How to make zines lay flat

11/20/25

Here’s a quick video that shows how I use a pencil mug to flatten my zines. Very simple, low-tech. But I’ve gotten a few questions about it, so I thought it was worth showing.

Dots and lines

11/4/25

I drew some background pages for a new zine I’m working on.

Pretty simple process.

1. Draw a lot of random dots on a piece of paper.

2. Draw straight lines to connect dots. I change direction when going to a new dot. It’s okay to cross over an existing line, but I do not go through an exisiting dot.

7/22/25 →

This is fountain pen inks on watercolor paper with a lot of water. I’m probably going to use it as a background for a zine I’m making.

Write down your ideas

5/2/25

Friendly reminder to write down your ideas, even if you don’t know yet what you’ll do with them.

My newest zine, “My Favorite DVD Designs,” was an idea I came up with two years ago. I didn’t even start working on it until a few months ago.

Here’s the initial sketch.

Fast forward two years, and this is the page I made based on that sketch.

Write down your ideas and also review them over time.

Sometimes you think of something to create, but you don’t feel like making it right away. So keep your notes. 🙂

Test print process

2/5/25

Here’s what I do for test printing zines, which is the stage in my zine-making process between text and images are done and everything looks good to go.

Step 1

I realize I’m done with writing and visuals. I do a little happy dance (in my head) because the hard part is over.

Test prints are tedious. Folding zines can be tedious. But I don’t consider that hard work. The hard work is going from a blank page to a page that’s covered in Stuff, in the ways you wanted to cover the page with Stuff.

Step 2

I print one copy of the zine on standard copy paper. Plain white, 20lb paper. Nothing fancy. I don’t adjust any settings.

I fold the zine and look at each page. In this step, I’m looking at spacing. Is anything cut off? Anything that needs to be moved a bit? If I have something centered, does it actually look centered on the folded zine?

Next I’ll read through the zine once, front to back. I read out loud so I can hear if a sentence sounds awkward or too long.

I look for spelling and punctuation mistakes.

I mark up edits with a pen, so I know what to adjust when I’m back on my computer.

I should note an important thing: I try not to make edits on paper and on the computer at the same time. I make edits on paper first. Then I go to my computer and make edits to the file.

Step 3

I make edits on the computer, following the notes I marked on paper.

I print another test copy and fold the zine.

This time I’m looking for anything at all that needs to be tweaked. Wording, spacing, alignment.

I read the zine in reverse, back to front, bottom of each page to the top. It’s a tip I picked up in college to help catch mistakes – read your work sentence by sentence, but in reverse. From the end to the beginning.

I mark up changes in pen.

I repeat step 3 as many times as I need to, until I’m happy with everything in the zine.

Step 3.5 (optional)

Sometimes I decide to rewrite at least half the text at this point. The outcome is better writing, a better zine. But ugh, rewrites can feel tedious. Maybe I have to re-do spacing or re-think images I’m using.

I keep telling myself, this will result in a better zine.

Go back to step 3.

Step 4

I print one copy of the zine on the paper I want to use for all the copies. For mini zines, that’s usually 24lb paper. Just a little thicker than standard copy paper, so it feels nicer. Sometimes I bump up to 32lb paper. That feels like a special occasion.

I fold the zine and do a final check that everything looks good.

Then I print copies. I usually make 10-15 copies. I give away some copies to friends. I end up trading a few copies. And I put 5 copies in my Etsy shop.

And then I’m done.

Pretty straightforward process, as long as I don’t get caught in too many rewrites.