If you are printing your zine, your total page count must be a multiple of 4.

Examples of multiples of 4 ✅

4, 16, 112

Not a multiple of 4 ❌

7, 99, 31

This is because our book will be made of folded A4 sheets (that’s regular printer paper). 1 folded A4 makes 2 A5 pages. Each A5 page has a front and back. Therefore each sheet of paper makes 4 pages.

How to format

Open InDesign. Go to Create New > Print. Choose A5 and tick Facing Pages. Enter your page number (this can be changed later). I’ve put 12. Hit Create.

Locate the Rectangle Frame Tool.

Draw a rectangle over your whole page, or just the part where you want your images to go.

Press Ctrl+D and insert the image you want on that page.

That’s it! Repeat on every page and you’ll have a book. Promise.

Further reading

I need a free alternative to InDesign.

InDesign is free for the savvy but I also recommend Scribus which is free and open source and very lightweight. The method is exactly the same but the Rectangle Frame Tool is called Image Frame and the Ctrl+D shortcut will now be Right click > Get Image instead.

I need help with designing my A5 pages.

For my first sketchbook zines, I arranged several images on an A5 canvas in a program like CSP or Procreate and exported them as a JPG into InDesign or Scribus. You can do this if your images aren’t already A5 size or you don’t want to waste time with InDesign’s formatting tools.

I need to get fancier with it, format text, or export my file as small as possible.

Here are the InDesign tutorials I used and liked:

How to Add Page Numbers

How to keep Page Numbers on Top

How to Create a Table of Contents

What is Overset Text and How to Fix It <- essential for formatting text onto multiple pages

How to Reduce InDesign File Sizes

Formatting best practices

Remember that in addition to your front and back cover you also have an inside front and inside back cover. You can leave these blank or create an endpaper with a pattern or include a short message or something. Look inside any books or zines on your shelf for inspiration. Or don’t listen to me and put your first drawing or poem there. Just be aware printer paper is thin so you might be able to see it through the cover.

Avoid putting anything important in the gutter (inside edge) or outside edges of the page. Also be careful of creating double page spreads that go across the centre of the book. Because of how we will print and fold the pages, each half of your spread might not meet up perfectly. 

How to print it out

Open your completed book’s PDF file in Acrobat Reader (free download: https://get.adobe.com/reader/)

Print with the following settings: Booklet, and Booklet subset: Both sides. 

We can see a preview of our print-out on the window on the right. The pages will look jumbled up, but form the book in order when folded.

Congratulations! Now you’ll have a stack of paper. Once it’s folded it should resemble your (unbound) final book. Use a bulldog clip or similar to keep your pages together neatly.

How to bind (2 methods)

If your book is less than 30 pages, I recommend using a long arm stapler, or a stapler that can open to lay flat. They are cheap.

There are also special book binding staplers or heavy duty staplers, if your book is thicker than 30 pages. Just position your book so the staples are in the middle of the spine (or as close as you can get) and send it. They will be a little wonky… that’s fine.

You can also separate your book into staple-able segments and then join them into 1 big book with tape or thread.

For my 112-page zine, I used thread to bind it.

These instructions are copied from the video ‘How to Print & Bind a Zine’ by LFONinja.

You can watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKYy6G7lIy8

You will need: Ruler, awl, thread, sewing needle

Make 5 holes in the crease of the pages like so. (½ page, then ½ of that, then ½ of that again)

If the paper is thick, be careful when making the holes. It helps to have a piece of blu tack, putty, or soft eraser underneath the spine of the book as you work for the point of the awl to push into.

I don’t recommend separating the papers into smaller stacks as your measurements will likely vary and the holes won’t align.

Use a needle and thread to go through the holes in the following pattern. At the end, tie a knot with the ends of the thread (1 and 9) in the centre of the book. You’re now done.

About page creep

Because we are using folded pages inserted into each other, they push each other out like so:

From: https://www.greenerprinter.com/ support/page-creep/

You can use a heavy duty or industrial paper cutter/trimmer to remove this edge. This is why we kept any important contents away from the edge of the page during formatting, because we don’t want this process to destroy our book’s contents.

