Guides

All guides

• 
  The idea

  What is your zine about?

  A message, a mood or a question, and how much to tell the reader.

• 
  The idea

  Naming your zine

  Kinds of title, when to choose one and how to test it.

• 
  The idea

  Layouts that follow the idea

  Let the idea set the approach and the order decide each spread.

• 
  Sequencing

  Finding your sequence

  Ways to open, pace and close a set of photographs.

• 
  Sequencing

  Edit and sequence

  Choosing the pictures and putting them in order are two different jobs.

• 
  Sequencing

  Pacing and rhythm

  Where to let the reader slow down, and where to move them on.

• 
  Sequencing

  Pairs across a spread

  What happens when two photographs face each other.

• 
  Sequencing

  Left page, right page

  Why the right-hand page tends to catch the eye first.

• 
  Sequencing

  Recurring motifs

  Shapes, colours and subjects that return and tie a sequence together.

• 
  Making a dummy

  Making and testing a dummy

  A rough printed copy shows what a screen can’t. How to make one at home.

• 
  Printing

  Why page counts come in fours

  How folded sheets make a stapled zine.

• 
  Printing

  Sending your zine to print

  What printers ask for, and how to get your PDF ready.

• 
  Printing

  Preparing your photographs for print

  A short checklist before you add your photographs to the studio.

• 
  Paper

  Choosing your paper

  Coated or uncoated, weight and finish: what each does to your photographs.