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Zine and Booklet Making and Publishing

Have a zine-making assignment at Pace? Use this guide to learn about how to make a zine or fanzine. This guide includes "old school" zine making with paper, glue or tape, scissors and a photocopier; zine making using Word; and making zines using In Design

6-page Zine in Word plus front and back covers UNDER CONSTRUCTION

In Word, use the Layout menu to change the orientation to landscape and change the columns to two. It's really that simple.

The challenge is to keep track of your page numbers and columns.

To make copies to share, trade, or sell, you'll need to make double-sided copies in the Library at Pace or at Office Max, Staples, or anywhere with that kind of photocopier.

Formatting a Zine in Google Doc or Word file

Click here to view a template in Google Docs for making a 10-page zine, plus front and back covers. Click here for a template for making a 6- page zine, plus front and back covers. Note: these are read only files, designed to show you how to add page numbers correctly.

Go to Google Drive and select NEW and then select Google Docs.

Here are the settings you must select in Google Docs before you start working on your zine:

FORMAT > COLUMNS > TWO

FORMAT > PAGE ORIENTATION > LANDSCAPE (for WHOLE DOCUMENT)

Once you've made those selections, you can use the templates above as a guide for getting starting. Type in the page numbers before you start. This is essential!

Pagination is the trickest thing about making a zine or pamphlet in Google Docs and Word, and you should expect to have to adjust the pagination as you work. Watch the video at the top of this page to see an example of what I mean. Your page numbers will move as you add text and images, and it's typical to have to adjust them by hitting delete to move backwards or return to move forwards. A good rule is to check the page numbers whenever you have added or removed any content.

Once you've finished adding all your stuff, you can remove the pages if you'd like, but I recommend keeping them. I do remove them from the covers, though. Maybe make the page numbers smaller in point size or place at the bottom of the pages. The numbers do help guide the reader and help guide you when you start folding the pages together.

Your Google file zine MUST downloaded and saved as a PDF before printing. Finish the zine in the Google Doc environment and then save as PDF. Open in Adobe. Make sure the orientation is Landscape. Print double-sided (flip on SHORT edge, not LONG). 

You can also use a Word template to start; just email me for a template.