Pro tip: don't drop $30 on glossy paper for your first zine run

Honestly, I dropped $30 on fancy glossy paper at the print shop for my 20-page art zine last month because I thought it would make it look professional. The ink smudged on every single page because I used a cheap laser printer at home, and they all looked terrible. Anyone else had a paper choice totally ruin their zine and have a go-to alternative that actually works?

2 comments

2 Comments

perez.christopher17d ago

Man, same thing happened to me. Bought a whole ream of that premium 100lb gloss stock for a mini-comic I was stoked about. My inkjet just bled everything into a blurry mess, looked more like a watercolor painting than line art. Now I just use a nice uncoated 24lb paper for stuff I print at home, works way better.

butler.shane17d ago

Honestly, that "watercolor painting" bit is exactly what happened to me too. I wanted to make a small run of zines with some fine line drawings on them and grabbed that same 100lb gloss stuff without thinking. My inkjet turned every thin pen line into a fuzzy, bleeding mess. I felt like such an idiot paying extra for paper that looked worse than the cheap stuff. So when you say "nice uncoated 24lb paper" works way better, is there a specific brand you grab for that, or do you just go with whatever's on sale?