Cannot find out how to make 16 page zine with one paper (8 items per side)

[ZinerPublisher]

First at all, I am totally newbie in Affinity and I have never used InDesign or any other publishing applications so bare that in mind if I use wrong terms or whatesover, feel free to ask and corret me when I use wrong terminology

I am trying to create a zine (booklet print), 16 pages using only 1 piece of A4 paper. That means, I want that there is 8 "pages" (or whatever the term is) in one side of A4 paper and on another side there would be another 8 pages. Then I want to cut those pages and fold them and staple them and have 16 pages "book" style of print, "booklet" as far as I have understood the terminology.

I have tried to do this with different kind of page setup and document sizes, but so far no any kind of success - it wants me to print 8 pages.

I have tested this in analog way and made measurements and if I get it correctly, one page is A7 size. I added custom A7 size (74 mm x 105 mm), then I made pages with A7 size and then I defined I want to print A4 using "booklet" but it only offers me 8 pages to print and prints on A5 sized pages (two pages in A4, eg. cover and front etc.).

So the question is, what I need to select to "page size" or in "spread size" or "document size" or what so I would be able to get the result I want:
- 1 paper, printed on both sides
- 8 "pages" per side or 4 spreads
- Booklet kind of printing

Should I create a new document with paper size, page size or spread size to A4, A7 or something other? 

PS: I have not Full Duplex printer, but that is not the issue anyway, I can select in printer settings that I turn the page manually so if I can get 2 pages to print in Affinity Publisher 2 then it would be only 1 page in print because of printer drivers let me do the manually turning of paper.

[Hilltop]

You might want to use imposition software for that. Take a look here and try the free version with maximum size A4: https://www.montax-imposer.com/download

[thomaso]

Hi @ZinerPublisher, welcome to the Affinity Forums!

To produce your gaol with Affinity you would use a workaround:

1. Create your zine layout as two-page spreads.
2. Export them as a PDF as 16 single PDF pages (not spreads), or as 16 image files.
3. Create a new document in A4 with two single pages.
4. Place the exported pages as required.
    (it helps to create a manual dummy first to discover the correct arrangement of the 2x8 pages)
5. Finally print from the resulting layout Page 1 on one side of an A4 sheet.
6. … then print page 2 on the backside of the same sheet.

[ZinerPublisher]

@Hilltop Thanks for suggestion, but I think that if I can't make it in affinity and or affinity + Windows or Mac basic tools then I will just do it manually (eg. print first right sized elements in whatever order they come, glue them to papers in correct order and scan that paper back to computer).

@thomasoThanks, gotta check that after the workday! Yesterday night I was able to print to one sheet my booklet using PDF export and selecting to fit 4 pages per paper (it actually meant 4 sheets per paper so 8 pages), sadly page numberings were broken and I was not able to make my booklet with correct page number yet that way. After the workday I have to try this your suggestion :)

[Alfred]

2 hours ago, ZinerPublisher said:

I will just do it manually (eg. print first right sized elements in whatever order they come, glue them to papers in correct order and scan that paper back to computer)

Please don’t scan anything unless you’re happy for there to be a noticeable drop in the quality of the finished product.

[ZinerPublisher]

This problem was solved using the method @thomaso suggested! Thank you very much!

I also now created a new publisher document for future usage so I don't have to think this anymore, at least with 16 paged mini zines. My document now have 2 x A4 pages in landscape mode so it will be one when printed in two sided. I then added 16 colored blocks in correct order so in future I can just open this template, save it to another name (so I don't override it) and then drag and drop actual pages one by one to their correct places so I can easily get prints done.

In case somebody else tries to figure this out later, I have added here those as an JPEG attachment.

Also in case somebody else in future have issue, in summary the whole process goes like this:
- I create new Publisher document and use A7 page sizes (might be wrong since I had to scale pages smaller when added to A4). On this document I create my publication.
- I export these pages as an individual images so I will get 16 images to some folder
- I open my template Publisher document where I have these placeholders marked where the pages need to be
- I drag and drop exported images to their correct places
- Then I print the page and since I have not full duplex printer, I have changed printer settings to have manual turning for paper to make these two sided. Then when I have printed the another side printer tells me how to turn the paper and then continue print to another side.

