Scribus Zine Templates

I've been making zines for years now, and during that time I've generally had to figure out how to make more complex zines on my own, as almost all of the resources and templates that are freely available are for simple mini zines. After making a bunch of templates for Affinity Publisher for more complex zine layouts, I heard from enough people who can't afford the Affinity Suite that I decided to make a bunch more templates for the free alternative desktop publishing program Scribus. 

I will admit at the start, Scribus is trickier to use than Affinity Publisher, and it has lots of... quirks, especially in the Mac version (which I used to make these.) If I, a graphic designer, had a rough time with Scribus, it's got to be even more rough for the casual user. Hopefully these templates will help people on a budget have an easier time making text-heavy zines with more than a few pages.

If you have Affinity Publisher and would rather have the templates for that program, click this link: https://metaparadox.itch.io/affinity-publisher-zine-templates

Note that these templates are for US Letter sized paper!

Here are the currently available templates:

• 1 Sheet Quarter Size Portrait Zine (8 pages)
• 2 Sheet Quarter Size Portrait Zine (16 pages)
• 3 Sheet Quarter Size Portrait Zine (24 pages)
• 4 Sheet Quarter Size Portrait Zine (32 pages)
• 5 Sheet Quarter Size Portrait Zine (40 pages)
• 6 Sheet Quarter Size Portrait Zine (48 pages)
• 7 Sheet Quarter Size Portrait Zine (56 pages)
• 8 Sheet Quarter Size Portrait Zine (64 pages)
• 9 Sheet Quarter Size Portrait Zine (72 pages)
• 10 Sheet Quarter Size Portrait Zine (80 pages)
• 2 Sheet Half Size Zine (8 pages)
  
• 3 Sheet Half Size Zine (12 pages)
• 4 Sheet Half Size Zine (16 pages)
• 5 Sheet Half Size Zine (20 pages)
• 6 Sheet Half Size Zine (24 pages)
• 7 Sheet Half Size Zine (28 pages)
• 8 Sheet Half Size Zine (32 pages)
• 9 Sheet Half Size Zine (36 pages)
• 10 Sheet Half Size Zine (40 pages)
• 1 Sheet Eighth Size Zine (8 pages)
  
• 1 Sheet Eighth Size Zine (16 pages)
• 2 Sheet Eighth Size Zine (32 pages)

Here are the templates I'm still planning to make and upload:

• 1 Sheet Quarter Size Landscape Zine (8 pages)
• 2 Sheet Quarter Size Landscape Zine (16 pages)
• 3 Sheet Quarter Size Landscape Zine (24 pages)
• 4 Sheet Quarter Size Landscape Zine (32 pages)
• 5 Sheet Quarter Size Landscape Zine (40 pages)
• 6 Sheet Quarter Size Landscape Zine (48 pages)
• 7 Sheet Quarter Size Landscape Zine (56 pages)
• 8 Sheet Quarter Size Landscape Zine (64 pages)
• 9 Sheet Quarter Size Landscape Zine (72 pages)
• 10 Sheet Quarter Size Landscape Zine (80 pages)

So, how do you use these templates?

When you first open up a template, it may look a little overwhelming. There will be text on the front cover of the zine that shows that it's the front cover, and where the text begins, as well as text on the back cover of the zine that shows that it's the back cover, and where the text ends. You'll also see page numbers, and lots of filler text. What you'll want to do is click in any non page number text box, select all of the text (CTRL-A or CMD-A), and delete it, making note of where the front and back cover are. 

Using the text tool, click in the box on the front cover and write your zine's title, then hit enter until you get to the box on page 1. All of the text boxes are connected so that if you continue to type and type and type, you will pass through each box in numerical order until you reach the back cover of the zine. You can write an entire text-heavy zine this way.

If you want to learn to add more than just text to the template, you'll need to look up some tutorials for Scribus. But these templates will at least show you where each page goes and you can go from there!

How do I print a zine made with a quarter size template?

First, once your zine is complete, you can either export to PDF or print directly from Scribus. Print at 100%, double sided (long edge for portrait, short edge for landscape). Pick up the stack of pages with the covers facing up. See where the dotted line is? If you have a paper cutter, cut the entire stack of pages along that dotted line. You now have two stacks of paper. Put the stack of paper with the covers on top of the other stack. Then staple or otherwise bind the zine where the front and back cover meet. 

If you don't have a paper cutter, use a scissors to cut along each dotted line and match up the pages, then staple or otherwise bind the zine along the solid line.

If you don't have a long arm or saddle stapler, try putting your zine flat on top of foam or a thick piece of fabric or carpet. Open a normal stapler and staple down through the solid line and into the soft material beneath. Use a scissors to fold down the staple ends on the inside of the zine.

How do I print a zine made with a half size template?

First, once your zine is complete, you can either export to PDF or print directly from Scribus. Print at 100%, double sided (short edge). Pick up the stack of pages with the covers facing up. Then staple or otherwise bind the zine where the front and back cover meet. 

If you don't have a long arm or saddle stapler, try putting your zine flat on top of foam or a thick piece of fabric or carpet. Open a normal stapler and staple down through the solid line and into the soft material beneath. Use a scissors to fold down the staple ends on the inside of the zine.

How do I print a zine made with an eighth size template?

First, once your zine is complete, you can either export to PDF or print directly from Scribus. Print at 100%, double sided (short edge). Pick up the stack of pages with the covers facing up.

If you have a paper cutter, take the stack of paper and cut along the dotted lines. If you don't have a paper cutter, cut along the dotted lines with a scissors. Then match up the pages so the page numbers line up, and use a stapler to staple along where the front and back cover meet.

The 8 page zine is a special case. Since it's just one side of the page, just print it on that one page at 100%.

There's lots of tutorials for folding and cutting an 8 page eighth size mini zine. You can check out my Let's Make a Zine zine here to learn my method: https://metaparadox.itch.io/lets-make-a-zine

Do I need to credit you?

Nope! These templates are absolutely free! However, I'd appreciate it if you credit me in your zine or link people to these templates! If you feel extra generous, pay what you want for this project on Itch.

Will there be more templates?

If you want to request a specific template be created, feel free to leave a comment and I'll see what I can do!