Fold an eight-page zine from one A4 sheet
The one-sheet zine is eight pages made from a single piece of paper with three folds and one cut. No stapler, no glue, and it is the fastest way to hand something out at a table.
Load a file to start.
No upload — everything runs in your browser
How to fold it
Print landscape. Fold the sheet in half short edge to short edge, open it, then fold in half and in half again the other way so you have eight panels creased. Refold in half and cut along the centre crease across the middle two panels only — that is the heavy line in the output. Open it out, fold the long way, push the two ends towards each other so the sheet opens into a plus shape, then flatten it into a book.
Why the top row is upside down
The sheet is four panels across and two down. The bottom row carries pages 6, 7, 8 and 1; the top row carries 5, 4, 3 and 2 rotated 180 degrees, because folding turns that row over. Page 1 ends up as the cover and page 8 as the back. Choosing right-bound mirrors the columns so a vertical Japanese text still reads in order.
Panel size and preparing artwork
A4 landscape is 297 x 210 mm, so each of the eight panels is 74.25 x 105 mm — near enough to A7. Supply an eight-page PDF at that size. Missing pages simply come out blank, and pages with a different aspect ratio are scaled to fit inside the panel, which means this is not the route for full-bleed artwork. Bleed, trim marks and paper thickness differ from printer to printer — always check the spec sheet of the shop you are submitting to.
Frequently asked questions
Can I use a PDF with fewer than eight pages?
Yes. The unused panels come out blank, ready to fold as-is or to fill in by hand.
What if my PDF has more than eight pages?
Only the first eight are used. For anything longer, switch to the saddle-stitch imposition job.
Can I make a bigger folded zine?
Use the A3 version: each panel becomes 105 x 148.5 mm, close to A6, which is a comfortable size to read and to write in.