Magazine Production

Producing a magazine for a club or society.

Stage 1 - Content preparation

:D"hello"Text is prepared on a word processor. Any file format that your desktop publishing package can accommodate will do. A text file can be for a single article or a group.

Photographs and diagrams should be prepared as JPEG at around 300dpi size for size or 72dpi at four times the intended size. In practice a small file of a sharp clear picture will be better than a mega-pixel file of lesser quality.

Use images in RGB but they will be converted to CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black). The image may lose vibrancy or slightly change color but this is normal practice. Why do we use 'K' for black instead of 'B'? Well 'B' is used for blue in RGB.

Do not supply the printers with or use low resolution images downloaded from websites as this will produce very poor results when printed. As a rule of thumb if the file size is less than 100k then don't use it.

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Stage 2 - Assemble the magazine

Using a DTP program (such as InDesign or Quark XPress) to assemble the magazine. Keep font differences to a minimum. Use a serif font for bulk text, leave sans-serif for headings and labels. Check out a professional magazine for ideas. Leave plenty of 'white space' around the text and do not print over colours. It usually looks naff on pro magazines so on an amateur effort will look terrible. As for names, take for example: Kiss, keep it simple stupid, or it will look cheap and badly named.

Do not reduce the font size to cram in the text. This looks really nasty and should be avoided. Edit or rewrite copy back to make it fit.

There are cheaper alternatives to design programs such as Microsoft Publisher but check with the printing company whether they can accept the file. You will find that what the printer sees on their system may not appear how you see it on your PC.

There are magazine production companies out there to accommodate your magazine. They offer fixed prices per page and should fit nicely within your budget. These are professional people creating professional pages from your copy and images supplied by yourself. They will do the rest.

On A5 size two columns looks fine. On A4 three columns is OK but four is better.

Ensure you can easily read the document. The reader will not read the page if it is difficult to read even if you have the best thing to say in the world. All your efforts would be wasted. Remember, you may have great eyesight but another reader may not.

Include all your photographs and diagrams. Make them as bright, clear and high definition as you can.

Stage 3 - Print the magazine

Magazines are always printed in sets of four pages. Ensure your magazine is divisible by four before you start. There are many printing companies out there with different set ups so shop around for the best price. A printer who just prints letterheads may not be the best for magazines whilst the magazine printer will not be great on letterhead pricing.

If you are not sure who to approach to print your job or which is the best company to get quotes from then seek the advice of a print broker or print adviser. They are on your side and there to get you the best possible price for your job. They can also speak the jargon that is associated with printing. Do you understand 'four back four', saddle-stitch, burst perfect binding, creep, gloss UV, bleed?

Printing companies will have sales people which need to be paid for so why not use a print broker who can really do the deal on your behalf.

Best pagination would be in sets of 16 pages at standard sizes (16pp, 32pp,48pp, 64pp and so on). If you have a cover on thicker paper then add another separate 4pp. If you are outside these parameters then be prepared to pay more.

Stage 4 - Take to printer

If you are supplying text and images to a magazine production company to produce your magazine then try to keep with the allocated time slots. They are there to help you professionally design your publication within budget and time constraints.

If you have designed the magazine yourself then compliant PDF files are usually the only file format that can be submitted to commercial printers. You can send the artwork using other programs but be prepared to be charged extra because the printer has to rebuild, sort out file links & fonts and to convert the information to PDF. There is an increased chance the finished result will appear different to what you have seen on your screen. This is due to a number of technical issues between a low cost program and high-end commercial software and equipment interpreting low-end information.

File submission used to be made on CD disk or Memory Sticks but with todays technology, PDF files can be uploaded directly into the printer's RIP (raster imaging processor) system by the internet regardless where the printer is located. This provides a faster solution than other conventional methods that was used before. Files can now be approved and plated within a matter of hours as opposed to a couple of days.

The printer will do the rest. The next thing you see is the final magazine.

"'= Common sense =] =

-- () 19:22, 1 October 2008 (UTC)Talk to your printer. Keep the layout simple. Readers are more interested in content than an over designed piece of artwork.

For more information visit www.magazineproduction.com or www.magazineproduction.co.uk for more information.

-- () 19:22, 1 October 2008 (UTC)-- () 19:22, 1 October 2008 (UTC)"'