We started to collect, improve, re-edit and translate some of the zines that have been made over the years in the global hackteria network and friends. Thx for sending your most recent versions! @marymaggic, @paulapin24, @Aga, @agryfp_hack, @citrakirana.eli
So much nice material has already been produced, but sometimes hard to find on all those wiki’s, websites, gdrives or wherever they or on our old hard-discs. Following up on the discussion on archiving with @agryfp_hack and their examples of zines from fermentlab. let’s look at suitable file formats and how to archive them.
From what i learned now, it’s useful to make 2 versions of a fanzine:
Original Version, Page by Page
This can be easily looked at and read on screen, printed “normally” single sided if needed. Pages are ordered and numbered helps. Also this should be the “Main” origianl for later re-edits. Page format single side A5. Print tests for checking readability and font size. On Linux you can use Scribus or basic word processors.
Printable booklet, double sided, short edge
While some professional printers have directly an option to brint a “normal” file as a booklet, it’s also nice to provide a “ready-to-print” version as “Foldable Booklet” format. This can be totally confusing if you try to make it yourself. See info for example here. Luckily i just found a script to run on Ubuntu/Linux that can do it for you! When creating the double sided, double page per sheet version you have to choose “short-side”, which you will ALSO have to choose on the printer. Best to add this to the filename directly.
Optional: Dedicated Cover sheet, single sided
Could be nice to have an additional file only to use as cover. Can be the same as the first and last page of the zine. Can be printed on thicker or coloured paper, and to save some printing cost, maybe only this front cover can be printed in color (if needed at all). Even if you use a dedicated Cover Sheet, make sure the front cover is still also part of the files above! If you want to combine a complete file with a single Cover sheet, you have to add “empty” pages as the second page and the page before the back cover.
Scanning old hand-made fanzines
Another thing i just learned, that it’s best if you want to scan an old hard-copy printed fanzine, that you scan it page per page, as single linearly ordered pages. (Dont’ scan the double page or you will have to re-cut and edit a lot later)
Tools and Tips
Arranging pages from Original Pages to foldable Booklet with “pdfbook2” on Ubunutu http://manpages.ubuntu.com/manpages/xenial/man1/pdfbook2.1.html
pdfbook2 ./out.pdf --short-edge --resolution=300 --outer-margin=0 --inner-margin=30 --top-margin=0 --bottom-margin=0
Thanks to @Hikinghack Andy Quitmeyer’s amazing work and zines on Digital Naturalism, Contextual Crafting and so many more creative idea on “Hacking the Wild”. See all his publications on his website.
Was the perfect little reading material to bring to our camping trip and share it with the collaborators from CAMPO×こみゅとば.
Maybe we should consider to put them on archive.org too! So both the screenview and booklet printable version are available for future generations! Anybody volunteers as archiver?
Aaahhh, almost forgot those beautiful booklets and zines from the students at Srishti, in Bangalore, working with Yashas et al. on IGEM from 2009 - 2012.
I will make them ready to print and will search those original files to make foldable printable zines.
And they definately should go onto archive.org!!
Do we have a volunteer archiver?
I also found the belove Foodpherking Fanzines which have been a great inspiration and real beauties in itself. I love those fanzines from Center for Genomic Gastronomy on food, technology and open culture, they have their latest issue on seeds. and what i love the moste they are under the creative commons licens. have a look here.
During our “last” phase of Oki Wonder Lab,… (re)Locating, we are now in Oku, and doing some O®kiving. I took the time to re-edit and re-cut all the pages of the “classic” Hackteria Empathetic Taxidermy Zine, that we produced back in 2016 during pixelach festival. I only had this scanned .pdf file, and i think the original paper copy is hard to find. I had to re-cut all the pages, as they were scanned as folded open booklet, side by side, and this doesnt allow it to re-printed as booklet.
Easy. GIMP imported all pages, cropped the “canvas size” to 50% and exported each page individually, selecting the visible layer by layer. The same has to be done for all the left and all the rigth pages. Then merged it into a single page file with PDF mod, and shrinked it, as described on top of this topic.
Now there is 4 Files. That original scanned copy, a single page Cover, the A5 full screen view version and that booklet printing version (created with `pdfbook2). So i made an account on Internet Archive and also put it on the hackteria wiki.
Look what I found during my time of cleaning at home #stayhome
It is much promising to collect all of the fanzines collection. There is a much popular Fanzine Fair https://www.volumeszurich.ch/ at Zurich, happening every November at the Kunsthalle Zurich. (Think global, act local)
There is no doubt about the urgency of keeping stuff opensource. The idea of privat and non-private data and what there is to do to counter it. To use the format of fanzines is just beautiful. It has been much populare amongst artist, punks and DIY- communities. I love to collect them and bcs of light size, they are easy to reproduce and redistribute, easly.
About the idea of collecting them on the archive.org, this is for sure a nice way to make them accessable in good quality for reproduction. Another nice idea would be to have a enlisting of the Fanzines on the hackteria wikis as well. what do you think? If wee keep on collecting them here on the forum, the wiki, archive.org there might will become a nice collection of all of them.
Thanks so much Andrew in bringing up the essence and life of the great archivars, making a reference here to Aby Warbourg’s Mnemosyne Atlas and the idea of collecting a very own perspective as a document of time. I guess everybody is in this current situation much aware of how personal datas get used and missused by govornment and giant companies, so lets contribute to create own archives.
Also good opportunity to finally learn to use Scribus – Open Source Desktop Publishing, and be able to make proper printable layouted versions. Besides the paper / cut and glue versions that we are also doing.
I started a new page on the Hackteria wiki as portal to all those nice publications from and around the network. Just post links to your downloadable file here, and we can step by step add them to the page.
those in nice printable and archivable format, best to also upload to archive.org. it’s fun!
Happy to have found those old little foldable zines from 2010, NanoŠmano and BioCyber Kidzzz again. mbe the “first” hackteria zines??
Working on a new Zine to summarize many of those workshops we have been developing and doing all over the world around the topics of hacking humans, super-power transhumanism crap, germline hacks… all have one thing in common: FUN!!!
See our preparations here. comments or contributions highly welcome!
I am back in zine-makung craze modus here in Yogyakarta and preparing many new and old files, ready for print, upload to archive.org and aggregate links on the hackteria wiki: Zines - Hackteria Wiki
And i will be presenting with our own table for the Global Hackteria Network at a local “self-publishing fair” happening in a squat in Zürich. More info here.
So send me stuff, and I can print it hear for reasonable prize and super quality… and we can offer them at reasonable prizes over there in fancy Zürich alternative scene.
I’ll find a way (and budget) to print some here in France and offer these freely. Specifically @paulapin24 's version!!! I have not enough word to thank you!
Maybe (I’m part of this initiative to be honest), it will be cool to discuss if using this social network and “user” account (like Oki Wonder Library" P.S.: Éditions (@ps@lire.im) - LIRE.IM is an interesting option (we already published digital and printed books in english, french, spanish − Copyleft License, like ‘BioMonsrtation’ Chapter, so on and so forth).
