A4 mini zine SVG template – create a printable, foldable booklet from one sheet of A4 paper

I’ve also got a Word / PowerPoint version if you’re not familiar with SVGs (I learned more about how to use Inkscape since that post and this!).

Click here or the image below to download a zipped file containing the template and some instructions. More info below the picture, including the files individually. Just the template SVG.

This is an SVG file containing grid lines which divide an A4 sheet into 8 sections, to make a zine from a single-sheet. You can add your own images / designs and text to each of the 8 spaces (making sure your items are within the lines) so that when the final zine is printed and folded everything is where it should be.

The file is an updated version of the one I use to design printable colouring-in zines (about computer science) which I give to kids to colour in at science festivals. I thought others might like to have a copy of the basic layout as it can be quite fiddly to get things to line up, so I hope this saves you some frustration.

It was designed in Inkscape (which is free to download, from https://inkscape.org/) and I recommend using it to design your zine first as an SVG before printing as a PDF. You can paste in images. move and resize etc, or you can design shapes and patterns from scratch. If you prefer to use Word / PowerPoint for wrestling with layouts, as I did before I began using Inkscape, there’s an earlier version of the file here, for PowerPoint https://howtodotechystuff.wordpress.com/2019/11/20/heres-a-word-label-template-for-printing-an-8-page-zine-from-one-a4-sheet/

If you are in the US and looking for a zine template for US letter sized paper (which is slightly different from the A-series size paper) then that’s my next project but meanwhile here’s a basic free one you can download (I didn’t create it, just found it when searching online) https://freesvg.org/minizine-template

📐Dimensions of this template for A4 paper 📐

A4 is 297 x 210 cm (or 11.7 x 8.3 inches).

The zipped file contains the template (SVG), instructions on using it (PDF), a picture of how to fold a zine (in case you want to include that in your own zines, SVG) and instructions on using that file (PDF). There’s also a ‘readme’ text file which lists what the files are and says a little bit about them.

I created this zine using the template. In a day or so it will be available from
https://bit.ly/CS4FNminiZineChristmas

 

Individual files

• 00 readme.TXT – just contains info about the files. This was originally an Etsy listing and I added it in for people to know they’d successfully downloaded all the files but you can live without it 🙂
• 01 A4 minizine template.SVG – the main event, the actual template
• 02 A4 zine folding instructions.SVG – a suggested image that can be added to a zine showing people how to fold it (ideal if you’re giving away or selling zines and won’t be around to help people fold them).
• 04 Instructions.PDF – how to use the template with Inkscape
• 05 Folding instructions.PDF – how to use the folding instructions SVG. For example you might want to resize, adapt and move into your zine file or save a copy as a picture to put on a website.

You can sell or share any zine (printed or SVG) you make with this but please remove my guidelines (and don’t sell the file).

This began life as an Etsy listing until I realised it was going to charge me 20p every time one was sold (I thought it was 20p to list the item, Etsy and I have differing understandings of what a listing is). So I’ve taken it down and made it free, but I don’t want anyone else selling it 🙂 Ta.