Printing Out E-Zines and other E-Documents

[James N. Dawson]

I'm trying to meet the Internet halfway.

I've printed out e-zines in the past----Zine Thug, Xerography Debt, Zine Dump, any number of PDF's, a few blogs, what have you (I'm not an expert on what the proper words are for various e-documents).

The 8 1/2 x 11's have been very easy. It was nice to print them out and read them just like a zine (The complex aesthetic and emotive experience of going to a post office and getting zines in a POB would probably sadden me if it were ever lost, however less "practical" it *may* be compared to electronic transport, but that's another issue).

But I have had problems printing digest-sized e-zines. Is this something most or all competent internetters can and *do* do? The printer at the library I often internet at has a double-sided option. Should I be able to just print out a digest or half-legal-sized e-zine without any trouble? Or is special software and skills involved? How many of you do, or have done, this?

I've visited a few zine archives, with old zines that have been scanned on them. Are there options to print these?

Is there an electronic "E-Zine World"? One where you don't have to spend hours and days searching Google? Of e-zines that are easily printable? I know about Zine Dump, but I'm looking for zines other than in the sci-fi culture.

My gripe isn't so much that a document/zine/magazine/whatever is on-line, but I just don't care for the "internet layout"----for me, it's too sparse, chaotic, UNtraditional. I find a traditional layout easier to "navigate"----I think the whole idea of having to "navigate" a zine, magazine, book, etc., frankly, ridiculous. I never feel I'm "navigating" a book or a zine when I read one. Having to "navigate" something means it's more complicated than it has to be, it seems to me.

I can't explain or justify why, but reading screens is usually a huge chore for me, and it's just something I can't do. I've really tried. My mind just can't absorb it and I don't enjoy it the way I do with print.

Anyway, I'd be interested in making good faith efforts to find e-zines, etc., in the subject matter I'm interested, and in traditional formats (tables-of-contents, sequential number pages, indexes, etc.) and easily printable. (Many so-called "printable versions", I believe are wasteful of space, and I'm sorry, that just bothers me.)

Any advice on how to do this would be appreciated.

Thanks.

JND

[W. Alan Fare]

James:

I wish I could help you, but I'm in the same boat. If not for my job I'd probably never have even logged onto to internet! I find the latest state of communication cold and sterile, but what the hell... I'm obsolete. Maybe now I can finally have a bit of free time to enjoy my life!

Best of luck with your search, and I hope you write about it in your zines. It's good to know there are others who feel the same way about frivilous progress. My latest zine covers that with gusto! And yes, you're on the mailing list!

[Ro- The Apocalypse Girl]

I have no idea if this will help, but there's a web site (mostly defunct, but still useful) called The Pocket Mod. It's basically people who fold a single page into a super mini book and use it for a quick address book, planner or what have you. Anyway, the great thing about this site is that somebody created a program you can download for free that coverts any .pdf file into a format to be printed as a pocket mod mini book. Obviously, this probably won't work for most online zines, but it might making printing a few of them a little easier for you.

http://pocketmod.com/

My zine is entirely online and I usually keep it at 8x10, but having it more printer-friendly is something I'm working on.