How To Make A Zine

in #comics6 years ago

Time To Impart Some Knowledge

I don't claim to be an expert on all things (or any things) cartooning, but one bit of knowledge I managed to pick up after four years at art school is how to make a zine with a minimal amount of stress and tears.

Zines come in all shapes and sizes with all types of subject matter but I've conveniently categorized them in my head as tiny short-form comics. They can feature stories, they can just be a series of illustrations, or really anything; your imagination is the limit. If you're not in an art school (where cartooning students keep several copies stashed in their pockets at all times) you're most likely to find zines in the indie/self-published section at a comic book store or at a comic convention.

One of the great things about zines is that they are pretty easy to craft and there are a variety of ways to make them. I'm going to share with you the one way I know how to!

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I'll be taking you through the steps it took for me to make this zine titled, "C'era Una Volta" which basically means Once Upon A Time in Italian. It's a little zine about a few of the Italian traditions & folklore that I find interesting/grew up with. In the US there is an issue with Italians & Italian-Americans presented in media, mostly only shown as raging stereotypes. For example, guidos, mobsters, mama's boys, loud & abusive, etc. So in my art and with this zine, I wanted to share parts of the culture that a lot of people (in the US) aren't familiar with.

Disclaimer: It's important to note that the Italian culture varies from region to region; though there are commonalities, the lore can be vastly different depending on the area. Please keep this in mind when reading the stories in the zine.

Template for a quarter-size zine using one piece of paper:


zine template.jpg

So first you're going to need to make a little template for yourself. I used standard printer paper to make things easy for myself but it can be whatever size sheet of paper you want.

You have the front side of your paper with pages 6,3, 8 & 1 and then to be printed on the back are pages 4,5,2 & 7. Once it's all printed out, cut the page along the designated line, slide the pages together, and staple in the center! Easy as pie.

Layout for Side 1

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Layout for Side 2


Screen Shot 2018-01-11 at 12.51.32 PM.png

These files were made in photoshop. After I had laid everything out, I created a pdf and printed it out. I was able to use a fancy printer that prints front and font back if you don't have one of those available you can just feed the paper back in once the first side prints out.

The most frustrating part about this whole process is making sure you don't print one side upside down, so it may take a little trial and error.

Putting it Together

After cutting it in half and stapling it together, this is how it came out.

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Now You Have a Zine!

Hopefully ,these directions made sense and you now have the capabilities to create your own zines to your heart's content. Like I said before, there are tons of ways to get to the same end product so if you find a different way to do it, go forth.



If you'd like to keep up with more of my work you can check me out at the following:

Instagram: @la.fumettista
Tumblr: http://la-fumettista.tumblr.com/tagged/art
Twitter: @TheresaChiechi
Website: https://www.theresachiechi.com/

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This is very cool! I remember you telling me about the evil eye when we were interviewed on the radio!

I wish I had attempted to make zines in highschool..I would have felt way cooler

It's never too late! Make one now. A "How Not To Kill to Grow A Bonzai Tree"

hahaha I see what you did there.

I'd need to figure out who I would circulate it to. In highschool/college you have a huge audience IRL at your fingertips

I have made many of these - the first ones when I was a child. Me, my brother and our cousins made a lot of comics. I still have them actually. We mostly made them in the summer holiday at my Grandmother and she safeguarded them until her death - after that my cousins chose me to be the guardian.

That's impressive; I just managed to learn how to make these things like two years ago. And aww, that's really sweet.

This actually gave me an idea to a post. There was this guy who made a silly, but fun fanzine and went around the streets of Copenhagen to sell them. He also made images to the early internet, and I saved them. Just found them again on my harddisk.

This is really a cool tutorial. I remember zines from way back. I love that you are still making physical media in our day and age of digital. This is inspiring me to have a go again!

Yay! I'm glad I could inspire you :)

So nice thank you :) maybe i can use the tips for the book i'm making :)

Great post! I used to make a whole short bond paper big comic and then glue them back to back to make pages like this!!! ♡♡♡
I hope I can be inspired enough to make a zine digitally and print it out too! ;;u;;

Thank you! I think that's how I made my first zine, by gluing it together XD Now, I've upgraded just a bit. But you should totally make some more! They're so fun and a great way to promote your art.

Yes, I will in the future! I'll take note on the numbering on the pages so the pages will go the right way. I remembered I did the numbering wrong and the page numbers were ruined (*≧▽≦)

That always gives me such a problem; I always mess up the page order. Also you've inspired me to use these text faces more (ง'̀-'́)ง They are so funny!

OMG! Hahaha~ that's good to know! These always gives more casual feel on every message 〜( ̄▽ ̄〜)

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