favorite issue til it was worn out. So this idea is just Fabolous to me, since I'm more hands on than I previously recognized. Thanks for sharing.
In Europe and other bits of the world, the A sizing system is really useful. A4 is the common size for a sheet. Fold it in half and that's A5. Half again is A6.
Makes life nice and neat as the proportions are the same for each size.
Oh yes, I'm aware. Sadly we have to use the copy machines around us, so these sizes have become fairly standard in the US. You'll see a lot of zinesters using A sizes in my Zine Rec posts though.
I'm happy to have found you! Creating a zine is part of my Substack plan. It's lovely to read your articles and get a little inspiration. Thank you!
I'm so glad to hear that! Can't wait to see what you make :)
Thank you I feel inspired to try and make one 🙏
This is super useful, thank you!
You are so welcome! Glad it will be of use :)
This is a great resource, thank you!
Thank you! I'm so glad it's helpful.
Fantastic resource for OG zinesters and newbies, alike!
I really appreciate that, thank you!
this is something I've been thinking about recently as a beginner zinester so thank you for this!!
Starting out with zines can be like an essay where you can write whatever you want, so it becomes hard to think of anything at all. I hope this is helpful and enjoy making zines!
thanks! will be helpfull in the future.
Love this, thank you! I have a long history of making Microsoft Word my bitch, and that needs to end 😝
Haha yes! And you're so welcome.
Saving this for my next zine!
That's awesome!
What do you use to format your zines? I love quarter page and have been trying to figure out for a while the best way to do it using indesign but I think they only have a half page option for their book formatting. Thanks for this resource!
You're so welcome! Personally, I use Canva, but that's after a very long time doing the traditional cut/paste/copy. I you take a blank piece of paper and pre-fold it, then number the pages, when you unfold it you can easily see where the pages go. You can either print your pages to fit the template, glue them in, and photocopy it; or, you can create a document in Canva and "paste" the pages in digitally (flipping them upside down in Canva is easy). You can see what that looks like in my previous post (the free mini zine). I hope this helps!
Extremely helpful—thank you for writing this and making it widely available.
I’ve only experimented with zines three times and not sure if I’ll make a fourth. But if I do, I definitely want to try a different format.
Oh wow, I really appreciate your comment! I wasn't even sure the article was necessary or it if was too "inside baseball," so knowing that it was a benefit really means a lot <3 I think we all have formats that work best for us (half page is mine) so maybe experimenting will help you find your match.
I had heard of zines, in the midst of researching what size of book, when zZI discovered the mini type book size ,(this was before I knew about Substack )would I like to write with people who are actually ADHD, or people increasely are developing the shorter span of attention, from daily Internet scanning.. Physical Books and physical magazines, now they have discovered that these are necessary for children to be able to learn how to read and write. Many sign with a X, on legal or no legal forms. Without computers many who are adults nowadays,who didn't get educated with textbooks are at a disadvantage if blackouts occur in Internet.
Social sites such as YouTube and Substack has multiple artists in countless interesting topics. We learn so much and get many of my older friends as well myself have continued to keep or trade physical books.. But magazines increasingly are now digital. I've kept my favorite issue til it was worn out. So this idea is just Fabolous to me, since I'm more hands on than I previously recognized. Thanks for sharing.
In Europe and other bits of the world, the A sizing system is really useful. A4 is the common size for a sheet. Fold it in half and that's A5. Half again is A6.
Makes life nice and neat as the proportions are the same for each size.
Oh yes, I'm aware. Sadly we have to use the copy machines around us, so these sizes have become fairly standard in the US. You'll see a lot of zinesters using A sizes in my Zine Rec posts though.