Guides
Guides for Magazine Makers
Practical, step-by-step guides for planning, designing, publishing and growing magazines, in print and online, grouped by topic.
For editors, designers and publishers who make magazines, in print, online or both. Each guide takes one practical question, from planning an issue and designing its pages to publishing it and finding readers.
Where to start
- Planning an issue? The magazine publishing checklist follows one issue from content and schedule to the digital edition and the archive.
- Designing or redesigning? Start with magazine design, then how to design a magazine, magazine cover design and how to make your magazine accessible.
- Taking a print magazine online? Digital magazines helps you choose a format; how to create a digital magazine gets the files ready for screens, and how to publish a magazine online takes them live.
- Adding video, galleries or 3D models? Interactive magazines weighs what each element adds and costs; how to create an interactive magazine goes from media plan to reader numbers.
- Growing readership? Online magazine publishing covers hosting, embedding, search and statistics; how to get more readers for your digital magazine builds a routine for every issue.
- Using AI tools? AI for magazines shows where AI helps with writing, images and production, and where people stay in charge.
- Before every release: the accessibility checklist. Standards and references: resources.
Magazine Design
Principles for magazines that work in print and on screen: what to settle before the first layout, then covers, grids, type, images, interactive media and accessibility.
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How to design a magazine: from reader brief to print-ready pages
Design a magazine as a system, not page by page: turn your readers into design rules, settle the format with your printer, then build the grid, type styles, palette, flatplan and templates every issue reuses.
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How to make your magazine accessible: print and digital editions
Make every issue readable for more people: contrast, type size, colour, reading order, alt text, tagged PDF, captions and motion, testing and a statement, plus where the European Accessibility Act may apply.
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Magazine cover design: a practical guide from masthead to barcode
Design covers that readers recognise and pick: masthead, main image, ranked cover lines, a template for every issue, thumbnails, barcode and ISSN, and the tests to run before print.
Digital Magazines
The four main digital magazine formats and what each means for phone reading, search and accessibility, what video and interactive elements add and cost, and six questions for choosing one.
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AI for magazines: how to use AI for writing, images and production
Where AI helps across an issue, from outlines and headline variants to alt-text drafts and concept images, where people must stay in charge, a workflow for the team, and what to know about labels, copyright and provenance.
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How to create a digital magazine: format, screen design, export and device tests
Nine steps from the first idea to files ready to publish: brief, format, workflow, design for phones, interactive elements, a proper screen PDF, accessibility basics and tests on real devices.
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How to publish a magazine online: from finished file to live issue
Six steps from a finished file to a live issue: choose where it lives, test a platform with a real issue, set it up for search, build an issue page around the embed, launch in order, then improve.
Interactive Magazines
What video, galleries, 3D models, links and polls do for readers' attention, understanding and action, what they cost in speed, data and accessibility, and when an element is worth adding.
Online Magazine Publishing
From finished issue to online edition: a screen-ready PDF, hosting and a viewer, embedding and distribution, search, privacy-aware statistics, private editions and an archive that lasts.
