The Foldpic collection / Zine
Make a photo zine from your own pictures.
Photographers have rediscovered the one-page zine as the fastest way to get work off a screen and into someone's hands.
Your sheet, before the magic
At a glance +
- Pages
- 8 (free)
- Sheets
- 1 for 8 pages
- Printing
- One side only
- Time
- about 5 min · scissors
- A4 sheet
- A7 panels · 74 × 105 mm
- US Letter sheet
- quarter Letter panels · 70 × 108 mm
- A3 sheet
- A6 panels · 105 × 149 mm · needs an A3 printer
- US Tabloid (11×17) sheet
- quarter Tabloid panels · 108 × 140 mm · needs an 11×17 printer
Panels are an eighth of the sheet: A7 from A4 on any home printer, A6 from A3 if your printer takes it, and A5 panels would need A2 paper, which means a copy shop.
Why make a zine at home
Eight frames from a roll of film, a single walk, or one afternoon fit perfectly on the eight panels, and the finished zine costs one sheet to print.
Foldpic gives you a full-bleed-as-possible panel for each photo, optional captions, and a cover slot for a title and date. Choose a film or mono style for a darkroom feel, or a plain white frame to let the pictures sit quietly.
Download the PDF, print it on one side at 100% scale, fold and cut as the diagrams show. Print a stack and hand them out at the next photo walk or zine fair.
Edit like a contact sheet
Eight slots force a real edit. Pick the frames that talk to each other and let the sequence do the work.
Film and mono styles
Styles with grain, warm fade or black-and-white treatment, and a Polaroid-style frame if you want the print to look like an object.
Cheap to make many
One sheet per zine. Fifty copies for a fair is fifty sheets and no staples.
Correct panel order built in
You sequence pages 1 to 8. Foldpic places 8, 1, 2, 3 upright on the bottom row and 7, 6, 5, 4 inverted on top, which is what the fold needs.
A few folds from finished
6 steps, printed on one side. The full instruction sheet with checks and a common-mistakes box comes with your PDF.
1Print the sheet. Print one side. The top row is upside down on purpose.
2Fold in half the long way. Fold in half the long way, printed side out.
3Fold in half, then in half again. Fold in half, then in half again. Open it out.
4Cut the slit. Cut along the centre crease through the middle two panels only.
5Push the ends together. Fold long-ways again, then push both ends toward the middle.
6Collapse into a booklet. Wrap the panels round so page 1 is on top. Done.
1Print the sheet
2Fold in half the long way
3Fold in half, then in half again
4Cut the slit
5Push the ends together
6Collapse into a booklet
Templates for this format
Sunday Film
A pocket photo zine: polaroid frames, a film strip, typed date stamps.
Zine · Film
Riso Weekend
Two-colour risograph look: blue ink, red accents, a grid page.
Zine · Riso
Pocket Trip
A clean white travel zine: one big view, a journal page, a polaroid.
Zine · Minimal · Travel
Little Milestones
A cheerful baby zine: a polaroid, a four-photo grid, a page for firsts.
Zine · Kids · Baby
Before you print
- How to fold an 8-page zine from one sheet of paper
Fold a single A4 or Letter sheet into an 8-page mini zine: three creases, one cut, no staples. Step-by-step diagrams, print settings and common mistakes.
- What resolution do photos need for a printed album? (the dpi maths)
Pixels needed for an A5 page or a zine panel at 200 and 300 dpi, why phone photos are fine and screenshots are not, and what a low-res warning means.
- Printing a zine at a copy shop vs at home: what to ask for
What to tell the copy shop (100 percent, single-sided, landscape, 100 to 120 gsm), typical costs, and when your own printer is the better choice.
- Best paper weights for printing zines and photo booklets at home
Which gsm to buy for zines, booklets and accordion albums on an inkjet or laser: 80 to 250 gsm explained, tray limits, glossy vs matte, scoring and grain.
Zine questions
What resolution do my photos need?
A mini zine panel from A4 is about 74 by 105 mm. At 200 dpi that is about 580 by 830 pixels, so any phone photo or film scan is more than enough.
Can photos run to the edge of a panel?
Panels on the outer edge of the sheet keep a small margin because home printers cannot print to the edge. Panels that meet at a fold can run across it.
Can I make a bigger photo zine?
Yes. Print the same zine on A3 or Tabloid for panels twice the area, or switch to the stapled booklet for 8 to 32 A5 pages.
Can I print in black and white?
Yes. Choose a mono style so the layout is designed for it, then print in greyscale. Toner printers make crisp photo zines on 100 to 120 gsm paper.
Make your zine now
Free during the beta, up to 16 pages. No sign-up, nothing shipped: you print it at home.