About image edges

Because of how the printer works, the images in the book don’t extend all the way to the very edges of the paper and have a thin white border on all sides. It’s possible to crop these edges from your book with a heavy duty paper cutter. Be careful and start small (3mm or less). Depending on how much your pages move during the printing process, the size of the white edge can be different on different pages. Or you can just leave them in.

Animals

Animalesis ["A solo journaling game playable in your web browser. Draw cards to generate prompts that will help you uncover your identity and also transform you into an animal-human hybrid."]

A Penguin's Tale ["You'll embody a penguin, navigating through the unforgiving Antarctic environment, weathering perilous storms, and confronting an array of predators and other obstacles in your path."]

Apawthecaria ["It's your job to travel the post-human landscape of the Bristley Woods, visiting ailing beasts and foraging for the reagents needed to cure them, all while working towards the end of a grand Seasonal Journey."]

As The Crow Flies ["put yourself into the feathers of a young crow leaving the nest for the first time. Befriend other animals, search for food, find interesting trinkets, and eventually settle down to create a nest of your own."]

Cats Know Things About Everyone ["You are a very special feline who, through some magic you cannot explain, can communicate with your human, an individual who wishes to make their mark in society by any means necessary. The two of you decide to start a society page, (a very fancy type of tabloid newspaper dedicated to a particular location) revealing the glitz, glamour, and inner turmoil of the town’s most notable individuals."]

I'm a Bee! ["You’re a bee looking for flowers."]

Sweaters by Hedgehog ["You’re just a little hedgehog person trying to sell your little sweaters in your little village shop. This game is about recording a log of your most interesting customers."]

Untitled Moth Game ["It is a lovely evening in the village, and you are a beautiful moth."]

A Wolf's Tale ["Embark on an exciting adventure in "A Wolf's Tale", a solo or cooperative narrative-based game where you become a brave wolf exploring the wilderness."]

Wonderfall ["Your people was separated, but playing as a WANDERER (a cute anthropomorphic adventurer!), you'll recover and preserve lost knowledge and culture, help your community heal, and help the world rebuild!"]

Dragons

Dragon Dowser ["You play a mysterious character known as a 'Dowser'. Your aim is to locate abandoned dragon eggs and return them to your Sanctuary."]

Global Dragon Egg Conservation ["Welcome to GDEC! Thank you for your interest in our company. We're incredibly excited to welcome you to the ranks of the Global Dragon Egg Conservation!"]

Fae

A Faerie Court Visitation ["In exchange for a magical gift from an unknown faerie, a human ancestor of yours once offered one of their descendants as a marriage candidate for a future faerie royal."]

House Spirit ["You are the tiny god which inhabits a home; a brownie, a domovoy, a kobold, the ghost of an ancestor, perhaps you have no name at all. Roll a d6 to determine how well the family who lives in your home has appeased you, how they have shown respect to your home, and then give them the proper rewards or punishments."]

Stoneburner ["players take on the role of a group of dwarves who must assume control of a demon haunted mine, along with its accompanying settlement."]

Strange Changeling Child ["Over play, you'll narrate the story of a changeling who hasn't yet told any of their loved ones that they're secretly a fairy, but as play continues, those loved ones will find out, for better or for worse."]

Yourself ["is a solo tabletop role playing game about Introspection, Identity, and Heritage. You play as a character who has discovered they are a Changeling, a fae amongst humans, and through the game you will explore  changes, challenges, joy, and most importantly what it means to be Yourself."]

Outer Space/Alien

A Labyrinth of Stars ["You play an amensiac space nomad, hopping from world to world, discovering the wonders of an alien universe as you go."]

Alone Among the Stars ["A tabletop roleplaying game about exploring space and experiencing wondrous sights."]

Alone on a Galactic Map ["You are a famous space cartographer that has been tasked with creating a comprehensive map of your section of the galaxy."]

An Exchange of Gifts ["You are a traveler: your small ship carries you from planet to planet, where you encounter cultures and civilizations different from your own."]

