So, you want to make a zine! Here are some tips, tricks, & templates to get you started!

First things first, decide on a theme, story, or concept. Picking something that you're passionate about will make the process a thousand times easier!

Next, think about formatting. The majority of zines are 8-page minizines or A5 booklets.

If you're just starting out, I recommend the minizine format. Honestly, I recommend minizines to everyone! Because they only take one piece of paper, they're easy to distribute and they're easy to ship & store.

After that, start zinemaking! Don't be afraid to play around with weird or wacky concepts. The weirder the better!

If you're making a zine the old fashioned way, start by gathering your materials.

Zinemakers often utilize collages & paper cuttings. Gather up some old newspapers, magazines, or print your own images!

Add some extra pop! Use glitter, stickers, or washi tape to dress everything up.

Use what you love! Colored pencils and markers are great tools as well.

If you're more familiar working digitally, then create your zine virtually! As long as you follow sizing templates, you could publish your zine both digitally & physically.

I primarily use photoshop for my zines, but procreate is nice as well if you're looking to illustrate.

Though I have yet to use it myself, I've heard great things about the Electric Zine Maker. A free program, the Electric Zine Maker helps you format your work as a minizine and offers a number of tools that you can use to create a unique look.

The ensure you have a sharp look when printing, make sure that your file is set to 300 DPI and CMYK color mode.

Here are some additonal resources to help you out!

Zine Idea Generator: Stuck? Need some inspo? Generate an idea that might inspire you!

The Electric Zine Maker: A great program to create zines virtually

An Infinite Scroll of Random Images from the Metropolitan Museum of Art: Need some random historical images? Scroll and get inspired!

Saddle Stitched Zine Guide: A guide to putting together saddle stitched zines

Virtual Collage Material List: A collection of online sources to find digital collage material

Reusable Art: Free vintage images from old books & magazines

Life Photo Archive: Millions of photos available from LIFE's archive

Open Clipart: More than 160 000 vectorial graphics, entirely in the public domain.

British Book Illustrations: Over 10,000 illustrations from 1641 – 1700

Library of Congress Digital Collection: Archived digtial collections & images