From a folder of photographs to a printed zine

Five steps, no design software needed

1. 1Set up

   Choose a format

   Start by giving your zine a name and choosing its size and number of pages. A drawing of the open spread shows the pages with their margins, so you can see the shape of the book before you add a single photograph.

   • Four sizes: A5 or A4, portrait or landscape.
   • 16 to 40 pages in steps of four, stapled. The 3 mm bleed printers need is added for you.
   • Want exact margins or a coloured paper? Turn on Precise and set them in millimetres.

   Tip Your zine saves itself in your browser as you work. To keep a backup, or to carry on on another computer, save it as a file and open it there.

   

2. 2Sequence

   Add and sequence

   Add a folder of photographs, or drop them straight onto the table. Each one lands as a small print you can move freely, like prints spread out on a real table. Arrange them in rows and the table reads like a page, left to right and top to bottom. Every print shows its number, so you can see the order rather than guess it. No room to print right now? Sequence here first, then print the free proof and check the order in your hands.

   • Set aside the ones you’re unsure about. They stay on the table, dimmed and out of the sequence, until you bring them back.
   • Line up puts every print back into neat rows, keeping your order.
   • Zoom out to see the whole edit at once, or go full screen.
   • When the order feels right, Place on pages puts the first photograph on the front cover and the rest on the pages, one to a page, in order.

   Tip Small files are flagged as you add them, so you know early if a photograph might print soft.

   

   
3. 3Layout

   Choose your layouts

   Now work spread by spread. Your pages sit in a column on the left and the open spread in the middle. Choose a layout for the left page, the right page or the whole spread, and your photographs move into it. Every layout sits on the same grid, with margins set for print, so the pages belong together.

   • Filter layouts by the shape of your photograph: full page, landscape, portrait or square.
   • Drag a photograph inside its frame to choose the crop, and zoom in if you need to.
   • Drag spreads in the pages column to change their order.
   • Add a title and your name to the cover, words to any page, and page numbers, in more than 30 typefaces.

   Tip Every change can be undone, so try things.

   
4. 4Preview

   Flip through and proof

   Before you print, see your zine as a reader will. The preview shows it as a book: turn the pages with a click or the arrow keys, play it through at reading pace, or jump to any spread. It’s the best way to feel the pace of your sequence, where it pauses and where it surprises.

   • Full screen hides everything but the book.
   • Spotted something? Close the preview and you’re back on that spread.
   • Then print a free proof at home on A4, so you can fold it, staple it and hold it.

   Tip A printed proof shows what a screen can’t: how a photograph sits against the fold, and whether the words are big enough to read. Making a printed dummy

   

   

   
5. 5Export

   Pay once and print

   When you’re happy, the studio checks your zine before the file is made. It lists anything worth a second look: an empty frame, a photograph too small for its size, or words too close to the edge where the printer trims. Fix them, or go ahead if you meant it that way.

   • Pay once for the print-ready PDF, whatever the size or page count.
   • The PDF has 3 mm bleed, and crop marks if your printer asks for them.
   • Send it to any printer: online, local, or one you already use.
   • Need it again? Export it again at no extra cost.
   • Spotted something in a printed copy? Fix it and export again for 30 days after paying.

   Tip Not sure what your printer needs? The printing guide explains what to check before you send it. Read the printing guide

   Evidence of Ordinary Days

   evidence-of-ordinary-days_print.pdf

   Evidence of Ordinary Days

   Evidence of Ordinary Days

   Evidence of Ordinary Days

• A5 portrait

  148 × 210 mm

  16 to 40 pages, in steps of four

• A5 landscape

  210 × 148 mm

  16 to 40 pages, in steps of four

• A4 portrait

  210 × 297 mm

  16 to 40 pages, in steps of four

• A4 landscape

  297 × 210 mm

  16 to 40 pages, in steps of four

Square and landscape photobooks are planned for later.

• Print anywhere

  Your PDF isn’t tied to one printer. Use a local print shop, an online printer or one you already trust. The printing guide explains what to check before you send it.

  Read the printing guide

• Your photographs stay with you

  Your zine and every photograph in it are kept in your browser, on your computer, and saved as you work. Nothing is uploaded while you make it. Save your zine as a file now and then, to your desktop or a folder you back up: it holds the whole project, photographs included.

  How storage works

• Show it when it’s printed

  Share your zine on the Shelf, with a link to your own shop or Instagram.

  Browse the Shelf