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Zines

A guide to zines, DIY/homemade publications which allow folks to tell their own stories or share information. Topics include mental health, disability, queerness, race and racism, sexual assault, political topics, recipes, and much more.

Standard Size Zines

Zines should be easy to duplicate, so we recommend using a standard size. The most common size of zine you will find will be made from 8 1/2 x 11 copy paper, folded in half, and stapled in the middle. We have long-arm staplers available in the library for you to use, and if you're feeling extra fancy, you can bind it with thread or twine. 

Time-lapse video made by Violet Victoria on Cherokee Nation sovereignty for a Columbia undergraduate thesis. This provides a great visual overview of how you might create a zine from paper. Though tools such as Canva can be great for those of us who aren't the best artists, sometimes sitting at a table, cutting out paper, collaging, and adding washi tape for borders provides a more traditional zine experience. 

Creating & Printing Zines Digitally

Zines can be made as hard copies or digitally, but each option may present different challenges when printing. Here are some tips and tricks. 

*To create digital zines, you may opt to use your favorite design tool. (Adobe if you have access and skills, but free tools such as Canva are also user-friendly and many features are available for free.* 

h/t to Eunice Addo at the Continuist for creating this super helpful page about making zines in Canva, complete with templates! (Canva also now has an option to create "zine" with templates from their homepage. 

PRINTING/COPYING

To print zines made from Canva/Adobe/digitally

*YOUR ZINE MUST BE IN MULTIPLES OF FOUR IN ORDER TO POPULATE ALL PRINTED PAGES. (4 minimum, but 8 minimum is recommended). 

  1. If you have created your zine in Canva using the template, download it as PDF print - remember, your zine must be a number of pages divisible by four in order to print all pages. So your PDF should have 8, 12, 16, 20, 24, 28, 32, etc. pages. 
  2. Open your PDF in Adobe. (We have the full suite here at Elon for free!) 
  3. Select File > Print 
  4. When the print window has opened, make sure of the following: 
    1. Select your printer
    2. Under Page Sizing & Handling, select Booklet
    3. Under Booklet subset: select "Both Sides"
    4. Under Binding: select "Left"
    5. Make sure you have selected your preferred color format (grayscale, full color, etc.)
    6. When ready, hit PRINT!