Zine Exchange VI: May - September 2023

Heh. I just realised I didn't put a note or anything in mine. And the zine has no mention of my name on it.

It's very orange.
 
Chipper said:
Thanks for the effort... nothing jumps out so I will go and open my file when I get back to my office. It's a puzzle... The customer service person said that the ink load was too much and said there was an attachment to illustrate it but there wasn't. I don't have a clue what would cause ink overload...
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Well, not only did Mixam decide to refund as they were incapable of getting a black cover without streaks, I have had a sample delivered today from solopress. Both covers were marked. I used their exact specification and the images were less sharp and the colours were not as good. Mixam told me that gloss covers were most likely to be marked. Solopress today told me that matt covers were most likely to be marked. To add to this ongoing stressfest, Fedex would not allow me to divert and the courier left them on the doorstep of a neighbour when I left a message to ask them not to leave them with either neighbour: had they put it through that door, it would have been trapped in their for a month while they are away... oy vey. They have offered a reprint and I can't decide whether to take the refund or try again with someone else. Any suggestions out there please?
 
Chipper said:
Well, not only did Mixam decide to refund as they were incapable of getting a black cover without streaks, I have had a sample delivered today from solopress. Both covers were marked. I used their exact specification and the images were less sharp and the colours were not as good. Mixam told me that gloss covers were most likely to be marked. Solopress today told me that matt covers were most likely to be marked. To add to this ongoing stressfest, Fedex would not allow me to divert and the courier left them on the doorstep of a neighbour when I left a message to ask them not to leave them with either neighbour: had they put it through that door, it would have been trapped in their for a month while they are away... oy vey. They have offered a reprint and I can't decide whether to take the refund or try again with someone else. Any suggestions out there please?
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Yes, ExWhyZed printers - https://exwhyzed.com/products/zine-printing/ They always provide a sample print to the customer before any decisions are made. More expensive than Mixam, but they have a high standard and excellent customer liaison. Check out their company zine printing stuff on YouTube:
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAAfKueIJ2s
 
2 here 2.

No need to assume postie efficiency. It's bad!
 
Harlequin565 said:
Right folks. We're at the decision time! I'll start by tagging everyone who's stuck their nose into the thread to remind them bar the ones I remember saying they were bowing out. If I forgot you (either way) I apologise! List incoming...

@Mr Perceptive
@sirch
@Ed Sutton
@FishyFish
@Cloudforest
@ancient_mariner
@gjhill
@Hadron
@Penlens
@Allan.H
@yamahatdm900
@benc98
@flook999
@KarenShootsFilm
@superpippo
@Seanazz
@Rincewind
@Solo man

Note - you don't have to be on the list above to take part. There's still oodles of time as Dave would say.... It's just that it's make-your-mind-up time as Bucks Fizz would have said.

So, if you would like to commit to taking part, here's what happens now.

1. Between now and next Friday, PM me your forum handle, along with your real name and address and "zine exchange" in the subject. I know it sounds daft, but having it all in one place makes it easy to copy/paste into the large PM I'll send back out.
2. Next weekend, I will send out a PM to all those who have replied with everyone else's name and address, as well as update this thread with the confirmed total number of entries so that folks can get the appropriate amount printed.
3. By the end of October, you will need to get your zines printed, and mailed off to each recipient on the list. The reason for such a long delay allows people time to actually construct their zine and get it printed as well as receive it from their printer and then post it out to participants. In reality, most people get them out within a couple of weeks.

Then we're done. Feel free to review your zines, give feedback, show screenies, or share your journey in making your zine.
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Hey am I too late to this now? I was waiting for a notification and never saw one, just skimmed through the thread and found this! sorry!
 
OK, I'm happy to add one more too.
 
KarenShootsFilm said:
Hey am I too late to this now? I was waiting for a notification and never saw one, just skimmed through the thread and found this! sorry!
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I've got no problem with it either. If you PM me your name/address, I'll send you the address list to send to and pass your details on to the other folks entering.
 
Yes, happy to add one more too.
 
A quick but dumb question, bearing in mind I've done this before. Mixam - 28 pages + a cover (4 sides) is going to be 32 pages, isn't it? The cover is in addition to the requested zine size.

The zine is pretty much there, and it was only when checking out Mixam ready to upload when I realised I couldn't remember. :rolleyes:
 
ancient_mariner said:
A quick but dumb question, bearing in mind I've done this before. Mixam - 28 pages + a cover (4 sides) is going to be 32 pages, isn't it? The cover is in addition to the requested zine size.

The zine is pretty much there, and it was only when checking out Mixam ready to upload when I realised I couldn't remember. :rolleyes:
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Not remotely dumb. I have this issue every time and have emailed them twice about the same thing because it's not clearly explained. Even having done it a couple of weeks ago, I'm not sure!

I count the number of pages in the pdf (including cover) then when I order I start by saying the zine is 4 pages less than what it is. Then when I add the cover they tally up. Then I double check the proof on their site before ordering to make sure I got it right.


I'm sure it's simple for someone!
 
Thanks Ian.

So it's ready now. I 'exported as PDF' and then viewed the images - some were quite soft and really not up to expected print quality, though not all. Went back the the original word document and they were finely detailed. Hmmmm.

So this time I selected Save as and then choose .PDF. I could then choose 'standard for online publishing/printing' or minimum size. Next went to the options box and checked 'optimise for image quality'. Re-saved as a PDF and this time quality is all I'd expect.

*edit*

It's done. Hope it actually looks good.
 
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Harlequin565 said:
Not remotely dumb. I have this issue every time and have emailed them twice about the same thing because it's not clearly explained. Even having done it a couple of weeks ago, I'm not sure!

I count the number of pages in the pdf (including cover) then when I order I start by saying the zine is 4 pages less than what it is. Then when I add the cover they tally up. Then I double check the proof on their site before ordering to make sure I got it right.


I'm sure it's simple for someone!
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If you get it wrong (like I did first time) it becomes obvious when you preview after uploading, you end up with blank pages (assuming you upload as a multi-page pdf).

If however you're really dumb like me and enter the 16 pages rather than the actual number of 24, then you end up short when you preview, which also thankfully is obvious :headbang:
 
All pages appeared present and, if not correct, at least as intended.
 
ancient_mariner said:
Went back the the original word document and they were finely detailed
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I had this problem. The only images affected were screen grabs from my iPhone. The default PDF export options had the export dpi set to 72 for some reason. When I changed it to 300, the problem went away.
 
@KarenShootsFilm got in touch and sent me her address which I've added to the PMs I sent out. I'm assuming multi person PMs are like private forum posts and everyone included on them sees the replies, but if you can't see it, let me know.
 
Hi all. Fiinally! A huge hallelujah that my book for the jeweller's has finally landed at a place where they can print a cover without scratches, roller marks, smears of black in the white title...

www.allstar.co.uk

They. even printed a spare bit of cover to show me an alternative... as I was re-ordering a hardback, it diid not occur to me that they would do these as well. And they did it for me witthout charging and put it in my order... boom!
 
I may have the envelopes, but the zine is delayed until next week - just had an email that it may despatch today. :(
 
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