How Zine Pagination Works
Understand why reading order and print order are different, and how to check both.
Pagination means organising and numbering pages. In zine making, it is useful to distinguish the order a reader sees from the arrangement a printer needs.
Reading order is straightforward: cover, page two, page three and so on. Print order depends on how the paper will be folded, cut and assembled.
Count surfaces, not sheets
A page is one reading surface. A sheet is the piece of paper.
Fold one sheet in half and use both sides. It gives you four pages: the front, two inside surfaces and the back. Four nested sheets therefore give sixteen pages.
A one-sheet slit-and-fold zine works differently. Its eight reading panels are arranged on one side of the sheet. You cannot use the same layout for both structures.
Why the numbers look out of order
Imagine a four-page folded leaflet. On the outside of the flat sheet, page four sits next to page one. On the inside, page two sits next to page three.
Once folded, the pages read correctly. Arranging them for that result is called imposition.
For a conventional sixteen-page booklet, the outer sheet has pages sixteen and one on one side, with two and fifteen on the other. The next sheet continues inward. You can discover the arrangement yourself by numbering a blank assembled booklet and then taking it apart.
Let software arrange conventional booklets
Some PDF readers can impose a document supplied in normal reading order. Adobe's booklet-printing instructions explain how Acrobat or Reader arranges pages for folded, double-sided sheets.
That is useful for a conventional booklet. It does not mean you should apply “Booklet” to an already arranged one-sheet zine. Doing so arranges the pages a second time.
Always establish which kind of file you have before printing.
Keep blank pages in the plan
If a blank page is part of the reading sequence, include it in the file. Removing it can shift everything that follows.
For a booklet made from whole nested sheets, the total page count is a multiple of four. A cover printed separately still needs to be included in the assembly plan.
One-sheet formats have their own fixed number of panels. Use the template's count rather than applying the multiple-of-four rule without checking the structure.
Make the layout visible
A numbered dummy is the simplest check. Fold and assemble the blank paper, number it while reading, and mark the top of each page.
Unfold or separate it and compare the result with your file. This also reveals which panels need to be upside down.
Save a photograph or scan of that numbered layout. When you return to the project later, you will have a reference that explains exactly how the pages fit together.
Next: How to Lay Out Pages Before Folding.
Sources and layout notes
The panel maps follow Maigz's sheet diagram.