Bucket of Bolts ["you'll be telling the story of a single spaceship. You’ll create a brand new freighter, fresh off the manufacturing line, and explore its history through each of the people who captain it. Your ship will change as the decades pass - new names, new parts, fresh paint, fresh starts - until your story draws to a close."]

Into the Starlit Sky ["Into The Starlit Sky is a journaling game inspired by episodic science-fiction and rogue-like video games. Put together a crew of specialists for your starship, then set out on a mission of exploration and discovery across the universe."]

Let's Jam! ["Life in space is harsh, flying a ship is expensive, and people are difficult to trust. You’ve made it this far by hunting dangerous criminals for the Intergalactic Police Department (IPD) in exchange for just enough credits to  pay for gas and putting some food on your table. You don’t know if your next bounty is going to be the end, but what other choices have you got anyway? You just gotta keep flying."]

The Lighthouse at the Edge of the Universe ["On the very edge of the universe, a small rock floats on the edge of the void. Upon this rock, a small, ordinary lighthouse sits. It had, some have speculated, been standing since the universe and time began. Maintained by a solitary keeper, the lighthouse has been keeping travellers and spaceships from falling off the edge. Its steady beam can be seen galaxies away and is used as a guiding star for navigators."]

To Be an Earthling ["You play as a visitor sent to live among and evaluate humanity. Each year you will report to your superiors what it means to be human. After four years, a fleet of ships will arrive from your homeworld and you will be asked to decide the fate of the Earthlings."]

Vampires

A Day in the Death ["you document the nuance of navigating everyday life as a recently-turned vampire in your private diary."]

Blood ["you play an ambulance driving emergency medical technician (EMT) infected with vampirism. Each day, you must navigate The City with your paramedic partner, facing the mundane trials of your job and personal life while trying to keep your affliction a secret."]

Bloodless ["Play as a struggling vampire who’s trying to make it to their haven before the sun rises."]

Dead Letters Society ["Live your best unlife as the newest member of the Dead Letter Society, an exclusive communication network for vampires."]

Furyya ["In these filthy streets, teeming with flesh-and-bone bodies, as well as metal and hybrids, you are part of The Calamity—an ancient clan of powerful vampires—and must survive challenges such as war, assassination contracts, theft, hunters, corporations, religious zealots, domineering gangs and other clans."]

Thousand Year Old Vampire ["you chronicle the many centuries of a vampire’s existence, beginning with the loss of mortality and ending with inevitable destruction."]

Other

Alone In Between ["You play as a ghost trapped in your former home struggling to convey a final message to the living left behind."]

Alone With the Shipwrecks ["You are an underwater explorer, diving deep to investigate what remains of the shipwrecks in the area."]

A Wolf in Man's Clothing ["You have been flung into a new, terrifying world and an unfamiliar body. Hungry, cold, and alone, you must try to find your way back to the time, place, and self you once knew. "]

Bloom ["BLOOM is a solo gmless journaling game in which you play a teenage girl trapped in quarantine at a boarding school on an island infected by the Tox, a plague that makes the trees and animals grow huge and hungry, and mutates your body in strange and horrific ways."]

Cordelia Needs a Kingdom ["You're a child playing in a forest, exploring and building your own kingdom. This game keeps the spirit of fairy tales and fantasy novels alive, through the art and the epic themes of the adventures you'll have."]

The Creature ["you explore the vicissitudes of a life that you can't understand, of being a creation of some sort that was abandoned. It's your job to learn about yourself and the world that surrounds you, as well as discover who your creator was and why you were discarded."]

Creation Myths ["It is designed to help you dive deeper into character creation through the development of a backstory adventure via dice and prompts, and to provide you with new things to think about. It can also work as a way to redevelop existing characters and generate fresh ideas."]

Eldritch Pets ["You find a creature of nightmares that you can’t seem to destroy. You have heard stories about otherworldly beings who care not for the ways of mortals, but they weren’t supposed to be so cute!"]

Exquisite Biome ["is a game about the symbiosis of the natural world. Create an ecosystem, populate it with strange and wondrous animals, and see how they interact with one another."]

FREAK in High School ["FREAK in High School is a prompt based solo journalling tabletop role playing game about being a visibly inhuman child of a visibly inhuman superhero or villain."]

