Zine Layouts

Here’s what you need to know about zine layouts…

Zine sizes

From what I’ve seen, the majority of people who create homegrown zines use letter-sized printed pages (8 1/2″ x 11″) and fold them in half. Each sheet of paper is four pages of the zine.

An “average” zine is five to 15 sheets of paper, meaning 20 to 60 pages. (But really, there are no “average” zines. Each is unique, as it should be! )

In swaps, most zines are at the small end of that figure… five or so sheets of paper, and often less.

In fact, plenty of them are just a sheet or two of paper.  They’re printed or photocopied (and sometimes cut).  Then they’re folded, and usually stapled to make a zine. That makes them four pages… depending upon how they’re cut and folded, of course.

The single-sheet zine layout

The classic zine design is funky.

• If you’re a purist, you’ll love this.
• If you’re on a budget, you’ll also love this: It’s a 16-page zine created with just one sheet of legal-sized paper. (Yes, just one. Really!)

Note: I don’t count the cover as a “page” when I number my zine pages, so my own version of this is 12 pages, plus an outside cover & inside covers. Here’s how it fits on the legal-sized (8.5″ x 14″) sheet of paper:

Cut on the solid lines and fold on the dotted lines.

Staple in the center. One staple is usually enough.

How to swap, mail, and share zines

If you’re mailing one of those single-sheet zines, one stamp on the envelope is usually enough to mail one of them.

Where to send your zines – You can tuck them in with your bill payments, with your notes to friends, with your other swaps, and so on!

Swaps by mail – Tell your friends what you’re doing. Ask if they’d like to play, too. Or organize a swap on social media, on your website, in a forum, etc. Learn more about zine swaps here.

Digital swaps (and shares) – You can also scan your zine, uncut, and put it online so others can print their own copy, cut & assemble it. Easy!

But keep in mind, if it’s a zine like the single-sheet (8.5″ x 11″) zine shown above… Well, it won’t hold much info unless you write VERY small, or you find clever ways to expand the available space, such as adding fold-out pages & stuff.

That said, the 16-pages-from-one-sheet-of-legal-paper is regarded as a classic zine, if we’re talking about all kinds of zines, including poetry, fanzines, and so on.

Taking zines to the next level… or not!

There are other ways to make zines. Look at books about making handmade books, for the best inspiration.

Here’s a favorite:

The general concept is the same as zines, but zines are usually smaller & more informal than handmade books, that’s all.

If you want to create a zine that’s a work of art, that’s fine. If you want to get wild & crazy with design, that’s fine too.

However, keep in mind that a zine can be one piece of paper, b&w, printed on both sides, and folded in half. And that’s a four-page zine.

Many of these single-page zines are still in my collection.

Whatever the zine, make it yours!

Put your art & soul into your zine, and don’t worry about the size or technical stuff.

I love almost every zine I see.  Size, expertise, and visual quality often have nothing to do with how enthusiastic I am about a zine!

What I’m saying is: If you’ve wanted to create a zine for fun, or just to see what it’s like to make one, just do it!

The bonus is, if you swap your zines with others, you’ll receive fabulous zines in return, which you might never see if you hadn’t swapped.

My zine history

I published my first zine in 1977. It was one piece of paper, printed on one or two sides, folded, stamped, and sent out with someone’s name & address written on the outside.

In time, I graduated to two or three sheets of paper, and I started rubber stamping & glittering my zines. Yes, each one was hand-decorated.

Since then, I’ve explored nearly every possible variation on the zine theme: Color and b&w; on 8 1/2″ x 17″ paper, and on a single 8 1/2″ x 11″ sheet, folded in half; and so on.

Late in 2024, as I’m updating this post, I still love zines, and plan to make more of them in the coming months. Yaaayyy for zines!

• A very basic, single-sheet zine layout or the expanded version of that page
• A free, simple single-sheet zine (PDF)
• A free printable zine from 2010: The 24-Hour Zine Thing Zine
• How Zine Swaps Work – one of the best ways to share your zines, and – in return – receive zines from others!

If you have questions or answers, post a comment below.