Showerthought: I used to fold my zine pages before I stapled them, but now I staple first and then fold

I mean, I was making a little 8-page zine about my favorite coffee shops in Portland, and I did it the old way for years. I'd fold all the pages together, try to line them up, and then fight with the stapler to get through the thick stack. It always came out a little crooked. This time, I saw someone online say to staple the flat, stacked sheets first. I used a long-reach stapler on the center line, then folded the whole thing. The pages lined up perfectly, and the staple sat right in the crease. It was so much faster and the zine felt way more solid. Has anyone else switched up their assembly order like that? I'm curious if it works for bigger page counts too.

2 comments

2 Comments

shah.matthew2mo ago

Tried that once and the staple ripped right through the folded paper.

spencer7072mo ago

How much paper were you folding, @shah.matthew? That takes some serious force to rip through multiple layers. You must have been using a heavy-duty stapler.