Gadgets and Gizmos Aplenty ["You are an inhabitant of the Depths who undertakes a coming-of-age ritual journey in the Surface, the world of humans. Thing is, all humans are gone and their civilizations are all but deserted. Gather keepsakes and assign lessons to them as you grow and make observations on the hubris of the people who occupied these ruins."]

Galatea ["You were made to be perfect. Your creator is a brilliant artist - celebrated, lonely, tormented - who has never been satisfied with his own creations. Until now. His magnum opus, his crowning masterpiece, the pinnacle of his art - is you. And yesterday you came to life. You must remain perfect for him - or else."]

Ghost + Heist = Geist ["You're in line at the Ghost Processing Bureau, waiting to be sent to your eternal reward. It seems to move at about 2 ghosts per month. As one of the masters of heisting of your time, you've got different plans. It's time for you to lie, cheat, and steal your way back to life."]

Identity ["You only learned you were a clone 1 month ago. Now, alongside your siblings, you are being hunted by the corporation that created you."]

it ends with YOU ["you are a monster. some say you are destined to end this world- but you love it enough to save it."]

Life as a Monster Teen ["Loosely based on Monster High, Life of a Monster Teen aims to tell a story about mythological teenagers in a mystical academy of monsters like them. Solve a mystery, perhaps write a young romantic, all through a journal, cards, and some dice."]

OkCryptid ["You’ll never forget that night. You had heard the legends before, of course, everyone had.  Now that you know the creature is real, one thought keeps playing through your mind: Their eyes were… beautiful. You want to see them again."]

One Day at a Thyme/One Night at a Thyme ["a cozy, whimsical solo journaling game in which you play the inhabitant of a cottage in a magical world." / "Spooky Season is inspired by the lore and celebration of Hallowe'en and Samhain, though the name of this high holy season may change depending on the world in which you set it."]

Scopicity ["Will you nurture a utopian society of enlightened microbes? Or challenge your Scopicitiae to survive and evolve in a savage microbial land? The choice is yours in this deeply customizable sci-fi/fantasy storytelling experience."]

Tending ["is a mixed media journalling game where you take the role of a devotee at a holy site. Over a span of seasons you'll carry out sacred work, seek the divine, and change everything in the process."

The Afternoon Train Home ["You are a spiritweaver, a being who walks in between worlds. Your purpose is to spool up memory thread from those who have died to be reused for the living."]

The Skeleton Diary ["In this game, you take on the role of a skeleton giving an account of your past embodied life."]

The Dreamland Expedition ["You are a stuffed animal, and in ordinary times you and your equally fuzzy friends are happy to devote your time and energy to bringing joy and comfort to the young human child that was placed in your care. But these are no longer ordinary times."]

This is Not a 7-11 ["is a backrooms inspired solo rpg about traversing liminal spaces and meeting entities not of your world. Build a map of nonsensical geometries, and keep track of the people and things you meet along the way that have the potential to help and do harm."]

To Reign in Hell ["You play the last warden of Hell, and you are utterly alone."]

Vrakroth's Guide to Creature Cataloguing ["Vrakroth's Guide to Creature Cataloguing is a one-page diceless journaling game penned by the dragon, Vrakroth. With it, you and up to two more friends can use the prompts to create your own creatures by writing down various traits. Once you do so, you use what you wrote to catalogue the creature and write a short myth about it. The only limits for the amount of creatures you can make is your imagination!"]

What They Once Feared ["What They Once Feared is a solo ttrpg where you take the role of a monster born for folklore that has awoken into a new world. One where stories aren't used as often and the monsters have become more real. You have a choice, become something new that preys on these new monsters, or become something worse than them and continue your usual hunt. What will you decide?"]

Whom Mortals Seldom See ["you are one of the mysterious, magical, elemental beings of the world, leaving behind everything you know for a chance at something only mortals can understand."]

Wither & Grow ["You are a plant creature that has just gained sentience for reasons unknown."]

You Are a Muffin ["Unlike most games where you are playing the role of another person, in You are a Muffin you are a pastry in a cozy café or coffee shop."]