Thank you very much! Now I can start to learn to make own zines on computer better \o/

\o/

[wonderings]

If you are doing this regularly then it would be best to get imposition software. The time it takes you to manually do this sort of thing is saved when it only takes you minutes with the right software. Now I you are always doing the same thing then manually imposing in Publisher and then just updated with a new file would work as well. 

[ZinerPublisher]

@wonderings Good to know. I didn't had any kind of clue couple of days ago that there is imposition softwares out there, neither did I know what the heck is imposition in the first place

I mean, I found out zines this week, then tested to do one in paper in analog way (printed photos with Canon Selphy, cutted and glued them to paper). I felt that it was lots of fun and thought that it was so cool that it would be great to do zine in computer as well aaaand then it escalated and I ordered Epson EcoTank ET-2860 (because some other model was not possible to bring to my home in 3 hour delivery, lol). I thought that if the quality of this printer is even "good enough" to make cheap crappy zines it would be still fun. To be honest this printer was soooo much better than I excepted, which is a good thing surely.

Anyway, then I figured out that what is the software to do this kind of stuff and found out this application. I don't even know yet what is the difference between this, InDesing and Adobe Publisher. I somehow have thought that Adobe InDesign is the thing what makes this kind of "pagination stuff and other stuff like that" in order and this Affinity Publisher is just better program for me, because of price and license to do this kind of stuff. I downloaded the trial and then just figure it out what the heck is this and can I use this to do my zine  

Well, now I have learnt that imposition is not handled by this software as I originally thought, but I didn't had any clue about whole imposition thing sooooo it does not matter  You just learn when you do (well at least I learn that way) so it is a whole new world for me

 

[thomaso]

14 hours ago, ZinerPublisher said:

Well, now I have learnt that imposition is not handled by this software as I originally thought, but I didn't had any clue about whole imposition thing sooooo it does not matter

By the way, if you create such a 16-page zine frequently you can speed up the workflow for the 'manual imposition' procedure by simply replacing | updating the 16 placed pages with 1-click via the "Relink" option in the Resource Manager. It requires that all files of the exported pages get named identically with every zine issue but differ only in their parent folder name, for instance:

Zine Issue 01   [<- folder]

zine 1.jpg   [<-pages 1-16, exported as multiple image files (or in one common PDF)]
zine 2.jpg
zine 3.jpg
…
zine 16.jpg

===

Zine Issue 02   [<- folder used for "Relink"]

zine 1.jpg
zine 2.jpg
zine 3.jpg
…
zine 16.jpg

If you then open your print .afpub (e.g. "Zine 01 print.afpub" ) containing the two landscape pages (with 2x8 placed zine pages) you can select all 16 placed 'zine pages' in the Resource Manger and re-assign the newer images by relinking to their according folder, e.g. … "Zine Issue 02". If the 16 placed resources are named identically they will get updated as required. Save the updated .afpub with a new file name (e.g. "zine 02 print.afpub"), ideally before you relink its placed resources.

Disadvantage: This way you create multiple files with identical names but different contents … which may confuse you at a later time, unless you are aware of their different parent folders.

[ZinerPublisher]

Thanks for the tip! That sounds like a idea worth testing for on my case 

It is not an issue for me if there is files with identical names since the original names have no any other meaning either, like L1110983.JPG or whatever. I made a folder structure anyway like this:

Zine Name - Issue 01-24
-> -> Subfolder "JPG page exports"
-> -> Subfolder "Source photos"
-> Publisher file
-> A4 FINAL OUT - Zine Name - 01-24

So basically how I did this was I was looking same time on Lightroom what files I want to use, exported those to this zine subfolder "Source photos". File names are whatever it is from camera mostly, on some cases "-full" in the filename on export added. The actual publisher file is on the root and when I have done it I exported all pages to that subfolder "JPG page exports" and then dragged those to A4 FINAL OUT - Zine Name - 01-24 document.

Now I have done first version of my mini zine succesfully on computer and on printing, yesterday I bought a stapler and learnt very soon that I need to buy something better than scissors to cut the paper. At least those paper cutters on A4 size are easy to find on my area so some day gotta buy those.

