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Making Zines: Making Zines

A guide to making Zines!

Video: Making Zines

Creating by Hand

Creating by Hand

Drawing by Hand

One of the easiest ways to create a zine is by drawing or writing it by hand. Your tools can be anything from fancy pens to a simple pencil. Some zine makers will draw out a master copy and then use a copy machine to duplicate it. Others will draw out each copy by hand.

Collage

Another popular way to make a zine is by using cutouts from other magazines or books to make a collage. This collage can then be photocopied or scanned and printed.

Stamps

You can either by stamps or make your own. Stamps can help speed up hand reproduction or be used to give personal touches to machine replicated pieces.

Creating on a Computer

Creating on a Computer

Adobe Photoshop / Illustrator / InDesign

The Adobe suite of tools have been around for some time now and are the standard in many fields. Adobe puts out tutorials for Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign. The cost of Adobe's products can be somewhat prohibitive, especially if you are just creating a zine. Faculty and Staff of Lone Star College can install one personal copy of the Adobe Creative Suite at home - click for more information. Students may be eligible for discounted rates - click for more information.

Adobe Creative Suite, which includes Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign, is installed on all computers in the LSC-North Harris Library Computer Lab.

Microsoft Publisher

Microsoft Publisher is a good tool for basic page layout. You can include pictures and text, and arrange them anyway you want. Lone Star College faculty, staff, and students can download publisher as part of the Microsoft Office 368 Suite for Free - click for more information.

Microsoft Publisher is installed on all Windows computers in the LSC-North Harris Library Computer Lab.

GIMP - GNU Image Manipulation Program

GIMP is a free, open-source program for use in the creation and manipulation of raster graphic images. Many people use it as an alternative to Photoshop. You can download GIMP at https://www.gimp.org/ and explore tutorials at https://www.gimp.org/tutorials/

Inkscape

Inkscape is a free, open-source program for use in the creation and manipulation of vector graphic images. Many people use it as an alternative to Illustrator. You can download Inkscape at https://inkscape.org/. and explore tutorials at https://inkscape.org/learn/.