Interesting to learn new stuff! I immediately noticed that I need to put more "extra area" because I need to cut stuff away to trim the zine and then soon my text is too high so made adjustments to include some kind of cutting. Also I noticed that on printing it is a good idea to zoom to 90 % and add black border around whole page so I can know where to cut because on some photos have totally white background on top so hard to guess correct cutting place.

I guess I will learn more about bleeding and trimming areas in future  

[thomaso]

29 minutes ago, ZinerPublisher said:

I exported all pages to that subfolder "JPG page exports" and then dragged those to A4 FINAL OUT - Zine Name - 01-24 document

Note that also the file name of "Publisher file" might be the same for various zine issues since its file name gets used by default for the exported page images with simply added "_1", "_2", etc. before the file type suffix. – Otherwise you have to keep in mind to adjust the export file name in the Export > Save dialog to maintain the consistent file name for the final page-images and their use via "Relink".

40 minutes ago, ZinerPublisher said:

I bought a stapler and learnt very soon that I need to buy something better than scissors to cut the paper. At least those paper cutters on A4 size are easy to find on my area so some day gotta buy those.

For zines in size A6 and larger you can get a longer stapler. It enables you to staple the opened, unfolded zine. – I'd recommend a cutting mat + cutter knife instead of a 'paper cutter board'. These boards only work with a limited thickness of the object to be cut and they also make it difficult to be precise and avoid slipping while cutting. Cutting mats are self-healing and available in various sizes (take one with about twice the size of your printed sheets, its easier to handle, e.g. for rotating the paper before cutting). As cutter I'd prefer one with a plastic body (not just a thin metal cutter), its volume makes it easier to hold. You may also want to cut the final, closed zine at 3 edges for a 'perfect' edge. If the cutter knife has a lockable blade it is helpful especially for inexperienced users. When cutting multiple sheets (e.g. a finished zine), do not press the knife onto the paper but rather make several cuts, this will also prevent it from slipping. Finally, it is a good idea to use a metal ruler or at least one with a metal edge, as it can happen that the knife runs into/towards the ruler, causing a plastic or wooden ruler to be cut and later no longer cut straight at that point.

  ...

[ZinerPublisher]

57 minutes ago, thomaso said:

For zines in size A6 and larger you can get a longer stapler. It enables you to staple the opened, unfolded zine.

I bought that kind of stapler what can be opened so I can print as big unfolded zine as needed I tested this with A5 what is too big unfolded for this stapler when closed, but when I open it and put rubber or something soft below the pages I can staple it without issues.

Thanks for the other tips as well, gotta think about what kind of stuff I will find. Surely I have to make decisions based what can be found reasonably on my area, but good to know at least the problems in different cutting methods!

[wonderings]

On 9/13/2024 at 4:30 PM, ZinerPublisher said:

Anyway, then I figured out that what is the software to do this kind of stuff and found out this application. I don't even know yet what is the difference between this, InDesing and Adobe Publisher. I somehow have thought that Adobe InDesign is the thing what makes this kind of "pagination stuff and other stuff like that" in order and this Affinity Publisher is just better program for me, because of price and license to do this kind of stuff. I downloaded the trial and then just figure it out what the heck is this and can I use this to do my zine  

Well, now I have learnt that imposition is not handled by this software as I originally thought, but I didn't had any clue about whole imposition thing sooooo it does not matter  You just learn when you do (well at least I learn that way) so it is a whole new world for me

 

For imposition software I recommend Imposition Studio Pro (https://www.devalipi.com), though there is some learning to do on your end I think before jumping into imposing yourself. You may even question printing yourself if you are printing more then a few copies. 

Regarding the Publisher itself, it is just Affinities version of Adobe Indesign. So Publisher and Indesign are in essence the same thing, just 2 different ways of going about many things. This software is used for page layout, so books, magazines, flyers, etc. I prefer Indesign myself as a professional, but would totally be using Affinity Publisher if I was no longer making my living with the software I use. The Affinity software is a tremendous value and powerful software, especially at the price point they are selling.